Winner of UCLA-USC Game May Gain Advantage in Signing Prep Stars

The winner of Saturday’s UCLA-USC football game at the Coliseum will be showered with enough gifts to satisfy any newly crowned head of state: the Pacific-10 Conference championship, a berth in the Rose Bowl, the unofficial city championship and an oversized trinket known as the Victory Bell.

But will the winner also gain an all-important recruiting advantage?

Coaches and administrators at UCLA and USC agree that the momentum from winning the game can be a significant factor because it carries into the competitive recruiting season. A number of the players being courted by the schools will be in attendance Saturday, and many others will watch the game on television.

College football recruiting begins in earnest after the regular season ends and continues through the Feb. 2 signing date.

Just how much of an advantage, if any, goes to the UCLA-USC winner each year is debatable.

“In some cases, I think the outcome of the game can affect recruiting,” Bruin Coach Terry Donahue said. “There are always kids on the fence who haven’t made a decision yet. Nobody has ever told us that it did make the difference, but I think it does have an effect.

“However, ending the season on a positive note definitely carries over into recruiting. Players are happy, coaches are happy, everybody’s more upbeat.”

Donahue, in his 18th season at UCLA, has found that there are no guarantees in recruiting, even after a winning season.

“You can have a great year, go to the Rose Bowl and still not have a good recruiting year,” he said. “Or you can have a down year but do well in recruiting because kids think there are going to be lots of opportunities to play.”

USC recruiting coordinator Jack Himebauch believes that too much can be made of who wins the USC-UCLA game.

“To some extent, yes, the game can make a difference,” he said. “On the other hand, if the winner of one game is the main reason for a kid’s decision, then that’s the wrong reason. There’s more to SC than one game, just like there’s more to that other school than one game. At least there ought to be.”

Since taking over at UCLA in 1976, Donahue has recruited against three USC coaches: John Robinson (1976-1982, 1993), Ted Tollner (1983-86) and Larry Smith (1987-1992).

In his first tenure at USC, Robinson had the upper hand against Donahue, winning five of the seven Trojan-Bruin games. Robinson also signed some of the school’s most celebrated players, including Marcus Allen, Bruce Matthews, Don Mosebar and George Achica. In 1978, UCLA’s roster included only four players who turned down scholarship offers from USC: Freeman McNeil, Luis Sharpe, Tim Wrightman and Dokie Williams.

Donahue has been to win his share of recruiting battles in recent years. Local standouts such as Gaston Green (Gardena), Ken Norton (Westchester), Carnell Lake (Culver City) and Dennis Price (Long Beach Poly) turned down the Trojans to sign with the Bruins.

Of the Bruins’ freshman class, running back Skip Hicks, offensive linemen Sean Gully and Andy Meyers, linebacker Brian Willmer and defensive lineman Travis Kirschke were among players selecting UCLA over USC.

Among the players being recruited by the schools this year: linemen John Welbourne (6-foot-4, 240) of Peninsula and Darrell Russell (6-5, 280) of San Diego’s St. Augustine; defensive end-outside linebacker George Perry (6-6, 225) of San Bernardino; tight end Rome Douglas (6-6, 245) of Claremont; running backs Rodney Sermons (6-foot, 180) of La Puente Bishop Amat and Chris Draft (6-1, 205) of Placentia Valencia, and running back-defensive back Grant Pearsall (6-1, 185) of Villa Park.

On Saturday, Donahue and Robinson will have another chance to sell their schools to many of these impressionable teen-agers.

Notes

The weeklong early signing period for basketball ended Wednesday. USC, which briefly considered offering one of its two remaining scholarships to 6-foot-3 guard Jamie Gillin of Compton Dominguez, ended up signing only 6-foot guard Cameron Murray of Glendora. Coach George Raveling said the Trojans will probably keep their scholarships to use next year. . . . One of the spectators at UCLA’s intrasquad game last week at Pauley Pavilion was 6-6 guard Jelani Gardner of Bellflower St. John Bosco. Gardner is expected to choose from UCLA, Arizona State and Arkansas during the spring signing period. Another guest at the scrimmage was Gardner’s teammate, 6-4 freshman Schea Cotton, one of the top high school freshmen in the country. . . . Earlier this week, Arizona State signed 6-8, 215-pound forward James Cunningham of Edmond, Okla. Cunningham also considered Oklahoma, Mississippi and Southern Methodist. Last week, the Sun Devils signed 6-3 guard Jeremy Veal of San Dimas, who chose Arizona State over Loyola Marymount and Long Beach State.

Several prominent big men signed letters of intent this week. The biggest surprise was 6-9, 245-pound forward Adonal Foyle of Hamilton, N.Y., who announced Wednesday that he had signed with Colgate, where both of his legal guardians are professors, instead of Duke or Syracuse. Others signees: 6-9 power forward Danny Fortson of Pittsburgh, who chose Cincinnati; 7-foot Raef LaFrentz of Monona, Iowa, who signed with Kansas; 6-10 center Jahidi White of St. Louis, who picked Georgetown, and 6-7 power forward Norman Nolan of Baltimore, who chose Virginia. . . . Add big men: Most familiar name to sign was 6-10 Adam Walton of Del Mar Torrey Pines. Walton, the son of former UCLA and NBA standout Bill Walton, signed with Louisiana State. He was not heavily recruited and is considered something of a “project” player.

Football report: Washington, whose recruiting figures to suffer dramatically in the first year of Pacific 10 Conference-imposed sanctions, has received an unwritten commitment from Ben Kadletz, a 6-4, 250-pound lineman from La Canada St. Francis.