So now that the dust has settled lets take a look at how SC finished yesterday.
Here are the rankings as they stand right now. I base a top five finish on an average between the recruitng sites linked below.
So here they are!
QB Matt Barkley, Newport Beach (Mater Dei HS), 6-3, 220
DE James Boyd, Los Angeles (Jordan), 6-5, 230
WR De’Von Flournoy, Van Nuys (Birmingham HS), 6-0, 180
OL Kevin Graf, Agoura (Agoura HS), 6-6, 315
DE Kevin Greene, Oakland (Sacred Heart HS), 6-3, 235
DB Patrick Hall, Oxnard (St. Bonaventure HS), 6-1, 185
P-K Jacob Harfman, Chino (Mt. San Antonio JC), 5-11, 200
CB Torin Harris, Las Vegas (Palo Verde HS), 6-1, 175
DE Devon Kennard, Phoenix (Desert Vista HS), 6-3, 255
LB Jarvis Jones, Columbus, Ga. (Carver HS), 6-3, 225
OL John Martinez, Murray, Utah (Cottonwood HS), 6-3, 275
S T.J. McDonald, Fresno (Edison HS), 6-2, 205
S Byron Moore, Carson (Narbonne HS), 6-1, 205
LB Marquis Simmons, Compton (Dominguez HS), 6-1, 225
S Jawanza Starling, Tallahassee, Fla. (Lincoln HS), 6-2, 190
LB Frankie Telfort, Miami (Gulliver Prep), 5-11, 20
I am not going to lie, losing Te'o really did sting yesterday but everything happens for a reason...more on that later.
To me losing Jeffery was the bigger shocker because he really did look like he was locked up. In the end his family won out and after the Dexter Hazelton soap opera letting Jeffery's family win out might not be a bad thing for us.
Losing Burfict was unavoidable, I have a hard time seeing him even qualifying to ASU because from what I have heard he has a tremendous academic hill to climb. I think his not coming to SC may have been a blessing in disguise, we don't need an academic casualty waiting to happen taking up a scholarship. He is a stud no doubt and I would have loved to see him at SC but its just not worth the risk.
Randall Carroll much to my relief did end up at ucla, with all the DB's that SC loaded up on and with all the WR we already have I just didn't see a place for him. Coupled with a number of things he said in a couple of interviews and with some of his actions during the recruiting process it was clear that he was better off going elsewhere. He is probably the only kid I won't wish good luck too...I understand the process is a nightmare but when I see other kids handle it with grace and style regardless of where they go or what their family make up is when I see a kid act like Carroll did I know he is bad news. Good riddance.
As good as they could be Te'o and XSF's supposed strong desire to go on their Mormon mission was a big concern to me. I say supposed because if they don't what does that say about them. It was clear that both want to see immediate playing time because if they go on their mission they will be out of football 2 years and they would have a lot of catching up to do. Of course the cynic in me doubts that either of these kids will go on their mission. Very few LDS kids who go schools other than BYU seldom do. The coaches pressure them not to go or the kid was never really into going in the first place we'll see what happens here.
Another thing about Te'o's was that his family only toured ND so they had nothing to compare it to. I also read elsewhere where Norm Chow may have said to Te'o that he was cool about Te'o's not coming to ucla as long as he didn't go to USC. I have a hard time believing that but we have seen Chow be disingenuous before like when he tried to pull Sanchez fro USC while he was interviewing with Stanford so who knows what's in Norms head.
When you look at this class you can see where Pete Carroll really did some magic. With all the holes that needed to be filled he did a solid job of filling most of those needs. He pulls3 players out of Florida, one player from Georgia, one from Utah, one from Arizona and one from Nevada. That doesn't include the local talent that he has brought in.
There will be a lot of specultion about SC lost 4 top players but it means nothing at this point. There are a whole list of other schools that would have killed for our class. That Pete Carroll can go into SEC territory and grab 4 players is pretty impressive in and of itself. Make no mistake, USC fans are disappointed about losing out on those who went elsewhere but this is once a again a monster class!
Welcome Aboard guys!!