Laying the Foundation: USC Recruiting (Five-Star Offers, Part One)

After a few days of back and forth resulting from my last article questioning the validity of Notre Dame's fans offering of purported advantages that the Trojans enjoy in their recent run of domination, we now get back to recruiting.

In this installment, we will look at a recent verbal commitment and some of the five star offensive athletes that the Trojans have offered scholarships to.

Let’s begin with a running back out of Fontana, CA who committed to the Trojans on July 10.

Anthony Brown

5’10” 176 pounds

Anthony Brown, an ESPN watch list “150;” is one of those guys who wowed the coaches at USC’s rising stars camp and was offered soon there after. It didn’t take Brown long to decide that USC was where he wanted to be.

Brown, who rushed for over 2,000 yards in 2008, will be looked at in a variety of areas, including corner back and kick returning.

Described as “an exceptional athlete,” who, as a running back, has “great vision,” Brown is also said to be a very good blocker who fights for every yard.

Although the Trojans have once again built a stable of running backs with the addition of Brown to a field of verbal commitments of running backs that include Trajuan Briggs, D.J. Morgan and possibly Dillon Baxter, the Trojans are expected to focus on the defensive backfield for Anthony Brown.

By the end of the high school football year, expect Anthony Brown to have shot up the recruiting services rankings and be the focus of competing programs hoping to steal this talented athlete from the Trojans.

Five-Star Offensive Athletes

These are the guys everyone wants and USC, in the Pete Carroll era, always manages to get their fair share of them. Many of these athletes are local to the southern California area, and those players represent a large portion of the “gets” for Carroll and the Trojans.

However, Pete Carroll always manages to get a solid share of national recruits as well. Last year it was Jarvis Jones out of Georgia and Frankie Telfort, from Florida, both linebackers, amongst others.

It is with Carroll’s national recruiting prowess in mind that we now turn our attention to the Trojan recruiting of the best prospects both locally and nationally according to the major recruiting services.

This installment will look at the offensive five stars that the Trojans have offered.

Kyle Prater (Wide Receiver)

6’5”, 205 pounds (4.55 40 time)

Kyle Prater, an all-everything wide receiver from Illinois, is considered by many to be the top recruit going into the 2009 high school football season. Big and fluid, Prater is a physical receiver who loves to go over the middle.

With USC’s wide receiver corp expected to take a hit after the 2009 season, Prater will be a main focus of USC’s recruiting efforts nationally.

Everyone wants Kyle Prater and it is easy to see why. Prater is a difference maker who is only going to get better. Whoever is fortunate enough to sign Prater will get a player who, barring injury, should be playing on Sundays for a long time to come.

In addition to USC, almost everyone has offered Prater, including Oklahoma, hometown favorite Illinois, Notre Dame and Michigan. These are also the schools thought to be Prater’s favorites.

Lache Seastrunk (Running back)

5’10”, 183 pounds (4.4 40-yard time)

Lache Seastrunk, a fast and shifty tailback out of Temple, Texas is probably the best all around runner going into the 2009 high school season.

Speedy and fluid, Seastrunk is usually gone by the time he hits the hole. With great vision to find even the smallest hole, Seastrunk has the ability to turn a small gain into a touchdown every time he touches the ball.

With the recent additions of Anthony Brown, DJ Morgan and Trajuan Briggs as verbal commitments as running backs to the Trojans, Seastrunk is expected to look elsewhere. However, when it comes to Pete Carroll and recruiting, one can never know for sure.

The Trojans always seem to pull that one or two recruits every year that no one expected them to get.

In addition to the Trojans, Seastrunk has received offers from Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, LSU and Auburn with Auburn the early favorite.

Malcolm Jones (Running back)

6’0” 215 pounds

Malcolm Jones, a fast and powerful running back out of perennial high school power house Oaks Christian high school in southern California, is a rising recruit who can pretty much do it all.

Jones, who took over for Marc Tyler at Oaks Christian after Tyler broke his leg, has been on the watch list for a couple of years as he has built an impressive resume running with his bruising style.

Utilizing his physical brand of running, Jones says, “My biggest strength is my leg power. It takes a lot to bring me down. It’s usually not one guy.”

Not a classic speedster, Jones still has the ability to shed tacklers and go all the way.

Malcolm Jones, despite the fact that his brother Marshall plays at USC as a safety/corner back, is not expected to follow his brother’s footsteps.

LSU, Notre Dame, and USC have offered Malcolm Jones but are all considered long shots for his services. UCLA, Stanford. Cal and Oklahoma are all thought to be even money favorites to land the talented running back.

Summary

In keeping with the strategy of offering only selected players in 2009, USC has a limited amount of offensive five-star players they have extended offers to thus far.

Of the players listed here, Kyle Prater perhaps stands the best chance with inking his name on the Trojans dotted line come signing day.

However, Prater is by no means a lock. The competition for this talented wide receiver will be fierce.

Seastrunk and Jones will be a major surprise if the Trojans sign either of them and the recent flurry of running back verbal commitments to the Trojans won’t help either of them to decide in the Trojans favor.

Next installment: Defensive five-star players who the Trojans have offered scholarships to.