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Last night on Twitter, four-star defensive lineman Canton Kaumatule announced that he would be graduating from high school this December so that he would be ready for early enrollment.
Excited to announce that I'll be graduating in December for early enrollment in college! #Blessed
— Canton Kaumatule (@CantonKaumatule) October 23, 2014
USC has been looking at defensive line prospects since the Trojans will be especially thin in two years after the current crop of trench beasts -- Leonard Williams, Antwaun Woods, Greg Townsend Jr., Delvon Simmons, Claude Pelon, Charles Burks and Cody Temple are ALL JUNIORS -- will all be gone.
The only defensive linemen even on the roster currently are Kenny Bigelow, currently recovering from a knee injury, and outside rushers freshmen Malik Dorton and Don Hill.
USC currently has verbal commitments from Noah Jefferson, Chrisitan Rector and Jacob Daniel, who is nursing another knee injury currently. The Trojans are also also going after five-stars Rasheem Green from Serra and Orange Lutheran's Keisean Lucier-South, but could they be in the running for Canton Kaumatule as well?
The Oregonian recruiting writer Andrew Nemec has the Trojans and the Oregon Ducks as Kaumatule's co-leaders:
4* DL @CantonKaumatule named Oregon (#GoDucks) and USC (#FightOn) as co-leaders and intends to enroll in college early. Story in the A.M.
— Andrew Nemec (@AndrewNemec) October 23, 2014
Canton Kaumatule is a consensus four-star recruit (and a top 50 recruit for both ESPN and 247sports) from Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii. He stands 6'7" and weighs in at 295 pounds and was once considered the top recruit in the Class of 2015. He could be a key recruit for the Trojans. If they are able to wrap up Kaumatule as an early enrollee, the Trojans will have a strong class before even getting to February's National Signing Day.
"The chances of me going to Oregon or USC are really high," he said, before clarifying that he'd like to visit a couple other big-time programs. "I'm really excited, but like I said, I don't want any schools to get the wrong idea." -- The Oregonian
As of right now, it would appear Oregon has the upper hand since Kaumatule will be visiting there this weekend, but he already has a visit set to visit USC this season as well.
For more on Canton Kaumatule, check out Nemec's story and this great recruiting profile from our SB Nation brethren.