RECRUITING / JEFF FELLENZER : Many Tracked Pearsall, USC Got Him

Grant Pearsall doesn’t have great speed. He can’t jump very high. And by most college football standards, at 6-feet-1 and 190 pounds, he isn’t very big.

So, exactly why was Pearsall, a Times first-team All-Orange County selection from Villa Park High, one of the most heavily recruited defensive backs in Southern California? And why were coaches Terry Donahue (UCLA), John Robinson (USC) and Rich Brooks (Oregon) in his living room at various times the past two weeks?

First, let him try to explain:

“College coaches tell me they need someone who’s like a quarterback on the field, someone who can call the defensive signals,” says Pearsall, who excelled as a tailback last season and also split time between strong and free safety.

“It’s not always size and speed that count the most.”

Despite rushing for 1,551 yards and scoring 23 touchdowns--five on kick returns--in his senior season, Pearsall leaves little doubt which platoon he prefers.

“Defense has always been my favorite,” he says. “You get to be a little more wild, a little crazy.

“Probably my favorite thing about the game is to come up and make the big hit.”

College scouts and recruiters noticed.

“He’s aggressive, tough and does a lot of things well,” says Dick Lascola, head of the Fallbrook-based Scouting Evaluation Assn., which provides videotape and written scouting reports on high school and junior college football players for nearly 100 colleges across the country. “He really makes things happen out there.”

Said a Pacific 10 Conference defensive coordinator: “Grant Pearsall is a terrific player. You need guys like him on your team.”

For Pearsall, tackling a ballcarrier in the open field was easy compared to picking a college. First, he narrowed his original list to four schools--UCLA, USC, Arizona State and Oregon. Then he agonized over several factors: His oldest brother, Jay, has a year left at Arizona State (another brother, Brian, plays football at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo); his girlfriend, Kayli Whitley, attends Oregon. And, although he felt no pressure, Pearsall admitted that his parents, Jim and Linda, preferred that he stay close to home.

After his final recruiting visit last weekend, to USC, Pearsall talked things over with his family and made his announcement earlier this week: He would become a Trojan.

“It was a tough decision,” Pearsall said. “(USC Coach) John Robinson has won a national championship before and that’s always been a dream of mine.”

Said Jim Pearsall: “John Robinson is a nice man. He came in early and offered Grant a scholarship early, and how can you forget that?”

High school and junior college football players can begin signing letters of intent Wednesday.

Notes

Both USC and UCLA seem on the verge of excellent recruiting classes. The Trojans’ group should rank among the top five in the country, while the Bruins are putting together a solid top 10 or 15 class. USC could end up signing as many as 10 community college players, an unusually high number for a top program, in a large class numbering about 25. The latest of four community college players to enroll in time for the spring semester at USC was defensive end Israel Ifeanyi (6-4, 230) of Orange Coast, a native of Nigeria. In addition, USC has unwritten commitments from offensive linemen Richard Beatie (6-6, 290) of Glendale, Heath Baughman (6-7, 290) of Bakersfield and Jesse Gomez (6-3, 260) of Santa Ana Rancho Santiago, who was recruited primarily as a long snapper; cornerback Mario Bradley (6-2, 180) of Cerritos, and tailback Leonard Green (6-foot, 180) of Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, who attended high school in Silver Spring, Md., and picked the Trojans over Maryland. USC is still recruiting defensive lineman Anthony Sanford (6-6, 270) of Pasadena, who has also visited Texas A&M.;

