Football: USC goes out of state to land four top prospects

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USC scored a major recruiting victory with the signing of 6-foot-4, 235-pound defensive end Nick Perry from Detroit. Rated the fifth-best defensive end in the country by Scout.com, Perry had a state-record 36 sacks and chose the Trojans over Michigan.

Last season, USC got another top Michigan high school player, receiver Ronald Johnson.

‘It was a long journey,’ Perry told the Detroit News. ‘I went with the best fit for me.’ Perry made an official visit to USC on Jan. 18.

Perry’s father told the Detroit News that USC Coach Pete Carroll brought four assistants for a home visit and that the Trojans coaches stayed longer than any other staff. ‘I know it’s a long way [from home],’ Nick Perry told the newspaper. ‘It’ll be a good experience for me. If I make it to the NFL, I have to be used to being away from home.’

Offensive lineman Daniel Campbell from Texas and receiver Brice Butler from Georgia, who had made verbal commitments to USC, were other out-of-state prospects who signed letters of intent with the Trojans.

The Trojans also took away T.J. Bryant, a receiver/cornerback from Tallahassee (Fla.), rated a four-star recruit by Scout.com. While gaining Perry and Bryant, USC lost cornerback Joe Adams from North Little Rock, Ark., to the home-state Razorbacks.

-- Eric Sondheimer

-- Image from www.prizes1.com