THE PREPS : Early Returns Look Good for UCLA and USC

The first day for high school seniors to sign national letters of intent with colleges for football is Wednesday, but this year many athletes decided to commit orally before signing day.

Normally, only a few blue-chip players make their college choices known ahead of time. The common practice is for the athlete to use his five college campus visits before announcing his choice.

That has not been the case this winter. With less than a week remaining before signing day, it is rare to find a player still uncommitted.

“Today, kids and parents just have more information on schools to work with when they are making their decision,” said Clarence Shelmon, USC assistant coach, on why athletes are deciding earlier.

Shelmon, who recruits the Los Angeles inner-city, Long Beach and Houston areas, said that athletes are getting much earlier starts on the recruiting process.

“They are doing a better job in narrowing their choices to 10 schools by the end of their junior year,” Shelmon said. “This makes it easier for them when they have to make their final choice.”

With the players deciding earlier, both UCLA and USC appear to be headed for banner years in recruiting, based on their oral commitments.

UCLA got off to an uncharacteristically slow start, but things picked up when Homer Smith, former offensive coordinator, decided to return to the school early last month. Since then, the Bruins have received oral commitments from two area standout linebackers, Nkosi Littleton of Carson and Bruce Walker of Compton Dominguez, and a pair of Texas stars.

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound Littleton is a two-time All-City selection currently playing on the Colts’ basketball team. Walker, 6-4 and 240, was a consensus prep All-American last season as a fullback and outside linebacker.

The Texans are prep All-Americans Othello Henderson of Killeen Ellison, a 6-2 defensive back with a 10.4 timing in the 100 meters, and Paul Kennedy of Austin McCallum, a 6-6, 250-pound defensive lineman.

Allen Wallace of SuperPrep magazine, which specializes in high school football recruiting, credits Smith’s return for UCLA’s late surge.

According to Wallace, UCLA, which also signed junior college linebacker Randy Cole of Santa Monica, has received commitments from:

--Linebackers Rod Smalley of Santa Ynez, London Woodfin of Sylmar, Andrew McClave of Portland, Ore., Shane Jasper of Troup, Tex., and Bryan Tighe of Pflugerville, Tex.

--Linemen Ryan Motherway of Santa Ana Mater Dei, Sale Isia of Oceanside, and Eric Banducci of Santa Monica.

--Receivers Mike Nguyen of Portland, Ore., Kevin Jordan of Beltsville, Md., Bryan Adams of Bakersfield and J. J. Stokes of San Diego Pt. Loma.

--Defensive backs Carl Greenwood of Corpus Christi, Tex., and Chad La Rose of New Orleans.

--Tight ends Jason Green of La Puente Bishop Amat and Bobby Gray of Arlington, Tex.

--Running backs Chris Alexander of Hawthorne and Daron Washington of Killeen Ellison, Tex.

USC, which has already signed offensive lineman Derrick Deese of El Camino College, has also done well. The Trojans have commitments from:

--Running backs-defensive backs Deon Strother of Oakland Skyline, Michael Jones of Van Nuys Montclair Prep, Jerome Casey of Sylmar, Errol Small Jr. of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Jason Oliver of Bakersfield.

--Wide receivers Ryan Lenderman of Grand Junction, Colo., Jeremy Smith of Bishop Amat and John Herpin of LaPorte, Tex.

--Tight end Elic Mahone of Pasadena Muir.

--Linebackers Willie McGinest Jr. of Long Beach Poly, and Jeff Kopp of Danville San Ramon Valley.

--Linemen Jason Keiderling of Reseda, Kris Pollack of Fresno Clovis West, Joe Cajic of Phoenix, Norberto Garrido of Industry Workman, Chris Andresen of Downey Warren, Andre Abrams of Perris and Tony Boselli of Boulder, Colo.

The Trojans also have the commitment of last year’s star quarterback recruit, Curtis Conway of Hawthorne, who is eligible after being a Proposition 48 casualty a year ago.

Local players who have made commitments to other colleges include quarterbacks Todd Gragnano of Los Alamitos to Nebraska, Danny O’Neil of Mater Dei to Oregon; defensive backs Hartwell Brown of Los Alamitos to Stanford, Chris Cooks of Los Angeles Dorsey to Oregon and Eric Zomalt of Moreno Valley Canyon Springs to California.

Running backs Erik Mitchell of Los Alamitos to Colorado, Roger Boden of Los Altos to Stanford and Howard Blackwell of Newhall Hart to Oregon; wide receiver Lamar Lovett of Los Angeles Franklin to Arizona; lineman Justin Yarro of Los Angeles Loyola to Brigham Young; tight ends Chris Fauria of Encino Crespi and Sean Brown of Valley College and Granada Hills to Colorado.