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USC Commitment: Markeith Ambles Commits and Signs With USC

There were a lot of rumors swirling yesterday but Markeith to USC is now official. Not sure about Markeith's character but he's a supremely talented receiver. Will elaborate later.

Predictions: 2/2

Recruiting: Predictions for National Signing Day

Here's my stab at who I think we sign on National Signing Day:

Seantrel Henderson, OT (start with a bang!)
Markeith Ambles, WR
Josh Shirley, OLB
Christian Thomas, TE
Nickell Robey, CB
Demar Dorsey, S
John Cullen, OT
Glen Stanley, LB
Soma Vainuku, FB
Sean Parker, S

I still consider Giovanni Di Poalo a commit (albeit soft) so it's a matter of him decommitting or not.  It'd be a complete guess, but I think he sticks with SC.  I also think, as I've mentioned before, that Dak Smith is out.

So with that said, we have 12 current commits, and I think we take 10 players on National Signing Day whether it's the list above or completely different.  You might be wondering, "Well that only adds up to 22 commits which is well short of the scholarships available!"

Here's where I go out on a limb and say Lane purposely keeps this class small in anticipation of the NCAA sanctions coming up later this month.  Yes, call me crazy.  I think the NCAA buckets everything under "lack of institutional control" and docks us 5-7 scholarships (over several years) which would round out the leftover scholarships.

Gotta give me some points for thinking outside the box ;).

Coaching: Willie Mack Garza Leaving Tennessee to Join USC Coaching Staff

And you thought Tennessee fans hated Lane Kiffin before?  That dial has been turned up another level.

Mack was one of the few remaining pieces of stability in UT recruiting.  UT just landed Justin Hunter this week after losing Markeith Ambles (who many expect will end up at SC); now they might potentially lose Hunter (among others) with Mack leaving.  This is a big blow for UT recruiting.

On to Willie Mack, this is a great hire by Lane.  Mack has tons of coaching experience and is a excellent recruiter.  He'll likely end up being the defensive backs coach, which on a side-note might seal the deal for Dietrich Riley to commit to SC, and will be big in making in-roads into Texas recruiting since he has a lot of roots in the state.

Under Armour Pulls Offer From Markeith Ambles

From ESPN.com:

Wide receiver Markeith Ambles (McDonough, Ga./Henry County) has had his offer to play in the 2010 Under Armour All-American game withdrawn and will not play in the game.

With Ambles' absence, it leaves the door open for players like Antonio Goodwin (Atlanta, Ga./Douglass) and De'Joshua Johnson (Pahokee, Fla./Pahokee) to potentially get invited to the game.

This isn't the first piece of bad news for Ambles this recruiting cycle. Southern California withdrew its scholarship offer earlier this spring and Georgia has not offered the talented receiver. Auburn also has elected not to recruit Ambles.

Ambles still has plenty of options in recruiting, though. He recently visited UCLA and several other West Coast schools and camped at Tennessee earlier this year.

Only getting worse for Markeith.

Markeith Ambles Says USC is No Longer Recruiting

From ESPN.com:

Ambles checked out Tennessee and took part in their camp earlier in the week and will likely check out a few more schools in the summer. He was planning to attend the USC Rising Stars Camp later this month but said the Trojans decided to stop recruiting him.

We'll have more from Ambles on his West Coast swing following the conclusion of his visit to Cal over the weekend.

Like I said last week, the truth to the rumors of SC pulling back on his recruitment would come out in whether he takes a visit to SC for an unofficial and for RSC.  Based on the report above, it pretty much seals the deal that the rumors are true.  Really unfortunate since Markeith is one of the better wide receiver prospects this year.

Markeith Ambles Rumors False... For Now

From ESPN.com:

According to sources within the Southern California program, the Trojans did not pull the scholarship offer to Under Armour All-American receiver Markeith Ambles (McDonough, Ga./Henry County), putting an end to stories circulating that USC was backing off Ambles.

Henry County head coach Mike Rozier said Tuesday that the rumors were just that … rumors. Rozier said USC assistant Todd McNair had spent two hours at the school checking up on Ambles last Friday, and that Ambles was still scheduled to take an unofficial visit to USC in early June. Rozier also added that he and Ambles both were scheduled to attend the USC Rising Stars Camp on June 24-25 in Los Angeles.

Wrote on Tuesday about rumors going around that SC and Florida had pulled their scholarship offers from Markeith Ambles.  Still not sure if I believe the report above.  The sources saying SC didn't pull the scholarship offer means little since schools rarely pull offers anyways - even when they stop recruiting players.  The head coach's word also means little since he has a vested interest in keeping Ambles' recruiting record clean.

The truth will come out in whether Markeith actually trips out to SC for an unofficial plus the RSC camp. We'll just have to wait and see...

Rumor: Markeith Ambles No Longer Has Offer from USC?

