Narbonne High School 4-star safety Byron Moore was given an offer he couldn’t refuse. After an impressive show at USC’s Rising Stars Camp, Moore -a UCLA verbal commit, was extended an offer by the Trojan coaching staff. A self-professed Trojan fan since he was seven years old, Moore decided to about-face and commit to USC. The 6’1, 200 lbs Moore was quoted in an SCplaybook article as saying:

“It was really hard, because I really like the UCLA coaches, they are a rising program. I thank them a lot for the opportunity they gave me. In the end, my heart was just at ‘SC’. Without a doubt.”

With the addition of Moore, USC is cleaning up in the safety department of the ’09 recruiting class, leaving the rest of the division-IA schools with slim pickings.

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This is USC’s third 4-star safety commit for the class of 2009. According to Scout the Trojans now have commitments from four of the top six safeties in the nation including T.J. McDonald, Patrick Hall, Byron Moore and Chris Metcalf.

With a talent pool this deep, expect to see some of these safety recruits trying out at corner and special teams, or possibly even getting tests on offense. Moore and Hall played on both sides last season, with Moore averaging 27.6 yards per carry rushing and 20.4 yards per catch receiving (on a limited 13 touches total). Hall saw a more extensive 40 carries for 301 yards rushing (an avg. of 7.53) and 5 receptions for 165 yards receiving (33 yards per catch).

Hopefully USC won’t resort to pulling receivers out of the DB position. With DJ Shoemate and Brice Butler coming in this season, and Randall Carroll, Alshon Jeffrey & Devon Flournoy entering in 2009, the Trojans should be more than set in the receiving department.

Either way USC’s defensive backfield is primed to move fast and hit hard for next five years.

*High School Data from MaxPreps.com