TrojanNYC.com

More on Frankie Telfort...

From MiamiHerald.com:

Telfort, 17, has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that affects one in 500 people and hardens cardiac muscles, restricting blood flow.

"He was actually very lucky,'' said Dr. Steven Lipshultz, chairman of the pediatric department at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine and the principal investigator for the National Cardiomyopathy Registry. ``The routine physicals you get in high school do not identify all athletes or children who are at risk. . . . He didn't just develop this -- it is something that has been there.''

Been too busy to comment on this unfortunate news.  I really feel for Frankie considering he was a model recruit with exceptional talent on the field and excellent grades in the classroom.  Anyone who read my blog back on National Signing Day knows how high I was on Frankie:

With that said, I'm going to go against the grain and trust my gut in choosing Frankie Telfort as the biggest potential gain.  Lot of recruiting analysts criticize him for being undersized, but the movement of weakside LBs seems to be heading towards the even smaller and faster.  And the discussion is likely moot considering SC will probably move him to SS.

Frankie is my favorite recruit in this class.  He's smart on and off the field, comes from the same school that produced Sean Taylor, has exceptional closing speed, and hits like a MLB.

I wish him the best in pursuing his academic dreams of becoming med student and eventual doctor.

Linebacker Depth

As for where it leaves us in terms of depth at the linebacking position, with Luthur Brown also in academic trouble, there is reason to be a bit nervous, but I have full faith in Uona Kaveinga, who looked promising last year, and Jordan Campbell to provide depth.  The coaches can also shift a guy like Will Harris to play a hybrid role or even bring Taylor up to the line and transfer the onus to our excellent secondary.

You also got incoming guys like T.J. McDonald and Jarvis Jones that can definitely step in and play minutes.  We should be fine barring any injuries between now and the start of the season.

Video: Florida's Friday Night Lights Highlights aka Chris Dunkley vs. Lamarcus Joyner

For the recruiting heads.

Reggie Bush & Kim Kardashian Break Up

Reggie's headed for a monster season.

Photo of the Day: Mark Sanchez Throws Out 1st Pitch for Angels

Mark also threw out the 1st pitch for the Mets back in April.

Disappointed: Tony Jefferson Heading to UCLA After Rising Stars Camp Treatment

From ESPN.com:

Jefferson was an early commitment to Stanford and then told me at the SoCal NIKE back in April that he had given a silent commitment to USC.

"I just thought it was best to go in a different direction," Jefferson said. "UCLA has really been recruiting me hard and I have a great relationship with Coach Neuheisal. He was personally recruiting me and I just think I fit in well at UCLA with the other players they have there.

"It wasn't anything negative with USC but I just think the opportunity to play early at UCLA was a better fit for me. I won't be taking any visits either, I'm done with recruiting. It was becoming stressful for me and overwhelming and right after I committed, I felt such a sense of relief so I know I did the right thing."

Tony was a silent commit at one point and leading up to the Rising Stars camp things started to change as the coaches cooled off.  After the camp, where Tony was basically relegated to 3rd string behind Dietrich Riley and Dion Bailey, the damage was done.  Now he's going to be a Bruin and TNYC is MAD DISAPPOINTED.

Mark it down right here, Tony is one of most underrated prospects in this class. In my opinion there isn't a more explosive and sure-tackler at the OLB spot in this class.  Yes, he is a tweener, which might be the reason why the coaches cooled off since Dietrich Riley is a much better prospect at safety and we already have a undersized explosive OLB in Frankie Telfort coming in, but bottom line is Tony is a player that you always take and worry about fitting him in the system later. Again, very disappointed by this news.

Lakewood QB Jesse Scroggins Commits to USC

From WeAreSC.com:

Jesse Scroggins' commitment to USC puts the quarterback prospect in a situation that is ideal to his development as a top-flight passer.

The Lakewood (Calif.) product should redshirt his freshman season for the Trojans, which will give him the opportunity to become a true student of the game and learn the ins and outs of USC's systems.

From a system stand point, Scroggins fits what the Trojans do really well. He's a pocket guys with enough athleticism to get himself out of trouble the way Mark Sanchez did. He has the arm to make every throw necessary at the collegiate level; Scroggins is more than capable of making the plays to receivers down the field that the Trojans' offense requires.