One of the top running-back prospects in the country, Delon Washington (5-10, 180) of Dallas, committed to the Trojans this week, along with another Texan, defensive lineman Antoine Simpson of La Porte. However, Washington, Simpson and another top recruit who committed to USC, Marlin Carey (5-10, 185) of San Diego Mt. Carmel, have not qualified academically. Other high school standouts who gave commitments to USC recently were: offensive lineman David Pratchard (6-4, 245) of Canyon, linebacker Bob Aubrey (6-3, 215) of St. Francis, defensive lineman Marc Matock (6-5, 250) of Salinas, tight end Rome Douglas (6-7, 250) of Claremont, wide receiver Larry Parker (6-2, 180) of Bakersfield, linebacker Willie Perryman (6-4, 215) of Burbank, tackle Ken Bowen (6-7, 315) of Orlando, Fla., cornerback Prentice Hill (5-8, 170) of Dallas Carter, and defensive back Brian Kelly (6-0,185) of Aurora, Colo. Wide receiver-cornerback Leon Blunt (5-10, 180) of San Fernando, who committed to Notre Dame last month, took an official visit to USC last weekend. He has also visited UCLA. Blunt “changes his mind every hour” between Notre Dame and USC, according to a source close to the athlete. Blunt has said publicly that he would honor his commitment to Notre Dame.

The Trojans are hoping to get some good news this weekend from All-American kicker Adam Abrams (5-9, 170) of La Jolla, who is expected to announce his choice--USC or Notre Dame. Reportedly, Abrams, brother of Stanford sophomore kicker Eric Abrams, favors USC while his father would prefer that he attend Notre Dame. USC is also awaiting the decision of defensive line star Darrell Russell (6-5, 290) of San Diego St. Augustine. Russell, widely considered the West Coast’s top prospect, will choose from among USC, Cal and Michigan. He has eliminated UCLA. According to his coach, Joe Medina, Russell had his best recruiting trip to Cal. . . . Add USC: Having lost their top quarterback prospect, Scott Covington (6-3, 175) of Dana Hills, who committed to Miami, the Trojans had been recruiting Brad Otten (6-6, 215), who left Weber State after showing promise last season as a freshman. Otten, from Tumwater, Wash., told USC coaches Friday that he has decided to attend Washington State. He will be eligible to play immediately as a sophomore, thanks to a rule just passed regarding transfers from Division I-AA schools to Division I-A. . . . Last add USC: The Trojans are still recruiting offensive lineman Caleb Brown (6-4, 290) of Santa Barbara San Marcos. Brown’s short list includes USC, UCLA, Cal, Arizona State and Colorado.

UCLA’s recruiting class was dealt a blow this week when offensive lineman Rick Austin (6-2, 300) of Rialto Eisenhower, who committed to the Bruins last month, changed his mind and decided to sign with Washington State. However, UCLA did receive commitments from fullback Jarvis Watson (5-11, 215) of Downey Warren; safety-wide receiver Larry Atkins (6-2, 175) of Venice; tight end Ryan Neufeld (6-3, 210) of Morgan Hill, a suburb of San Jose, and junior college linebacker Tim Waddleton (6-3, 215) of Hutchinson, Kan. Atkins also visited Arizona State and Oregon. According to a UCLA assistant coach, Neufeld is a receiver in the mold of former Bruin and current Ram Sean LaChapelle. He also visited Cal, Washington, Arizona State and Oregon. . . . Add recruit: One of the passengers on Waddleton’s flight from Kansas City for his recruiting visit to UCLA last weekend was USC Coach John Robinson, who got on the plane in Denver, took a seat in first class and apparently was unaware of Waddleton’s presence. Waddleton picked the Bruins over Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas and Pittsburgh.

Other recent UCLA commitments: cornerback-wide receiver Javelin Guidry (5-10, 165) of Cerritos Gahr, brother of UCLA freshman defensive back Paul Guidry; standout wide receivers Jim McElroy (5-11, 165) of Washington High and Tod McBride (6-2, 180) of Walnut, and offensive lineman Terry Williams (6-6, 260) of Placentia El Dorado. UCLA is hoping to sign wide receiver-cornerback Kenny Haslip (5-10, 160) of Pasadena Muir, an outstanding athlete who is also considering USC and Colorado. In addition, the Bruins may be the leader for highly regarded tight end Sheldon Jackson (6-4, 220) of Damien LaVerne. Jackson is visiting Cal this weekend; his other trips were to UCLA, Oklahoma, Arizona and Nebraska. The Bruins are also competing with the Cornhuskers and Miami for defensive lineman Jason McCullough (6-5, 250), a native of Allentown, Pa., who attends a prep school in Potomac, Md.

