USC lands its first 2020 football commitment since September

USC’s recruiting efforts got some positive news Monday afternoon for the first time in nearly three months.

Casey Collier, a 6-foot-7 offensive lineman out of Barbers Hill High in Mont Belvieu, Texas, announced his intentions to sign with the Trojans on social media, becoming the first addition to USC’s 2020 recruiting class since Sept. 4.

The 300-pound, three-star offensive tackle prospect chose the Trojans after decommitting from Minnesota in October. USC offered soon after, adding to a double-digit list of scholarship offers that was highlighted by the Gophers as well as Arizona, Houston, Missouri and Texas Tech.

Collier’s commitment comes on the heels of his official visit to USC for the UCLA game the weekend before Thanksgiving. During the trip, he got a chance to sit down and talk with coach Clay Helton. Collier told 247Sports that Helton said he reminded the coach of former USC offensive lineman Tyron Smith.

Collier is ranked the No. 95 offensive tackle in the 2020 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, and the No. 166-rated prospect in the state of Texas this year. He becomes the 11th commit in the 2020 class and is the sixth offensive lineman to choose the Trojans. Collier joins Moorpark High four-star Jonah Monheim and three-star prospects Joey Wright, Caadyn Stephen, Andrew Milek and Andrew Dewerk, who are all from outside of Southern California.

The addition of Collier bumped USC’s recruiting class from No. 76 overall to No. 67. The Trojans still have a lot of work to do to get close to the No. 20 class ranking they finished with last year, which was USC’s worst in the modern recruiting era.