Recruiting Notebook: Summer Movement
by Garry Paskwietz
There was a lot of movement in the past week for USC recruiting, not only getting a pair of offensive line commits but also extending multiple offers with the summer camp season in full swing.
* We had a chance to talk last week in the recruiting notebook about the commit from center Brett Neilon, and then he was joined in the class by fellow OL commit Andrew Vorhees (Kingsburg, 6-6, 290). Vorhees is a tackle prospect who has seen his stock rise a lot this spring and he has good fundamentals for the position, to go along with a frame that should grow well. Those two provide a nice base for an o-line class that should eventually see 4-5 commits for that unit.
* USC held their line camp on Saturday, there weren’t a lot of upperclass recruits in attendance but that didn’t stop the coaches from offering a pair of underclassmen, as Elijah Wade and Keyon Ware-Hudson came away with Trojan offers. Wade (6-6, 215) is in the class of 2018 and he plays on the same d-line as one of the top USC prospects for the 2017 class in Greg Rogers. Ware-Hudson (6-2, 235) attends Vista Murrieta, the same school that produced Su’a Cravens.
* At the USC 7-on-7 camp on Sunday it was a trio of Mater Dei underclassmen who walked away with offers (2018 WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, 2019 QB JT Daniels and 2019 ATH Bru McCoy). The Trojans have offered St. Brown’s older brother, Osiris, a wide receiver in the 2017 class. Daniels became the first Monarch QB to start as a freshman since Matt Barkley, as Daniels took over mid-season after Matt McDonald (son of Paul) suffered an injury. In addition to the Mater Dei group, USC also offered Roosevelt WR Chase Williams (6-2, 185) from the class of 2018.
* The Trojans offered a class of 2019 quarterback (Raymond Woodie from Tampa, 6-0, 175) after taking part in a satellite camp at the University of South Florida, where Woodie’s dad is an assistant coach. The elder Woodie also spent time recently on the staff at Western Kentucky, he didn’t cross paths there with Tyson Helton or Neil Callaway but you have to imagine there are some mutual coaching contacts to help make the SC coaches aware of the versatile player, who could project as an athlete as well as a QB.
* There was also an offer to 2018 corner Olaijah Griffin from Mission Viejo after the USC coaches saw him at the Empire Showcase on Sunday. Griffin (6-0, 170) was very good last season as a sophomore starter and he’s one of those “no-brainer” offers at the corner position. He’s gets a lot of notoriety as the son of Warren G but this isn’t a case of hype due to a famous father, Olaijah can play.
* USC safety commit Bubba Bolden (photo above) took an unofficial visit to ASU with several Bishop Gorman teammates and shortly after that he put a message on his Twitter account that he would be taking an official visit with the Sun Devils in the fall.
