Some thoughts on USC's Junior Day:
- D.J. Morgan (above) and Dillon Baxter, both commits for 2010 class, are really making a concerted effort to try and recruit players to join the class. Baxter, who's been very involved in the program, reminds me a lot of D.J. Shoemate who also committed early and was vocal early on.
- Cassius Marsh, DT from Oaks Christian, was ready to commit at Junior Day but refrained from doing so out of respect of his parents' advice to cool off and think things over. Many still expect him to be a Trojan at some point.
- One of my favorite recruits of 2010, Sean Parker, took a break from the FBU camp over at the Coliseum to take in Junior Day. Lot of schools are starting to pick up on Sean and he's getting a ton of offers. The early word is he's looking to go to school out of state, but lately he's been open to staying local and is showing interest in SC. He had this nice quote:
"Just being around the players and coaches on Saturday was incredible. They have so much energy and you get fired up being around them. They have a great football program and who wouldn't want to be a part of a team like that."
One of his best friends and former teammates is '09 commit, Byron Moore, so hopefully that'll provide some pull in bringing in Sean.
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- USC offered Malcolm Jones, younger brother of Marshall Jones, over the weekend. He's one of the top big backs in CA (and likely the country) for '10. Personally I think Anthony Barr out of Loyola is a better prospect. Unfortunately it doesn't look like either player will come to SC; many people have Barr as a lock to Notre Dame and Malcolm to Stanford.
- Nick Montana, son of famed Joe Montana, was also on hand. Lot of hype surrounding Nick off of name value alone. I personally think he's a good QB but far from being elite. Playing at Oaks Christian on a stacked team in a sub-par league tends to skew things a bit.
Some argue SC needs to take a QB this class, which is valid because there is always the possibility of Corp transferring (I doubt Mustain will transfer again) if he loses the QB battle, which would leave us 1-deep going into the 2010 season. Pete Thomas is a name that is floating around and he was on hand for Junior Day. I'm hoping SC takes the QB process slow and holds off till next year…
- Lot of SC leans showed up in Dietrich Riley, Kenny Stills, Randal Telfar, and Ronald Powell. Powell looks like he'll be a lock to be rated one of the elite D-Linemen in the country. SC has been on Ronald since I first started this site. Ronald has mentioned that SC is his favorite school but lot of stuff can happen between now and signing day. Hopefully Tyron Smith (former teammate of Ronald) and the coaching staff will keep his interest level high and turn Ronald into this year's Devon Kennard minus the suspense.
- Tevin McDonald, younger brother of '09 commit T.J. McDonald and son of former USC All-American safety Tim McDonald, came down from Fresno to take in the day. SC has been more selective about handing out offers this year and Tevin has yet to receive one, but can change that at the upcoming Rising Stars camp.
Really liking Pete Carroll's approach this year in taking more time to evaluate players. With all the talent in CA this year, we definitely have a shot at pulling in the top class in the nation. Obviously lot of factors will come into play, but judging from the response from Junior Day, it is definitely a great precursor to the Rising Stars camp which has been a big hit for recruits and will bring together the elite talent across the nation.
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