USC Trojans

ESPNU 150 defensive end Leonard Williams (Daytona Beach, Fla./Mainland) took his official visit to Florida State this weekend and left with a new outlook on his recruitment.

Going into the visit, Williams had Auburn and Florida at the top of his list. Now he says there are no favorites.

"I don't think it's right to list a favorite right now," Williams said. "I loved my visit at Florida State and I was really impressed with the coaches and how much the coaches and players interacted.

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LOS ANGELES -- The Trojans went 4-0 against UCLA when Rick Neuheisel was the head coach of the Bruins, but USC will be facing a different UCLA team on Nov. 17, when it faces Jim L. Mora Jr. for the first time.

UCLA hired Mora, who had been working as an NFL analyst the past two seasons. But it wasn’t his TV personality that landed him the job.

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LOS ANGELES -- There is a new era underway at the USC receiver position and it revolves around speed and the ability to make plays.

For as long as Lane Kiffin has been associated with the Trojans -- both as an assistant coach and head coach -- he has recruited and played “big” receivers such as Mike Williams and Dwayne Jarrett. Kiffin seemed to know how to use the bigger receivers, especially in complement with a “smaller” receiver on the other side such as Keary Colbert or Steve Smith.

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It definitely was a rough day for the Cal Bears.

Not only did they lose their defensive line coach and best recruiter, Tosh Lupoi, they lost one of their top recruits as well when defensive tackle Ellis McCarthy flipped from the Bears to UCLA Monday night.

Ed McCarthy, father of Ellis, responded via text with a simple, ‘Yes, Ellis committed to UCLA tonight,’ when questioned about the rumored switch.

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ESPNU 150 athlete Nelson Agholor (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) had great things to say about his official visit to Florida State.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior has his final official scheduled for Jan. 27-28 at USC.

"I had a good trip and a good opportunity to talk with Coach [Jimbo] Fisher and Coach [Lawrence] Dawsey," Agholor said. "They are good coaches and good people."

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California was on the way to putting together to top recruiting class in the conference this year when the Pac-12 recruiting game was turned on its head Monday morning, as Golden Bears ace recruiter and defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi left California and headed north to join the Washington Huskies.

Lupoi was cited as a big reason by just about every commit that chose the Golden Bears, and it will be very interesting to see the fallout from his move. Washington is obviously the biggest winner. The Huskies took a big hit when their top recruiter -- defensive backs coach Demetrice Martin -- left for UCLA this offseason, but adding Lupoi has the Huskies back on their feet.

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It’s not too often that there are as many roster changes in one week in college football team as the USC Trojans saw last week.

There were five transfer departures confirmed in RB Amir Carlisle, WR Brice Butler, WR Kyle Prater, DB T.J. Bryant and DB Patrick Hall. There was also an incoming transfer announced with former Florida safety Josh Shaw, who enrolled at USC in time for the spring semester.

Carlisle was the biggest surprise of the group. There weren’t any previously known issues with Carlisle, and his future was thought to be bright within the USC offense. He was a shifty runner with good speed, excellent hands and a surprising amount of toughness in his running style.

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USC hosted athlete D.J Foster (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) over the weekend. There were some rumors that Foster may have actually committed to the Trojans and although the athlete denied that, USC definitely made up a lot of ground.

Foster had previously tripped to Arizona State, California and Oregon. He eliminated the Ducks and had been a heavy Golden Bears lean until recently. ASU, the early leader, was out temporarily following former coach Dennis Erickson’s firing, but has made a strong late run. Heading in to the visit with USC, Cal and ASU were tied at the top of his board.

“I didn’t commit but USC definitely moved up a lot, I had a great visit there,” Foster said. “Right now, it’s really a toss up between SC, Cal and ASU, they’re all tied at the top and I have a lot of thinking to do. I think what stood out were the people I met there. The coaches and players were both really cool, the campus is beautiful and I like the offense a lot.

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Tight end Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick (Rocklin, Calif./Whitney) took an official visit to Colorado over the weekend. The USC commit previously visited Oregon and UCLA and will check out the Trojans on his final official visit next week.

Cope-Fitzpatrick committed last summer to USC, and the Trojans are still in a good spot with the nation’s No. 2 tight end prospect. If there is a school that couild make this one interesting, it’s the Buffs.

