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Former USC '09 Commit, Chris Metcalf, Signs with Nevada

From RGJ.com:

A linebacker who gave a verbal commitment to USC and was recruited by a half dozen major programs has ended up at Nevada.

Chris Metcalf, a 6-foot-2, 183-pound outside linebacker from Compton (Calif.) High has signed a letter-of-intent to play for the Wolf Pack, ESPN.com is reporting.

Rivals.com ranks Metcalf the nation's 28th best outside linebacker and lists him as a three-star recruit who also received offers from Tennessee, Cal, Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado. Oregon was also in on him, according to ESPN.

ESPN.com blogger Greg Biggins reported that Metcalf verbally committed to USC last summer, but USC did not send him a letter of intent during the week of signing day, reportedly because of questions about academics.

Good for Chris that he signed somewhere; almost year-in and year-out you see players in similar situations fade into obscurity (e.g. the infamous Randy Estes). Nevada will be a much better fit for Chris since his tweener status won't be as much of an impediment at the mid-major level.  That might sound like an insult, but success in college is really about fit and Chris wasn't going to see PT at SC behind guys like Frankie Telfort, Jawanza Starling, and Byron Moore.  Wish nothing but the best for Chris, he never wavered on his commitment to SC so he has my support.

Update On Chris Metcalf and USC

From ESPN.com:

"Chris had just taken the SAT and didn't have his score in by Signing Day," Bryant said. "He just now got his score back and he did real well so I think things will start to heat up for him. He hasn't scheduled any visits yet but we're working on that and hopefully we'll have some set up soon."

..."Coach Norton has called several times and said they definitely want Chris," Bryant said. "He said he still has his scholarship there and they are with him 100%. I just sent them his test score yesterday and that's what they were waiting on.

Not surprising to hear Chris is taking the process slow.  With the slew of safeties we took in with this class and Marquis Simmons (Chris's cousin) and Frankie Telfort projected to be OLBs, Chris is put in a tough situation.  The coaches project him to play either position, which in the case of Telfort is a testament of his talent, but with Chris, I believe is more indicative of his tweener status.

At the Army All-American practices/game Chris played primarily safety and struggled at the position against elite receivers.  He was slow to react to plays and just didn't seem to have the explosiveness and change of direction to stay with receivers.  On the LB side, Chris is still quite a bit away from being a legitimate linebacker at least at SC's level.  He has a lot of work to do in the weight room to build on his skinny frame and one has to question whether the added weight will only bring down his less-than-spectacular explosion and quickness.

No knock on Chris as person, I love the fact that he's been devoted to SC early on and remained loyal, but I think if he sticks with SC, he only puts himself in a tough uphill situation from Day 1.  If he wants to come in and compete, no doubt I'll be pulling for him.

Josh Pinkard Gets His 6th Year, Jawanza Starling Signs, and Other Recruiting Updates...

A handful of updates since my last post:

• Jawanza Starling faxed over his letter-of-intent on Thursday morning.  This is the 2nd year in a row USC will pick up a recruit from Lincoln HS in Tallahassee, FL (FSU pipline).  There were thoughts last year, after we picked up T.J. Bryant, that Starling would be a prospect that the coaches keep an eye on; nice to see that fulfill over a course of a year.  I love seeing the inroads being made into the state of Florida.

Starling is a big-time get for SC since we will have a mass exodus in the secondary in 2010 similar to what we saw with the linebackers this year.  Jawanza is a nasty hitter with great closing speed and he's going to fit nicely alongside Drew McAllister, who looked very good in limited minutes this year. 

• USC also picked up LOIs from Simione Vehikite and Hebron Fangupo.  I haven't seen Simione play but from what I've read he's going to play the hybrid FB role behind Stanley Havili.

Hebron is another big-time get and candidate to get early PT.  There is a reason why he was rated the #2 player and #1 DT in the JC Top 100 - this guy is simply huge.  He should be key in clogging up the middle next season.  Last year we were a little light at NT, although Jurrell Casey stepped in and looked solid as a freshman; Hebron will split time with Jurrell and Christian Tupou. 

• Saving the best for last, Josh Pinkard received his 6th year of eligibility from the NCAA after injuring his knee two years in a row, which means he will forego entering the NFL draft.  Josh looked solid last season and more importantly stayed healthy. 

Josh will move back to his original position at FS.  This means our starting 4 next season will be Pink, Mays, Wright, and KeTo putting our secondary at the top of the list in the Pac-10.

I love how this secondary perfectly compliment each other.  KeTo will be the pure cover corner lining up against faster receivers while Shareece will make plays in the flats and blitz from the blind-side; Pink will make the natural transition back to the center field role while Taylor will essentially play a hybrid position of SS/4th LB taking away the corners.

Other Recruiting News

With Starling, Fangupo, and Vehikite signing, Chris Metcalf is the only commit left from the '09 class unsigned.  I was surprised that Chris didn't pull a Michael Bumpus from '04 and jump ship after seeing us pull in our DB class. 

He has academic issues which is the current hold-up, but I won't be surprised if Chris has a change of heart about coming to SC.  With Moore, Hall, McDonald, and Starling coming in, Chris will have a hard time getting any PT.  

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With 3 scholarships remaining, SC is still on the radar for Bryce Brown and Orson Charles.  Bryce (top-rated RB from Kansas) was by far and away the best player at the Army All-American practices/game.  (I'm still perplexed as to how Tajh Boyd earned co-MVP honors with Bryce).  Miami is still the favorite in this race with his brother Arthur currently enrolled there, although there have been rumors of Arthur looking to transfer, but SC is still definitely in the running.

Bryce has gone on record saying he wants to be used like Reggie Bush, so it's no surprise that he'll take an official visit to Tennessee next week and then likely SC afterwards.  I've seen a lot of Bryce and he reminds me of a cross between Reggie and Jonathan Stewart; he's compact and physically imposing like Jonathan but has great explosion out of his cuts like Reggie.  After the Army AA game, he was without question the #1 player in the nation in my mind; if he came to SC, he would overtake Matty B. as the gem of the class IMO. 

As for Orson Charles, TE hasn't been a big priority in this class with Blake Ayles looking like a future 1st round pick.  Orson showed nice catching ability at the Army All-American practices/game, but with SC being the early favorite for Christian Thomas next year, and again TE being a non-priority, I'm a little ambivalent in this situation.

Chris Metcalf Commits to USC

From Rivals.com:

"I'm a commit," said Metcalf as he arrived on the campus of Servite High School for Rivals annual Junior Day event. "My coach has to call Pete Carroll to let him know it's official, but I'm ready for USC.

"Just going down there last weekend - I felt like it was the right place for me. I love the coaches, and I love how hype everything is. Things move fast at USC, and I like that. Everything is about competing and getting better.

"I wasn't sure if they'd offer at first, but I was leaning toward committing if they did. Everything just worked out, so I'm a Trojan."

Chris is currently rated a 4-star on Rivals and ranked the #100 player overall in the '09 class.  He is listed as a outside linebacker at 6'2 190lbs with a 4.6 40.  Should be interesting to see him compete against his cousins Maurice and Marquis Simmons if SC recruits him as a LB; Chris also plays safety at Compton and based on his size I'd imagine him more at the SS spot. 

We might have another commitment coming soon in Chris's other cousin, Justin Brown (DT), who's making it pretty clear that if he receives an offer he will become a Trojan.  So with Chris's commitment we are now up to 9 commitments for the 2009 class with a 10th commitment coming possibly in the near future.  Seven out of the 9 are currently ranked in the top 100.  Pretty amazing class Coach Carroll is putting together.