USC Recruiting Roundup: A big commitment, offers extended, and another pledge on the way?
The USC Trojans hit the ground running in the month of May, grabbing a commitment from a big-time wide receiver this past Friday. USC coaches also spent the last week sending out a few offers in the 2021, 2022 and 2023 classes. And the Trojans' recruiting momentum could have a chance to continue later this week.
Trojans catch a wide receiver
This 2021 USC recruiting class has a big-time quarterback, a dynamic running back, a couple offensive linemen and a group of really good defensive backs. What it did not have was a big-time wide receiver--a staple of virtually every USC recruiting class in recent memory.
Enter Quaydarius Davis (Dallas/Skyline). The 6-foot, 193-pound wide receiver announced his commitment on Friday evening, giving the Trojans a gamebreaker on the outside. He's a tremendous all-around talent and brings a combination of size, speed and a physical nature that should serve him well at the next level. Rankings from the various sites are consistent in that Davis should be considered a potential star, as he is a consensus four-star prospect and the nations No. 105 overall player. But while ESPN and 247 have him ranked No. 181 and No. 173, respectively, Rivals is especially high on Davis, as he is their No. 21 overall prospect and No. 4 wide receiver.
Davis is a big addition to this class both as a pure wide receiver, as well as another national pick-up. He was seen early on in his recruitment as a must-get for Texas, but now it looks as though he'll be another Texas prospect headed to USC in this class, joining running back Brandon Campbell (Katy, Texas/Katy). USC coaches have put plenty of effort into recruiting Texas with their strong ties in that state. Head coach Clay Helton, offensive coordinator Graham Harrell, tight ends coach John David Baker, running backs coach Mike Jinks, safeties coach Craig Naivar and special teams coach Sean Snyder all played high school football in Texas, while defensive coordinator Todd Orlando has coached in the state for the past five years.
USC signed just two receivers in the 2020 class--Gary Bryant and Joshua Jackson--so the Trojans will look to grab at least a couple in this class. USC signed a phenomenal group of receivers in 2019, as Drake London, Kyle Ford, Bru McCoy, Munir McClain and John Jackson III all have potential to be stars during their USC careers.
USC signed offensive linemen Courtland Ford and Casey Collier out of Texas in the 2020 class and cornerback Dorian Hewett in 2019. Former USC linebacker Michael Morgan is the last player the Trojans signed out of Dallas Skyline High School all the way back in the 2006 class.
Davis is commitment No. 10 for the Trojans in the 2021 recruiting class, as well as the eighth four-star prospect. He joins four-star recruits in quarterback Jake Garcia (La Habra, Calif./La Habra), running back Campbell, defensive tackle Jay Toia (Simi Valley, Calif./Grace Brethren), linebacker Ma'a Gaoteote (Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco), safety Xamarion Gordon (Downey, Calif./Warren) and defensive athletes Anthony Beavers (Harbor City, Calif./Narbonne) and Calen Bullock (Pasadena, Calif./Muir), as well as three-star offensive linemen Mason Murphy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./JSerra) and Maximus Gibbs (Bellflower, Calif./St. John Bosco).
Another on the way?
USC will have an opportunity to add another commitment to that list on Sunday, as four-star athlete Julien Simon (Tacoma, Wash./Lincoln) is set to announce his decision on Sunday afternoon.
The 6-foot-2, 221-pounder is the nation's No. 98 overall prospect and is probably athletic enough to play any of five or six positions at the next level--linebacker, safety, wide receiver and running back among them--but will likely settle in at linebacker should he choose the Trojans.
Simon named his top eight schools in early April, with Arizona State, Cal, Michigan, Oregon, Stanford, Texas, USC and Washington making the cut. The hometown Huskies and the Cardinal are likely the strongest challengers along with the Trojans, but USC could be in good shape here.
Simon's first offer came from USC a little more than two years ago, and the new defensive staff has kept the recruiting heat turned all the way up on their top defensive targets since arriving in Los Angeles.
Simon would add another defensive prospect to this class capable of playing multiple positions, and another player overall who has a real physical presence on the football field. He did a bit of just about everything as a junior last season, as he finished the year with 32 tackles, two sacks, four interceptions, eight pass deflections and a fumble recovery on defense. On offense, Simon led the team with 83 receptions for 1,033 yards and 12 touchdowns, and added 182 rushing yards and seven more scores on the ground. He led the team with 21 total touchdowns, thanks to two scored on interception returns, and he also returned a kickoff 47 yards and averaged nearly 20 yards per return on seven punt return attempts.
Simon has a tremendous ability to make plays in space on offense and defense, and does a great job of reading plays and finding the ball on defense.
More offers extended
USC coaches were again busy this past week, extending offers to 2021, 2022 and 2023 prospects.
While the Trojans just grabbed a commitment from wide receiver Quay Davis, USC is on the hunt for more pass catchers in this class and extended an offer to Malcolm Johnson Jr. (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen's & St. Agnes). The 6-foot-1, 185-pound wideout is the nation's No. 201 overall prospect and already holds offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU, Ohio State, Tennessee and plenty of others. Johnson possesses terrific speed and is a very natural pass catcher.
USC has offered a few local 2022 quarterbacks, but Graham Harrell will continue to look nationally for prospects at the position. The most recent offer went to Nicco Marchiol (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton). Marchiol's older brother Santino signed with Texas A&M in the 2017 class. The younger Marchiol doesn't have an offer from A&M yet, but Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Penn State and others have offered. The 6-foot-2, 216-pound quarterback might be considered a pro-style guy, but he's an impressive athlete who can make things happen in and out of the pocket.
And another tight end offer went out in the 2022 class, as Elijah Brown (Huber Heights, Ohio/Wayne) picked one up from the Trojans. Michigan, Penn State, West Virginia and others have offered. The day before he picked up his offer from the Trojans, 6-foot-5, 230-pound tight end was doing this:
USC cornerbacks coach Donte Williams, as usual, was active on the trail. He extended offers to 2022 cornerbacks William Johnson (Grosse Pointe, Mich./Grosse Pointe South) and Jaeden Gould (Oradell, NJ/Bergen Catholic), as well as 2023 corner Avieon Terrell (Atlanta/Westlake).
Johnson is a big fish in the 2022 class, as the nation's No. 16 overall prospect and No. 4 cornerback according to 247 Sports, with offers from LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and others.
Gould is the nation's No. 96 overall prospect and a teammate of 2021 USC defensive tackle prospect Tywon Malone, a 6-foot-3, 300-pound football and baseball standout that recently included the Trojans in his top 14 schools. Both attend the same school that produced former USC standout linebacker Brian Cushing. Johnson and Gould continue a trend of USC looking at taller cornerbacks, as Johnson checks in at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds, while Gould is 6-foot-2, 190 pounds.
USC has extended a few offers to 2023 prospects that turned in terrific freshmen seasons and one of those no-brainer early offers went to Terrell, whose freshman year film just jumps off the screen. Terrell adds the USC offer to ones from Arizona State, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and others.
