TrojanNYC.com

Recruiting: Sean Parker Commits to Washington

Always been a big fan of Sean. Great pick-up for Sark and U-Dub. Thought he'd come to SC, even though he wasn't the 1st choice at Safety, to stay close to home and go to college with his friends.
Predictions: 3/5

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 ;).

Thoughts on the Initial 2010 ESPNU 150 Ranking

From ESPN.com:

01.  Jackson Jeffcoast, DE
03.  Ronald Powell, DE
04.  Seantrel Henderson, OT
09.  Tony Jefferson, LB
17.  DeMarco Cobbs, WR
20.  Lache Seastrunk, RB
22.  Robert Woods, WR
24.  Sean Parker, S
28.  Xavier Grimble, TE
35.  D.J. Morgan, RB
42.  Joshua Shaw, CB
43.  Kyle Prater, WR
57.  Jesse Scroggins, QB
61.  Anthony Barr, RB
63.  Demetrius Wright, CB
68.  Khairi Fortt, LB
72.  Malcolm Jones, RB
111.  Dietrich Riley, RB/S
129.  Christian Thomas, TE
130.  George Uko, DT
138.  Dillon Baxter, RB/WR
139.  Ricky Heimuli, DT
146.  Cecil Whiteside, LB

Pretty bad list overall but there are some great calls mixed in with a lot of horrible ones. Here's my breakdown:

Great Calls

• Chris Dunkley @ #13:  He's currently rated #74 on Rivals but deserves to be much higher.  He's a little too high at #13 player due to his size but he's definitely top 30 talent.
• Sean Parker @ #24:  Been one of my most talked about recruits despite him likely going to ND but he's ranked #85 in Rivals and deserves to be top 30.

Good Calls

• Demetrius Wright @ #63:  Much better than #115 in Rivals.
• Malcolm Jones @ #72:  Who's been saying Malcolm is not even close to a top 20 player and should be out of the top 50 since March/April?
• D.J. Morgan @ #35:  I'm going to go bearish on the current USC commit and say D.J. dropping from #20 in Rivals to #35 in ESPN is a good call.  I actually think D.J. should drop a little further. He's a dynamic player but not good enough in any single area to deserve a top 25 ranking.
• Kyle Prater @ #43:  He's the top receiver on Rivals at #4 which I believe is way too high.
• Ronald Powell @ #3:  Top 3 is slightly high but the guy is a freak and can play both offense and defense.  Definitely a top 10 player.

Bad Calls

• Tony Jefferson @ #9:  I'm a BIG fan of Tony but there is no way he's a top 10 player overall.  Based on his tweener status alone he shouldn't be close to top 15.  He fits nice at #30-45 range.
• Lache Seastrunk @ #20:  Lache is absolutely a top 10 player.
• Trovon Reed @ #45:  Trovon is a top 3 receiver in this class.
• Anthony Barr @ #61:  Deserves to be ranked higher despite being too big for his position.
• Khairi Fortt @ #68:  Khairi is a top 35 player.

Horrible Calls

• Dillon Baxter @ #138:  Very bad call.  Dillon's stood out at elite camps all summer. He's an absolute top 50 player.
• DeMarco Cobbs @ #17:  The worst pick in this entire ranking.  DeMarco is way too raw to be top 20.  Almost laughable.
• Dietrich Riley @ #111:  Both Rivals and ESPN are completely snoozing on this one.
  
• Chris Martin @ #144:  Have to defend a damn Irish player here - #144?!
• George Uko @ #130:  George should be no lower than top 75.

Definitely not an exhaustive list by any means but those are my thoughts based off a handful of glances.  Leave your thoughts.

Video: Sean Parker Talks About Recruiting

Hate to say it, but he seems Notre Dame bound.

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.

Photo of the Day: Sean Parker Sporting SC Gear at Rising Stars

Good sign that he showed up on the 2nd day.  It'd be a waste to see this guy go to Notre Dame.  We need to lockdown South LA.