UCLA lost two coveted prospects to Notre Dame: All-American wide receiver Ty Goode (6-1, 185) of Lincoln, Neb., and linebacker-safety John McLaughlin (6-4, 215) of Hart High. Now the Bruins are going head-to-head with the Irish for one of the country’s top running-back prospects, Clement Stokes (6-1, 195) of Washington, D.C., Archbishop Carroll. Stokes said Thursday that he would like to attend UCLA but his mother favored Notre Dame or Syracuse. His brother, Sim, is a freshman defensive back at Notre Dame. How highly regarded is Stokes? During a recruiting visit last weekend, Syracuse coaches told him that he would wear jersey No. 44--the same one worn at Syracuse by such legendary running backs as Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little.

Add UCLA: Contrary to a published report, the Bruins are not recruiting junior college quarterback Tony Banks (6-5, 210) of San Diego Mesa. However, the Bruins had hoped to sign another San Diego prospect, linebacker Terrell Cade (6-3, 220) of Lincoln High, but he committed to Colorado. Two other losses this week were linebacker Brandon Williams (6-4, 240) of Buffalo, who chose Wisconsin over UCLA, and defensive lineman Cliff Scott (6-3, 245) of Milpitas. Scott picked Cal over the Bruins and Arizona.

Stanford is assembling its second consecutive standout recruiting class under Coach Bill Walsh. More good news came this week when Placentia Valencia fullback-linebacker Chris Draft (6-1, 205), also a top baseball prospect, chose the Cardinal over UCLA and USC. Other players who committed to Stanford this week include defensive backs Corey Hill (6-1, 200) of Tucson and Jeff Allen (6-4, 195) of Olympia, Wash. Hill picked Stanford over Notre Dame. Though Stanford did lose its top tight end prospect, Stephen Alexander (6-5, 230) of Chickasha, Okla., to Oklahoma, the Cardinal remains the favorite to sign two of the best wide receivers in the country: Anthony Bookman (5-8, 170) of Dallas and Damon Dunn (5-9, 170) of Arlington, Tex. However, Bookman is still considering Texas, while Dunn also likes Notre Dame.

Offensive lineman Jason Rempel (6-5, 250) of Calabasas is taking a recruiting trip to San Jose State this weekend. He has also visited UCLA.

Hoop report: Jelani Gardner, the 6-6 All-American point guard from Bellflower St. John Bosco, took a recruiting trip to Minnesota last weekend. He has one more official visit scheduled, to Syracuse, where he’ll watch the Orangemen play Kentucky Feb. 12 in the Carrier Dome. Last week, Cal Coach Todd Bozeman and Arizona State assistant George McQuarn were at St. John Bosco to see Gardner score 16 points as the Braves beat St. Francis 52-46. Gardner, as unselfish as he is talented, attended the UCLA-Arizona game at Pauley Pavilion last week, and said his top three college choices were Arkansas, UCLA and Arizona State.

Add Bozeman: Cal continues to recruit Gardner, too, and Bozeman’s reputation as a “player’s coach” and relentless recruiter could bode well for the Bears. Bozeman, as an assistant coach to the since-fired Lou Campanelli, was given much of the credit for Jason Kidd’s surprising decision two years ago to spurn such national basketball powers as Kansas and Kentucky to sign with Cal. Ironically, the recruitment of Kidd is reported to be at the heart of an NCAA inquiry into the Cal basketball program that, according to sources close to the case, will be outlined in an official letter to the school within the next month. The timing couldn’t be worse for Bozeman and his staff, what with the spring signing period for basketball players beginning April 13.

Pharoah Davis, a 6-5 forward from Highland High in Palmdale who made an oral commitment to San Diego State last fall but ended up not signing, has played well enough this season to attract interest from such schools as Arizona State, Oregon, Utah and Loyola Marymount, in addition to San Diego State.