Salahuddin out, Stepp in at RB for 2018 USC class
It was a day of movement for the USC Trojans at the running back spot for the class of 2018 as Mychale Salahuddin announced his de-commit in the morning, and then a few hours later Markese Stepp sent out a message via social media that he was now committed to the Trojans.
The news on both ends did not come as a complete shock. Salahuddin, who gave a verbal to USC last summer after a visit to the Rising Stars Camp, had come on his official visit to USC recently for the UCLA game and almost immediately the rumors began that the versatile Washington D.C. player could end up elsewhere. It didn’t help the rumors to see the Trojans offer Kazmier Allen days later, although Allen eventually became the first verbal commit of the Chip Kelly regime for the Bruins.
Around that same time Stepp was de-committing from Notre Dame after being a key verbal for the Irish for over a year. Stepp (6-0, 230) offers a unique combination of size and speed, and he had a previous relationship with USC running back coach Deland McCullough from McCullough’s time at IU.
Markese (ranked as the #12 RB in the nation) finished the 2017 season with 975 rushing yards on 124 carries (7.9 per) with 17 TD’s. He missed his junior season after suffering a hamstring injury, as a soph he had 104 carries for 888 yards and 12 TD’s.
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Stepp was part of the official visit weekend for the Trojans, and the photo above shows Markese with his parents, McCullough and Clay Helton.