“I really enjoyed my time there,” Cope-Fitzpatrick said. “It was a small group of visitors, I think there were just four of us total. That was cool though because I got to spend a lot of time with the coaching staff there and especially head coach Jon Embree. I get along great with Coach Embree and he’s one of the few coaches that I feel comfortable talking about anything, not just football.

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After what happened with De'Anthony Thomas last year, any late-January official visit to Oregon is viewed as potential treason by many USC fans. And until last week, USC linebacker commit Jabari Ruffin (Downey, Calif./Downey) was being watched with great interest by that same group of people.

Though Ruffin committed to USC in the spring, a potential late trip to Oregon was on the horizon. That is, until Ruffin cancelled it last week. As a result, instead of preparing to see the Ducks before signing day, Ruffin took his final official visit to USC this past weekend and came away certain that he made the right decision.

"It's been locked in my mind that I'm going to be a Trojan," Ruffin said. "That's why I'm not taking any more visits. But this trip reminded me that this is what I'm going to be a part of for the next four years."

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Offensive lineman Kyle Murphy (San Clemente, Calif.) took an official visit to Stanford this past weekend and the Cardinal definitely sound like the team to beat right now.

“This was my fourth time visiting Stanford, so I already had a real good feel for the place,” Murphy said. “Every time that I visited or even on my home visit, the coaches were able to break things down for me in terms of how I fit in with the team and the offensive line. They see me as a tackle, right or left, and said I would have a chance to compete for playing time if I’m ready.

“That’s a goal of mine for sure. I would love to play as a true freshman, but I know I need to get bigger and stronger, and I’m definitely working on it. They never promised me anything, but in Stanford’s offense there are a lot of times when they play a jumbo package of seven lineman at one time, so I think if I come in ready to go, I’ll have a good chance to get in there.”

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Defensive lineman Aziz Shittu (Atwater, Calif./Buhach Colony) took his official visit to Stanford this past weekend. The lineman said it’s a four-team race, with three schools out in front.

Shittu is one of the nation’s elite defensive tackle prospects. He has already visited California for the Bears' big weekend in early December and was in town for Stanford’s biggest recruiting weekend of the year.

“I had a real nice time,” Shittu said. “I’ve already been to Stanford about 10 times so I was really familiar with the campus, the coaches and basically their overall plan for me. This weekend was about hanging out with the players on the team and some of the recruits as well. I wanted to see how I fit in with those guys and how comfortable I would be and I had a lot of fun for sure -- they have a great group of guys at Stanford.

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Recruiting at the wide receiver position has been interesting for the Trojans in the class of 2012. An early commitment from Jordan Payton (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian) was taken back when Payton and USC decided to go in different directions. Jaydon Mickens (Los Angeles/Dorsey) also bounced in and out of the Trojans class. But that hasn't been the case with Darreus Rogers (Carson, Calif./Carson), who committed to the Trojans one year ago and has remained the top in-state target for Lane Kiffin and staff since then.

Rogers was one of several official visitors at USC this weekend, and while he will take official visits to Arizona State and Oregon the following two weeks, the Trojans staff may have done enough to sway an important person when it comes to his final decision.

"I had a very lovely time," said Rogers' mother, Charlotte Polk. "It was great -- very informative. That is a great school and it's close to home."

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Just because the USC Trojans lack a quarterback in the class of 2012 doesn't mean they lack a strong recruiting presence.

Offensive guard Jordan Simmons (Encino, Calif./Crespi) has taken a cue from the USC coaches and become arguably the strongest recruiter in the Trojans' class. Simmons himself was a big win for the USC coaches, at it appeared he could be heading to California or Oregon at various points of the recruiting process.

This past weekend, Simmons was one of five Trojans commits taking their official visits to USC and he said afterward in a Facebook post that it won't be his last time on campus before signing day.

While many commits are working on fitting in final official visits around the country during these two weekends before signing day, Simmons wrote that he will be back on the USC campus next weekend, when the Trojans again host a big batch of committed and uncommitted recruits. Simmons won't be able to participate in the activities that designate an official visit from an unofficial, but he will be sure to make his presence felt around uncommitted recruits such as Aziz Shittu (Atwater, Calif./Buhach Colony), Tyriq McCord (Tampa, Fla./Jefferson) and others scheduled to visit USC on Jan. 20.

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