Future USC RB Brandon Campbell to sit out senior year in Texas

The coronavirus continues to change the way the world is doing things — and sports has clearly not been unaffected by this. Even though the state of Texas is seemingly headed for a high school football season, future USC Trojans RB Brandon Campbell will not be a part of that. Campbell told Rivals.com that he intends to sit out the final season at Katy High School.

“This decision was one of the toughest decisions for me because obviously, the competitor in me wants to go out there and be with the guys on Friday nights,” Campbell told Rivals. “Also, along with this being my last high school season, I definitely want to try and attempt to make one more state championship run. It hurts a lot knowing I will not have that chance anymore, but I am more excited knowing in a couple months I will be a collegiate student-athlete like I’ve always dreamed of so I’m very optimistic about my future and blessed knowing this isn’t the end for me.

“At the end of the day, people may see this as being selfish on my part but everyone will still have something to say no matter what my decision is ... you have to do what’s best for you and your family at the end of the day and that’s what was the biggest thing for me was.”

Campbell is the nation’s eighth-ranked running back according to Rivals, and the 24th-best player in the state of Texas. That’s a big blow to one of the state’s powerhouse high schools in Katy, who was, as usual, suspected to compete for a deep playoff run and a shot at the state championship.

Campbell committed to USC back in March, choosing the Trojans over Alabama, Florida, LSU, TCU and Penn State among his final teams.

“For one, they didn’t take a running back in the class of 2020. I feel like it’s a good situation for me coming in as an early enrollee in January of next year. I feel like I’ll give myself the best opportunity to play as a true freshman, and another thing was that the education is almost second to none. It’s shortly under Ivy League and that type of stuff. That was a big part for my parents and me as well — they liked to see it was going to be a good education and not only football. And really the last thing for me was just the media exposure — I feel it can’t get any better than Cali. It’s an easy transition from a big city to another, from Houston to LA, so I feel it’s just the perfect fit for me and I feel like I’ll fit in pretty well there.”

If Campbell were to enroll early at USC, and if we were to get a spring football season, there is the likelihood that he at least gets to practice and simulate what a real game week would look like. That experience could prove invaluable for him and the rest of potential early-enrollees for the future.

Glad you’ve made the decision yours, Brandon. We’ll see you soon. Fight On!