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Recruiting: Matt Darr Decommits From USC; Headed to Fresno State

Personally think this is a big loss. Matt would have been a potential All-American punter; our first since Tom Malone in 2003. Think back to how much Tom impacted the game; there were countless situations where he'd completely flip the field position with a big kick.

For whatever reason it became very clear after Lane got the HC job that the staff was no longer interested in recruiting Matt. Maybe Lane has another punter in mind or he needs the scholarship for another position. We'll see on Wednesday.

Recruiting: Update on the 2010 USC Recruiting Class

Quick updates on our current commitments:

• Dillon Baxter, RB
  Status:  Soft Verbal
  Prediction:  USC
  
  Dillon took the news of Pete leaving hard and has been looking around. He's scheduled to take an official visit to Oregon this weekend and Florida the following.  Chip Kelly is selling Dillon on being the next running QB in the Oregon spread offense; Urban is selling Dillon on being an all-everything back/receiver.
  
  In the end, I think Dillon stays committed to SC, although I'm not as confident about it as before. Right now SC has the advantage in that the competing schools are far from home and run a very different system from SC.  The cohesiveness of the current class should help, especially with kids like Kyle Prater and Robert Woods constantly in his ear.  I think a solid visit from the coaches will seal this recruitment.

• Robert Woods, WR
  Status:  Solid Verbal
  Prediction:  USC
  
  Robert didn't seem phased at all by Pete's departure.  Robert and his dad are set on SC, and with Damian headed to the draft, Woods has a solid shot to earn PT as a freshman.  My knock on him has always been his route-running, but watching him at the Army All-American game/practices, I was very impressed with how much he's tightened up his routes.

• Kyle Prater, WR
  Status:  Solid Verbal (Early Enrollee)
  Prediction:  USC
  
  After a shaky weekend, Kyle solidified his recruitment with the hiring of CLK and will enroll in classes on Monday.  It's always made sense for Kyle to come to SC due to our pro system.  Kyle needs to be in a pro-set to fully utilize his size and talents as a possession receiver.

Matt Darr, Nation's #1 Punter, Commits to USC

From ESPN.com:

Punter Matt Darr of Frontier (Bakersfield, Calif.), who averaged 46 yards as a junior, has committed to Southern California for the Class of 2010. 

Darr chose the Trojans over Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, LSU and Alabama. He also holds offers from Arizona State, Northwestern, Purdue, Baylor and UTEP, among others. 

He told ESPN affiliate Web site WeAreSC.com, "It was Sunday morning and we (My family) were talking about recruiting. I decided it was USC at that point. The only thing holding me back before was the possibility of taking a trip to Texas Tech. Once I looked at the schedule and saw that I couldn't make it, I decided to commit to USC." 

The 6-foot-2, 210-pound prospect also recorded 93 tackles and eight quarterback sacks while playing linebacker during 2008.

Heard about Matt briefly earlier in the year as being the elite punter in the country and someone SC would seriously pursue.  Brian Schneider is already paying dividends considering it's been a while since we've had an elite punter.

This commitment reminds me of the days when the joke would go around on campus about Tom Malone being up for a Heisman.  The word got out and it eventually gained some national coverage.  It was ridiculous and funny at the same time.

On an academic note, Matt has a near 4.0 GPA so there won't be any issues with qualifying.