USC Rising Stars Camp Day One: Jesse Scroggins Gets Offer

From WeAreSC.com:

The biggest names in attendance during the morning session were Ronald Powell, Jackson Jeffcoat, Jesse Scroggins, Dion Bailey, Dietrich Riley, Tony Jefferson, Ricky Heimuli, Dak Smith, Dontae Williams, Dillon Baxter, Trajuan Briggs, George Uko, Tyler Bray, Chase Rettig, Anthony Jefferson, Joshua Shaw, DeMarco Cobbs, Shaquille Richardson, Troy Niklas, Dak Smith, Anthony Brown, D.J. Morgan (did not participate), Justin Maclin, Josh Harper, Greg Townsend Jr., Victor Burnett, Tevin McDonald, Victor Blackwell, Jalen Grimble Tehvyn Brantley, Nick Rowland and Christian Westerman.

Prospects slotted to attend, although noticeably absent Wednesday morning, included Robert Woods (who did stop by), George Farmer, Lache Seastrunk, Erik Kohler, Trovon Reed, Cassius Marsh, Toney Hurd Jr., Demetrius Wright, Hayes Pullard, Giovanni DiPoala, Antwuan Woods, Soma Vainuka, Devon Blackmon, Marquis Flowers, Owamagbe Odighazuwa and Chris Martin.

Very disappointed to hear that Demetrius Wright and Sean Parker weren't at the camp.  Both have gone on record saying they would attend RSC, but maybe they'll show up for the other days.  Apart from Demetrius and Sean, it's good to see that all the key recruits were present.  Lache, Trovon Reed, and Chris Martin are all long shots at this point, so I'm not very disappointed to see their absence.

The biggest news coming out of today's camp is Jesse Scroggins picking up his long-awaited offer.  UT (Vols) has been recruiting Jesse heavily and made up a ton of ground.  With Mitch Mustain seemingly checked out after losing the Spring QB battle, it makes a lot more sense for us to pick up a QB in this class.  Jesse isn't spectacular, no one in this QB class is, but has a lot of upside that can develop in the right system.  He definitely needs to work on his mechanics, but he has the tools to succeed.

In other news, George Uko, a raw but high upside DT out of Chino also picked up an offer.  As much as I think Robert Woods is overhyped, I'm disappointed to see he didn't participate.  A surprise player that I really didn't know SC was recruiting much was Dontae Williams, the RB out of Texas.  From the reports I've read, many say he was one of the more impressive guys on day one.

Moving forward, SC absolutely needs to take a hold of Tony Jefferson this week who I think is straight beast mode, Dietrich Riley another elite prospect with great versatility, and Ronald Powell with all the recent Florida talk. It would also be great to see SC close on guys like George Uko, and Dion Bailey who are the non-attention-grabbing-but-solid-players that really fill out classes.  Another guy to keep an eye on is Shaquille Richardson who's a nice system guy.

There'll be more updates to come so stay tuned.

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.

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.

2009 USC Football Junior Day: Sean Parker Quotes, Malcolm Jones Offer, Cassius Marsh's Near Commitment, and More...

Some thoughts on USC's Junior Day:

• D.J. Morgan (above) and Dillon Baxter, both commits for 2010 class, are really making a concerted effort to try and recruit players to join the class.  Baxter, who's been very involved in the program, reminds me a lot of D.J. Shoemate who also committed early and was vocal early on.

• Cassius Marsh, DT from Oaks Christian, was ready to commit at Junior Day but refrained from doing so out of respect of his parents' advice to cool off and think things over.  Many still expect him to be a Trojan at some point.

• One of my favorite recruits of 2010, Sean Parker, took a break from the FBU camp over at the Coliseum to take in Junior Day.  Lot of schools are starting to pick up on Sean and he's getting a ton of offers.  The early word is he's looking to go to school out of state, but lately he's been open to staying local and is showing interest in SC.  He had this nice quote:

"Just being around the players and coaches on Saturday was incredible. They have so much energy and you get fired up being around them. They have a great football program and who wouldn't want to be a part of a team like that."

One of his best friends and former teammates is '09 commit, Byron Moore, so hopefully that'll provide some pull in bringing in Sean.