Wow.  Big rumor going around that SC and Florida have pulled their offers from Markeith Ambles due to off-the-field issues.  Whatever went down must have been pretty big to have the two leading schools back out of the recruiting race.

Very disappointing news since I thought Markeith was the best WR prospect we've offered so far in the 2010 class.

New Rivals100: Ronald Powell Rated 5-Star; Demetrius Wright Enters Top 250

From Rivals.com:

12.  Ronald Powell - 5 Star
17.  Robert Woods - 4 Star
18.  D.J. Morgan - 4 Star
20.  Anthony Barr - 4 Star
24.  Xavier Grimble - 4 Star
27.  Dillon Baxter - 4 Star
32.  Malcolm Jones - 4 Star
38.  Markeith Ambles - 4 Star
41.  Brennan Clay - 4 Star
45.  Tony Jefferson - 4 Star
54.  Sean Parker - 4 Star
62.  Christian Thomas - 4 Star
70.  Jake Matthews - 4 Star
89.  Demarco Cobbs - 4 Star
102.  Demetrius Wright - 4 Star

Bold = Committed

Rivals just released their updated top 250 ranking.  Here are some thoughts:

- Ronald Powell moved up one spot and earned himself a 5th star, which I guess is deserved simply on his potential alone.

- Robert Woods moved into the top 20 which I don't understand.  Am I the only person that thinks there's too much hype behind this kid?  I personally think he's a fringe top 50 player.  Maybe I just don't see it.  To top it off, Woods moved up while Markeith Ambles dropped out of the top 30.  I'll take Ambles over Woods any day.

- Still not sold on current commit D.J. Morgan as a top 20 player.  No doubt he shows flashes of brilliance, but I don't know if he has the consistency.  Will have to wait and see.

- In the last ranking I commented on Malcolm Jones being too high at #11 so I definitely agree with him dropping down to #32.  He should be out of the top 50.

- Rivals keeps sleeping on Sean Parker, but I guess I can understand why since he's not a camp type of player and at this point that has the most weight.

- Demetrius Wright, who's been a hot name lately, finally moved into the top 250 debuting at #102.  Kid will continue to move up.  Hope SC plays this one hard.

- This year's QB class is BAD.

USC Leads for 2010 Top 10 WR - DeMarco Cobbs

From ESPN.com:

Under Armour All-American athlete DeMarco Cobbs told ESPN affiliate Web site WeAreSC.com, "I talk to USC a lot, and right now they're my number one school. They have great academics, they put guys out to the league (NFL) every year and I have a lot of family out there." 

He added, "I like the fact that they produce big receivers. I watched guys like Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett and Patrick Turner accomplish big things. They also recruit the top players, so I'll be surrounded by top players."

There's a few clips of DeMarco in the video above from the Army combine.  He's considered an Athlete, but almost everyone projects him at WR at the next level. He is currently rated the #80 player in the nation in the Rivals100. He is listed at 6'1 198lbs with a 4.76 40-yard dash, which has to be wrong judging from his highlight tapes.

I'm really not going to get my hopes up on this one with local schools like Oklahoma and Arkansas pressing hard.  We all saw what happened with Joe Adams and Alshon Jeffrey in the past few years; it's hard to believe anything at this point.

On a side-note, make sure to check out Markeith Ambles in the first 3-4 clips of the same video above. He's one of SC's top WR targets for 2010 and showing lot of interest.  I'd take him over any current WR in CA; just watch him torch the DB's with his effortless route-running.  So fluid and smooth.

Rivals Releases First Top 100 Ranking for 2010

Rivals.com

Complete ranking is here.  The following are some names that have SC high on their list:

2.  Lache Seastrunk, RB (TX)

6.  Jackson Jeffcoat, DE (TX)

10.  Jeff Luc, LB (FL)

11.  Malcolm Jones, RB (CA)

13.  Ronald Powell, ATH (CA)

14.  Trovon Reed, WR (LA)

17.  D.J. Morgan, RB (CA)

23.  Markeith Ambles, WR (GA)

26.  Robert Woods, WR (CA)

28.  Dillon Baxter, WR (CA)

42.  Tony Jefferson, LB (CA)

49.  Sean Parker, DB (CA)

57.  Christian Thomas, TE (CA)

62.  Jake Matthews, OL (TX)

77.  Delvin Jones, DE (FL)

80.  DeMarco Cobbs, WR (OK)

92.  Pete Thomas, QB (CA)

Bold = Current Commits

Lot of speculation came out of the Army All-American bowl as to whether Lache Seastrunk favored us since he was wearing SC socks (picture above) during practices - in all likelihood, probably shouldn't put too much stock in it.

Malcolm Jones and D.J. Morgan are rated too high and Sean Parker too low IMO. The one player I wish showed more interest in SC is Lamarcus Joyner (#7 player in nation) - kid is absolutely ridiculous.