Casey Picks USC as 4 Top Players Commit

Four of the area’s top high school football players chose colleges on the eve of national letter-of-intent day when Sylmar’s Jerome Casey (USC), Cleveland’s Pat Bryant (Hawaii), Grant’s Marlowe Lewis (Hawaii) and Canyon’s Chris Peery (Cal State Fullerton) announced their commitments Tuesday.

The four join a group of 16 area players who are expected to sign today, the first day high school seniors can sign letters of intent.

Michael Jones, a Parade All-American who rushed for 1,743 yards at Montclair Prep, said that he will announce his decision at an on-campus press conference today at noon. He has narrowed his choices to USC, Miami and Colorado, rejecting Georgia Tech and Louisiana State, the other two schools he has visited.

If Jones signs with the Trojans, he will become the fourth area player to choose USC, which has received commitments from Casey; Jason Keiderling, an offensive lineman from Reseda; and Errol Small, a defensive back from Notre Dame.

But unlike Keiderling and Small, Casey will sign a letter that carries an asterisk: The Times’ All-Valley running back will lose his scholarship if he fails to score at least 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test as required by the NCAA under the guidelines of Proposition 48.

Casey has taken the test twice and has yet to receive the results from his second attempt. School policy prevents USC from accepting student-athletes who fail to meet Prop. 48 requirements.

USC spokesman Tim Tessalone would not comment on the particulars of Casey’s situation, but he pointed out that the school made a similar arrangement last year with Curtis Conway. The former Hawthorne High quarterback committed to USC but failed to reach 700 on the SAT in time to enroll last fall. USC held a scholarship for him and accepted him when he made the grade in December.

Casey (5-10, 180 pounds) also visited Washington, Washington State and Nebraska, schools that he said would have offered him a scholarship regardless of his SAT score. But Casey’s first choice always has been the Trojans.

“It’s so exciting,” he said. “I always imagined myself running on the field at the Coliseum. I grew up loving SC.”

Casey rushed for 1,447 yards and scored 26 touchdowns last fall and led Sylmar in tackles with 75 from his free-safety position. USC recruited the three-time All-City Section selection as a running back, which also suits him.

“They’ve had all those great running backs there,” he said. “Charles White, O. J. (Simpson), Anthony Davis.”

Peery, Cal-Hi Sports’ state Player of the Year as a sophomore and a two-time All-Valley selection by The Times, also has failed to meet Prop. 48 requirements and will continue to take the SAT. Still, Fullerton will accept him and provide financial aid under the guidelines of Prop. 42, an amendment to Prop. 48 that forbids schools from granting scholarships to student-athletes who fail to score either a 700 on the SAT or achieve a 2.0 grade-point average in core curriculum classes.

Peery, 6-foot-1, 215 pounds, powered Canyon to the semifinal round of the Southern Section playoffs last year, rushing for 1,220 yards despite missing three games because of a groin injury.

Bryant, 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, was a standout receiver as a junior at Cleveland, then was converted to running back before his senior year. After visits to San Diego State, Fullerton and Arizona, Bryant orally committed to Hawaii after taking a trip there last weekend. Bryant, an All-City and Times All-Valley outfielder as a junior, said he also will play baseball.

Bryant, who expects to play slotback-receiver at Hawaii, rushed for 388 yards in six games after suffering a midseason hand injury.

Lewis, 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, shared the East Valley League MVP award with Casey and led Grant to the league title as quarterback and defensive back. He passed for 805 yards, rushed for 759 and accounted for 22 touchdowns. He chose Hawaii, which recruited him as a wide receiver, over Cal State Long Beach and Oregon because the Rainbows wanted him as an offensive player.

Newbury Park lineman Joe Smigiel (6-5, 255) also may commit today when New Mexico officials meet with him today at school.

“New Mexico indicated all along that they were interested in Joe,” Panther Coach George Hurley said. “I think they were worried he might go to Arizona State and waited to see if they would make an offer.”

Staff writers Steve Elling, Brian Murphy and Sean Waters contributed to this story.

THE CLASS OF ’90

PLAYER SCHOOL POS. SIZE COLLEGE Clint Beauer Canyon WR 6-3, 195 Nevada Reno Howard Blackwell Hart RB 5-10, 170 Oregon Pat Bryant Cleveland RB 5-11, 185 Hawaii Jerome Casey Sylmar RB 5-10, 180 USC Christian Fauria Crespi TE 6-4, 205 Colorado Eric Hale Simi Valley LB 6-5, 215 Oregon State Jason Keiderling Reseda OL 6-5, 265 USC Marlowe Lewis Grant QB-DB 5-10, 165 Hawaii Mike Lindsay Thousand Oaks RB 5-11, 180 Army Lance Martin Thousand Oaks LB 6-0, 220 Northern Arizona Chris Peery Canyon RB 6-1, 215 Cal State Fullerton Joey Rosselli Alemany QB 6-1, 185 Arizona State Steve Rudisill Thousand Oaks DB 6-0, 185 San Diego State Errol Small Notre Dame RB-DB 6-2, 210 USC London Woodfin Sylmar LB 6-3, 225 UCLA Michael Wynn San Fernando QB 6-3, 207 San Diego State