USC Football Recruiting: Jason Hatcher's 'Saga' Continues

After a few days to let the recruiting dust settle and amidst much speculation, the final destination for Trinity High School (Lousiville, KY) defensive end Jason Hatcher remains as murky as ever.

Hatcher, who decommitted from USC last week, was set to visit Florida and hometown Louisville as he attempted to ascertain where he would spend his college career.

However, those plans changed for Hatcher after Ethan Moore of Louisville Sports Live Radio reported that Hatcher's mother said that he wouldn't be taking anymore visits.

Except that might not be the whole story.

According to Nick Coffey, who writes for "The Cardinal Connect," Hatcher's mother told Steve Jones of the Courier-Journal that a Louisville visit might still be in the cards for Hatcher but not this weekend.

Confused yet? Wait, it gets better.

On January 24, Gerard Martinez of USCFootball.com tweeted that, "A source close to four-star defensive end Jason Hatcher says he has re-committed to #USC. Other sources say it will be a NSD decision."

Well, that clears that up doesn't it?

While the recruiting status of Hatcher remains unclear, one thing that has cleared up is USC's desire to hold on to the big defensive end.

Initially, after Hatcher's decommittment from the Trojans, speculation centered on USC possibly having rescinded its scholarship offer for whatever reason.

We now know that isn't the case.

Upon learning of the decommitment, USC sent recruiting coordinator Ed Orgeron—who would also be his position coach—to have a sit down at Hatcher's home.

This visit preceded the cancelled visits to Louisville and Florida by Hatcher and likely motivated the speculation that Hatcher had once again pledged to the Trojans.

So while young Jason's commitment remains unsettled, what is clear is that USC still wants him, which makes sense.

Beyond his ability, there is a possibility that when all is said and done, he could be the only defensive end in this class for the Trojans.

Former Trojan pledge Kylie Fitts has re-opened his recruitment after USC rescinded its offer to have Fitts enroll early and instead asked him to wait until fall.

USC's other defensive end pledge, Torrodney Prevot—a very quick but undersized player who will likely need a redshirt to gain weight—is listed as a "soft commit," and continues to take visits to other programs including one to Texas A&M last weekend.

No wonder Orgeron made the cross-country flight to Kentucky.

So where does this odd story wind up?

For USC's beleaguered coaching staff, which has received far more bad news than good of late, it hopes there is only one destination.

Back to USC, right where it began.