Trojans bulk up with football recruits
From the moment he returned to USC a year ago, Lane Kiffin talked about building a wall around Southern California to keep top local recruits at home.
Kiffin pretty much achieved his goal on Wednesday, the first day that high school and junior college players could sign letters of intent, though he lost out on Crenshaw’s highly regarded De’Anthony Thomas, who chose Oregon after verbally committing to USC.
“I’m always going to not be excited if it’s not everybody,” Kiffin said before the announcement of Thomas’ reversal. “But unfortunately you can’t get everybody every time.”
The Trojans took advantage of a stay in their appeal of NCAA sanctions to sign 22 players. Coupled with the eight that enrolled in January and count against the 2010 class, USC’s roster grew by 30.
After an 8-5 finish last season, USC loaded up on linemen and linebackers in putting together a class ranked among the nation’s best by several recruiting websites. ESPN.com and Rivals.com ranked the Trojans’ haul fourth. Scout.com ranked it fifth.
“They basically got the whole enchilada but they didn’t get the cherry on top,” said Allen Wallace, national recruiting editor for Scout.com, referencing Thomas. “I don’t think another team in the United States filled as many needs as USC.”
Kiffin and recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron were disturbed that Pete Carroll’s staff signed only three offensive linemen in the last two recruiting classes. So they made the position group a priority, signing four Wednesday, including Aundrey Walker of Glenville High in Cleveland, to go along with two JC transfers who enrolled last month.
Christian Heyward of San Diego Point Loma and Greg Townsend Jr. of Beverly Hills were among five defensive linemen, and Lamar Dawson of Boyle County High in Danville, Ky., was one of four linebackers signed Wednesday.
Receiver George Farmer of Gardena Serra is regarded as the player most likely to contribute as a freshman.
“The sanctions did not have an impact,” said Jeremy Crabtree, ESPN.com’s senior coordinator for recruiting. “The class is deep and has players that can make an immediate impact.
“They did well by getting all those bodies up front on both sides of the ball because that’s going to be especially difficult to recruit if the sanctions come down for future seasons.”
Thomas’ decision Wednesday night was preceded by more drama earlier in the day. Lakewood offensive lineman Torian White, who had verbally committed to UCLA, announced that he would attend USC before reversing himself again and signing with the Bruins.
Also, the website FanHouse reported that the NCAA would cite Tennessee and Kiffin with a “failure to monitor” violation for alleged improper contact with recruits during Kiffin’s 14-month tenure at the school. The website, citing unnamed sources, said a hearing was scheduled this summer.
Kiffin declined to comment on the FanHouse report.
Instead, he looked forward to recruiting without a bowl ban hanging over the program. That part of the NCAA penalties expires after next season.
“It actually will be refreshing now to go on to next year’s class and be on a level playing field,” Kiffin said.
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