No. 1 prospect Korey Foreman includes USC in top 7
It comes as no surprise, but the USC Trojans are officially in the mix for the nation’s No. 1 overall prospect, defensive end Korey Foreman.
Foreman announced his top seven schools on Wednesday afternoon, as Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Howard, LSU, Oregon and USC all made the cut.
Howard is the lone surprise among his top group, though there has been increasing discussion among high school athletes about the potential to attend HBCUs. Five-star basketball prospect Makur Maker (Phoenix/Hillcrest Prep) recently committed to Howard.
As far as USC is concerned, this is just the next step in an attempt to reel in the 6-foot-4, 265-pound defensive end who checks in as the No. 1 prospect in the country. Foreman made a commitment to Clemson back in late January, but has since stepped away from that in order to be able to take all of his visits.
USC has remained in constant pursuit, led by a new defensive staff that has made him an absolute priority in this 2021 class.
Back in June, Foreman said of USC, “No if, ands or buts about it, I love what USC has cooking up there. It’s absolutely amazing. But time will tell, and we’ll see how everything is.”
USC would have the ability to pair Foreman with Drake Jackson, his former high school teammate and good friend. Foreman said the USC defensive coaches have told him they see him playing that hybrid linebacker/defensive end position that Jackson is playing now in defensive coordinator Todd Orlando’s scheme.
Clemson remains in the mix and could be a strong contender, as Foreman still speaks highly of the Tigers despite his decommitment. Alabama and Georgia are interesting additions, as the SEC is clearly a selling point for Foreman and both schools have produced great defensive linemen.
Oregon is the other West Coast school and the Ducks have made themselves at home in California over the past few years. In both the 2019 and 2020 class, there was a clear-cut No. 1 defensive product in Southern California– defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux and linebacker Justin Flowe–and Oregon was able to sign both.
And LSU represents a very real option for Foreman. Ed Orgeron’s history in Southern California and as a defensive line coach, the Tigers have two major selling points. They’re also coming off a national championship and have a commitment from linebacker Raesjon Davis (Santa Ana, Calif./Mater Dei), who will certainly be working on Foreman. LSU also looks to be firmly in the lead for defensive tackle Maason Smith (Houma, La./Terrebonne), and he and Foreman have grown very close and have talked often about playing together in college.
This is an absolute must-win recruiting battle for this USC staff if the Trojan coaches are going to continue pushing the idea of “Taking Back the West” or locking down this region.
Foreman has said he absolutely does not want to go through another decommitment this process is already weighing heavily on him, so he’s going to double and triple check every aspect of every school before he makes his final decision. At this point, the Trojans are right where they need to be in this race, firmly in his top seven and recruiting him as hard or harder than anybody.
