Running back Elijah Holyfield lists top 10 schools, includes USC

Running back Elijah Holyfield walked off the field smiling as he finished Day 1 of the Opening.

“I am naming my top 10,” he said, looking relieved as he pulled out the list on his phone, afraid to leave a school out.

“My top 10 is USC, Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, South Carolina, Georgia, Miami, Louisville and Notre Dame,” he said.

Holyfield, from Woodward Academy in Georgia, said the list was in no particular order. “I actually just thought of the schools and put them on the sheet,” he said.

The son of famed boxer Evander Holyfield, the 5-foot-10, 204-pounder seems to have inherited his father’s flare for the spotlight.

When asked why he included USC, a school he has never visited, Holyfield said, “Well, it’s L.A. first off,” before adding that he was familiar with former USC tailbacks and the tradition of the football program.

Holyfield would be a major recruit for USC, and though he included the Trojans in his list, a commitment from him appears to be a long shot because of the lure of the Southeastern Conference.

“It’s really tempting, because they don’t want to let you get out,” he said of SEC recruiters. “A lot of schools are by me and they come by almost every time they can.”

Holyfield could make a commitment by the end of the summer, but said it would most likely happen during the fall.

He will make five official visits, he said.