Been out last week so late on this one.  Another nice pick-up, Jesse brings much needed depth at the QB position next season.  Extreme circumstances aside, Jesse will redshirt his 1st year to develop his game and put separation between him and Barkley.  He's got the pro-level arm and the raw talent, but he needs to clean up his mechanics and develop better consistency.

Now that Jesse and Dion are both committed, there will be a strong push for Robert Woods, their childhood friend, to complete the trifecta.  SC will be hard on Robert since we need a go-to receiver in this class.  I've said in the past that I think Robert is a bit overhyped (not sure he deserves to be a top 10 player overall which many people believe he'll become by end of year), but as it stands now, he is head and shoulders above any available receivers out there in terms of skills and actual interest.  It makes a lot of sense for Robert to come to SC with the depth situation and makes a ton more sense for SC to recruit him hard with guys like Markeith Ambles and Chris Dunkley (never was really in the picture) out of the picture.

It'll also be interesting to see how this affects the recruitment of Robert's teammate, George Farmer (2011), down the road.  Lot of people think Farmer will be one of the best receivers out of CA in the past decade.  SC has offered early and there are rumors going around saying Farmer is a lean.

Video: Great VERSUS Sports Montage With Clips of Patrick Turner, Rey Maualuga, Joe McKnight and the Dreaded Mozique McCurtis Misplay

Very inspirational.

Dion Bailey Commits to USC - Is Jesse Scroggins Next?

From SCPlaybook.com:

“I have a great relationship with the coaching staff and I love Coach Seto,” Bailey said of the Trojans. “It’s great to be coached by someone like that, and be around that type of coaching staff with their background, and their history of winning.

“They produce players for the NFL so it’s a great opportunity.”

Bailey recently attended USC’s Rising Stars Camp and said the time that he spent on campus with the USC staff aided him greatly in his final decision.

“It showed me how they run practices and how they like things done,” Bailey said. “We model our practices after them at Lakewood, so I felt right at home.

Solid pick-up once again following the Anthony Brown commitment last week.  That's two good defensive backs added to the list in less than a week.  With guys like Byron Moore, Jawanza Starling, and T.J. McDonald from last year's class the future looks bright in the secondary.

DB Recruiting Done?

Even with Dion committed, I think SC will pick up another safety and definitely another corner.  The most logical pick at Safety would be Dietrich Riley who can play both positions.  Another name to consider is Demetrius Wright, who I've been very high on.  Finally you got Sean Parker, who is my favorite safety in the 2010 class, but he seems to be going elsewhere.

Will Jesse Scroggins Follow?

Many expect Jesse Scroggins to follow through with a commitment to SC now that his high school buddy has made his announcement.  I would be shocked if he chose otherwise.

OT: Penny Hardaway is Gay? Who Cares!

I remember the days reading Street and Smith's as a kid back when Anfernee Hardaway was still at Memphis State, he had a bunch of hype behind him before he came into the league.  I could care less about his sexual orientation/preferences, the man balled in his days.  If he didn't have to deal with injuries, he would have become one of the all-time greats.

Shareece Wright Avoids Jail Time; Pleads No Contest to "Disturbing the Peace"

From OCRegister.com:

USC defensive back Shareece Wright will avoid jail time after pleading no contest to disturbing the peace in San Bernardino Superior Court on Thursday in an incident at a Colton party broken up by police last Labor Day weekend.

As part of a plea agreement, Wright pled no contest to disturbing the peace,  a misdemeanor, his attorney Carlos L. Juarez said. Wright will be on one-year court supervised probation, fill pay a $456 fine and perform 200 hours of community service. Upon completion of the community service the charge will be reduced to a citation and eventually removed from his record, Juarez said.

Glad people see through this "disturbing the peace" nonsense (check the comments in the article above). First, they tried to charge Shareece with "resisting a police officer" even though he was never arrested the night of the incident.  How often do you resist a police officer and not get arrested?  Then the DA lowered the charge down to a misdemeanor trying to get Shareece to accept a 90-day jail term; of course Shareece's lawyers didn't budge.  Now they've reduced the charge down to "disturbing the peace" which will eventually be a citation when all community service are completed.

So, again, this case went from a felony charge all the way down to a citation. What a waste of time for all parties involved.