FOOTBALL

USC Morning Buzz: Let’s See Who Evaluates Recruits Better

Elijah Vaikona, an offensive tackle from Santa Margarita High School committed to USC, was upgraded to a four-star prospect by Rivals on Monday.

Now here is the interesting part: Vaikona was not a first-team selection for the All-Trinity League team.

That means in about three years, we will see if Rivals or the Trinity League coaches know more about football evaluation.

  • Tailback Daune Morris of Oakland, Tenn., flipped from USC to Tennessee. This was expected but now means eight of USC’s 14 commitments from the South have decommitted. That’s quite a burn rate. I wonder how much of the recruiting budget was devoted to trips to Georgia, Florida and Tennessee?

At least Lincoln Riley finally ventured to Mater Dei High School a couple weeks ago.

  • Jerry Easter, a top 35 combo guard from Link Academy in Branson, Mo., committed to USC on Monday. Easter has family in Los Angeles and is a good pickup for Eric Musselman. He is also Musselman’s first high-school recruiting victory.
  • USC sent out an email Monday advertising its Game Day experiences for this Saturday against Notre Dame, including the now-famous running out of the tunnel with the team.

Are sales slow? It’s not like they promote this every week. Maybe now that the controversy has died down from the Penn State running out with the team, it’s OK to promote it again.

Gotta squeeze the last financial drops out of the season, I guess.

PICTURE OF THE DAY

Let’s get in the mood for USC-Notre Dame. Here is the reaction moments after Frank Jordan kicked a 37-yard FG to give the Trojans a 27-25 victory over the Irish in 1978.

USC was ranked No. 3. Notre Dame was No. 8. What gets forgotten is USC had to go to Hawaii the following week and won a lackluster game, 21-5.

USC was so upset with the officiating, school president John Hubbard got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the sideline.

17 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Let’s See Who Evaluates Recruits Better”

  3. Scooter,

    Do you think Jen, “Taco Lita”, Cohen will scream at the officials? Do you think she can even jump up and scream at them? She has not said a word about the condition or state of the program. You know Garrett would have said something and he would have lit a fire under Riley to go recruit and get out and mingle with the boosters. For $10 million a year, he can get out there and recruit. The program is top heavy and apthetic. They think the glory and accolades will come to them. they have to be earned. It shows that the AD or the head coach do not care as long as the checks cash. SC does deserves better with a better coach who understands SC and an AD that understands SC.

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  4. Budda,

    You were/are correct about the state of the program. You opened my eyes. It is disgusting and it hurts to see such a great program fall to a mid-tier program that is living off its history. Riley can’t call a game. he is a mid-tier ocordinator. The AD has no clue. Riley will never learn how to call a game. He has shown this. Next year they will be 8-4 or 7-5 with a loss at Oregon. Riley is lost.

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    2. Yes if things don’t change even with an easier schedule next year (no Ohio State or Penn State) we can also expect losses at ND and at home to Michigan.

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  6. Think Riley would consider North Carolina and playing against the ACC instead of the Big 10 ? The travel is nothing except a trip once a year to Nor Cal.

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  7. Vaikona – he is 6’8″, 370 lbs, he is obviously a project. He had offers from USC and Utah, but no offers from SEC. He had SD State, TX state, the gutties, and Clay Helton’s Georgia Southern Eagles.

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    4. Scott, where are the All Trinity League teams shared? Shared in multiple places that Vaikona ended the season at 6’8 340 and had 20 offers including Arkansas. Georgia made a late push to flip him which he declined.

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