USC Football Recruiting: Clearing Out the Offer List & Other News
In a busy week that saw the USC brain trust feverishly plan for a Saturday meeting with the Gophers in Minnesota as well as having to deal with the Reggie Bush saga, the recruiting department still rolls slowly along.
Although scholarships, of which the Trojans have few of at this time, remain at a premium, there are still a few out there. With several players being on the cusp of receiving one of those precious offers.
One of those players is Alex Mitchell, a big 6'3", 295 lbs. offensive guard from Jefferson high school in Oregon.
Mitchell, who plays a position of real need for the Trojans, is rated a three-star prospect by Scout.com. In an article by that same service, Mitchell says that USC is very close to offering.
In fact, Mitchell is quoted as saying, "Coach Cregg even told me that USC is taking two guards this year and he wants me to be one of them."
Heady stuff for a young prospect but Mitchell, while very interested in the Trojans, says he will not commit early.
One reason that the Trojans have not yet offered is because Mitchell's grades need improving. He says they have, and is just waiting for them to be posted.
Meanwhile, there are a couple of players who the Trojans have offered and they are both out of state prospects.
Savon Huggins is a good sized (6'1", 190 lbs.) running back from New Jersey, who, in addition to his physical gifts, is also academically talented. Holding a 3.8 gpa according to Rivals.com.
Listed as the 57th overall prospect for the class of 2011 according to Rivals.com, Huggins holds offers from most of the top programs in the country.
Unfortunately for USC, Huggins lists the Trojans as "low" on his lost of potential suitors.
And what would a recruiting report be that didn't include a wide receiver, besides unusual?
So, in keeping with USC's fascination with wideouts, the Trojans have offered Rival.com's No. 105 overall prospect, Kelvin Benjamin.
Benjamin, who has the size (6'6", 210 lbs.) that USC loves, joins Florida and Miami for the Belle Glade, Fl., prep stars services.
Benjamin lists all interested as "medium" in terms of his interest.
Finally, according to Scout.com, D.J. Pettway—a big defensive tackle who has already given his verbal pledge to Alabama—has said that he will take an official visit to USC at some point.
Pettway, who is off to great start in his senior season, holds dozens of offers from all of the major programs and is still being pursued by many of them, despite his verbal commitment to the Crimson Tide.
However, Pettway says he is still solidly committed to Alabama.
That does it for this week.
As the prep football season continues, the Trojans will find other diamonds in the rough to offer but as required with the shackles of reduced scholarships (as imposed by the NCAA sanctions), they will have to be careful with who receives those schollies.
In the meantime, righting the ship versus Minnesota will be first and foremost on the Trojans mind.
