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Fresh off a strong week catching bullet passes in Nike's The Opening, local four-star wide receiver Desean Holmes (Bishop Alemany High School) visited campus and met with coach Steve Sarkisian on Monday before officially announcing his commitment to the University of Southern California.
Now the 11th commitment in the 2015 recruiting class, Holmes provides USC another pass-catching target, joining junior college WR De'Quan Hampton on the offensive side of the ball. Holmes also joins former high school teammate Steven Mitchell, who's expected to be healthy this Fall, and might one day catch passes from Ricky Town.
"Coach Sark said they want to bring in one small, quick, fast receiver to put in the slot," Holmes told national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins of Scout.com "They have some guys they like outside but want me in the slot to move around and make plays with my speed and ability to run after the catch. Steven's really the only guy they have like that right now so I'm very excited about this opportunity."
So excited about @Deseanholmes13 deciding to be a Trojan! Welcome to the Family Bro! Fight on!
— Ricky Town (@RickyTownQB) July 15, 2014
#fighton I feel the need for speed!! #turnupSC
— Marques Tuiasosopo (@therealTUI) July 15, 2014
That means Holmes, the No. 22 WR overall and No. 43 prospect in California according to 247sports.com, could make an immediate impact in the Trojan quick-hitting offense. Just looking at some of the top prospects in the state of California, USC holds the inside edge on No. 2 Iman Marshall (CB), No. 3 Rasheem Green (DT), No. 4 Keisean Lucier-South (DE), commit No. 5 Ricky Town (QB) and No. 6 prospect John Houston (OLB).
SB Nation Recruiting Scouting by Derrell Warren (@yssd)
Holmes is recruit who's seen some snaps on the defensive side of the ball, but is almost exclusively being recruited to play wide receiver. Holmes Isn't the tallest receiver. He's far from being filled out at this stage so there's definitely room to add weight to his frame.
Holmes has good overall playing speed. But he isn't necessarily a player with elite or track type of speed. He is smooth in his movements and shows good burst, cleanly gliding away from defensive backs on in-breaking routes. Those are the types of cuts in which he creates the most consistent separation at this stage.