USC Is Paper Champ

So USC, some experts say, is at the top of the football recruiting class.

Riding a wave of success from their Orange Bowl victory and Carson Palmer’s Heisman Trophy triumph, the Trojans on Wednesday showed they own Southern California like no school in recent memory.

On the first day football players could sign letters of intent, Coach Pete Carroll and his staff landed just about everybody they wanted, including a really big one -- All-American receiver Whitney Lewis of Ventura St. Bonaventure High.

But there are no guarantees that being No. 1 in recruiting will translate four years later into a national championship.

Since 1993, only Tennessee went from a No. 1 recruiting ranking to national champion four years later. Three schools that were ranked No. 1 in recruiting by one tracking organization ended up unranked four years later in the final Associated Press poll.

Florida State had the top recruiting class in 1997 and won a national championship two years later, but USC just needs only to look across town for a more sobering example.

UCLA was deemed a recruiting champion in 1998 but finished 8-5 last season, and its coach, Bob Toledo, was fired.

Future NFL players DeShaun Foster, a running back, and Robert Thomas, a linebacker, were part of that class of ’98.

But so were high school All-Americans Blake Worley and Lovell Houston.

Worley, an offensive lineman, retired before the 2001 season after suffering his third concussion. Houston, a defensive back, transferred to Colorado after one season.

The two quarterbacks in that haul were Ryan McCann, who transferred to Division I-AA Tennessee Chattanooga after three seasons of mostly sitting on the bench, and Cory Paus, who suffered through four years of injuries and mostly unfulfilled expectations. Projecting the performance of even high school all-stars such as Paus is an inexact science.

“You have some kids who have been pampered and have physically dominated at the high school level, but you don’t know which kids at the next level will have the mental makeup and work ethic to compete,” said Newhall Hart High Coach Mike Herrington. Three former Hart quarterbacks started for Pacific 10 Conference schools last season.

The Trojans didn’t sign a top quarterback, which is highly unusual for a top-ranked recruiting class and only further demonstrates the overwhelming talent they picked up at other positions.

For example, the college recruiting champion chosen by SuperPrep magazine the last five years always signed at least one top quarterback. Texas had Chris Simms in 1999 and Florida got Brock Berlin in 2000.

“But [the Trojans] are so impressive in other areas,” said the magazine’s Allen Wallace, who has been ranking classes since 1985.

SuperPrep and Student Sports both put USC at No. 1 this year.

There were several last-minute decisions announced Wednesday. Louisiana State suffered a surprise defection when All-American quarterback Robert Lane from Monroe, La., signed with Mississippi after earlier committing to the Tigers.

Florida State picked up the top two-way player, Ernie Sims, a running back and linebacker from Tallahassee, the No. 1-rated player in the nation by one publication.

In the Pacific 10, California beat out UCLA and Washington for some Southern California players, including receiver Devin Stearns of Gardena Serra, defensive lineman Matthew Malele of Carson and defensive lineman Brandon Mebane of Los Angeles Crenshaw.

Oregon was the choice of quarterback Dennis Dixon from San Leandro. Sam Keller, a quarterback from Danville who earlier committed to Michigan, signed with Arizona State.

But nothing was more noteworthy than Lewis’ decision. He planned to sign with Florida State, but his mother, Sherry Laws, insisted he sign with USC.

“She knew what was best for me,” Lewis said.

Also signing with the Trojans was All-American receiver Steve Smith of Woodland Hills Taft.

Since last fall, Smith was considered to be leaning heavily toward USC. Then Tennessee made a powerful impression on Smith, causing him to spend weeks going back and forth.

Smith said Carroll convinced him not to pass up the opportunities he’ll receive as a Trojan.

“It was good communication with the coaches,” Smith said. “This is probably one of my toughest decisions ever. I hope it’s the right one. It feels like it.”

USC became a recruiting champion because Carroll’s enthusiasm, charisma and competitiveness are resonating among prospects in Southern California.

“He’s really the hottest college coach in America,” Wallace said.

Now the question is, four years from now, will he still be?

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Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

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Four Years Later

A look at college football teams who had No. 1 recruiting classes and how they fared four years later in the Associated Press final rankings:

*--* Year School Final Rank 1993 Florida State 1997, No. 3 1994 Tennessee 1998, No. 1 1995 Notre Dame 1999, unranked 1996 Penn State 2000, unranked 1997 Florida State 2001, No. 15 1998 UCLA 2002, unranked Source: SuperPrep magazine

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