USC Football: 5-Star Safety Commits to USC at Under Armour All-American Game

It was reminiscent of 2008, the year Manti T’eo who had wanted to attend and play for USC his whole life flipped his commitment to Notre Dame. Sure, the Trojan faithful already knew that 4-star Mission Viejo High School (Mission Viejo, California) safety Max Redfield, who has recently de-committed from USC, announced his intention to play for the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

But who cares, right, as 5-star safety Leon McQuay III announced his commitment to the Trojans at the 2013 Under Armour All-American game.

Make no mistake, USC’s 2013 recruiting class is full of potential superstars. Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron, Tee Martin and the rest of the Trojan recruiting juggernaut have been doing their jobs well. So well in fact, that Trojan fans across the vast Interwebs have gotten re-energized for the 2013 season based on the performance and spirit of these 18-year-old future Trojan players.

Leon McQuay III is a huge get. Max Redfield who? For one thing, McQuay is a braniac and made the decision in favor of USC due to both academics and the Los Angeles music scene. He is a 6'2”, 185-pound athlete from Armwood High School in Seffner Florida.

Trivia: In 2011, Armwood traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to take on my alma mater Bishop Gorman who had not lost a game in precisely forever and beat the Gaels.

McQuay has a 4.28 grade point average, making him very attractive to Coach Lane Kiffin and Athletic Director Pat Haden who are well-known for being focused on academics and graduation rates.

McQuay will enroll at USC in time for spring football. Also under consideration alongside USC for McQuay were Florida State, Michigan, Oregon and Vanderbilt. McQuay is the Trojans’ seventh early enrollee.

While McQuay may be turned on by the Los Angeles locale and the music scene, his parents played a part, no doubt, in steering the academic-minded athlete to USC. It is no doubt that USC offers academic options McQuay could not get at any of the other schools pursuing him, especially given his chosen field of study. McQuay plans to study musical engineering through the Thornton School of Music at USC.

With McQuay’s commitment, the Trojans have a powerful set of 5-star safeties in the recruiting class of 2013 in Leon McQuay III and Su’a Cravens.