The Arizona media, like most college sports media when a blue-chip recruit commits, has been euphoric since defensive end Elijah Rushing committed to the Wildcats earlier this week. They say he is the highest-rated prospect in program history. But he is still only a four-star recruit according to Rivals. Imagine that? He is a 247 five-star, as they consistently rank recruits higher than Rivals. Does … Continue reading USC Saturday Buzz: The Stars Are Not Aligned In Recruiting

Dylan Williams, a linebacker from Long Beach Poly, committed to Oregon. He decommitted from USC last October. “Two students admitted to USC in the 2021-2022 academic year did not meet the school’s minimum math requirement; the other two had not submitted proof they graduated from high school.” Now I’m sure every school does this. But how did two students not even have proof they graduated … Continue reading The Friday USC Column Supplement

Let’s not waste any time this week and dive straight into what matters most on a Friday. He was just 17 years old when he competed for the United States at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Sakamoto won 4 NCAA individual championships at USC: the 1968 NCAA all-around title; the 1967 and 1968 NCAA parallel bars titles and 1968 NCAA horizontal bar title. He … Continue reading If It’s Friday, It’s Time For A USC Notes Column

Elijah Rushing, a five-star defensive end per 247, committed to Arizona today. A Pac-12 coach told me he heard Rushing is getting $1 million a year to go to Arizona. I’m not criticizing that. Just reporting it. USC certainly uses NIL to its advantage. It just shows you where things stand today with NIL. I’d like NIL a lot more if more athletes got paid … Continue reading Notes: A Five-Star Makes Quite A Decision

College football analyst Phil Steele has USC ranked No. 7 in his top 40 preseason poll. Steele puts a lot of time into his research, probably more than any other preview magazine. But all rankings are a guess/prediction. Remember that Steele had USC ranked No. 3 in his Top 25 for 2015. USC went 8-6. Steele ranked USC No. 6 on his list of surprise … Continue reading USC Morning Buzz: Even Well-Researched Predictions Can Be Off

Four-star cornerback Zabien Brown of Mater Dei will make his college commitment on Sunday. His finalists are USC, Alabama and Ohio State. Continue reading USC Notes: Recruits Keep Deciding In July