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Recruiting: Seantrel Henderson Officially Heading to Miami

Must be an amazing 24 hrs if you are a Heat/Hurricanes fan: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/10/sports/ncaafootball/10henderson.html?_r=2&ref=sports

Recruiting: USC Releases Seantrel Henderson From Letter-of-Intent

Obviously a big blow since Seantrel was the most important recruit of the 2010 class. We lose an elite offensive tackle where we have little depth. The impact of this news will be compounded if the rumors of Tyron Smith transferring end up being true. We better cross all fingers and hope there are no injuries on the line this year.

From a recruiting standpoint hopefully this opens the eyes of a recruit like Christian Westerman to reconsider SC. It's doubtful but the staff has been excellent recruiting so far so I wouldn't rule it out.

I like the way CLK handled the situation. The staff fought till the very end but when Seantrel made up his mind they released him with no restrictions.

Recruiting: Coaches Confident About Seantrel Henderson

Here's a quote from CLK:

"Sometimes I think I know his main concern and then it seems to change the next day," Kiffin said. "Every other freshman has got here when they were supposed to and is sticking with it."

And a quote from Ed Orgeron:

"There's no question in my mind that I know USC is the best decision for Seantrel and his family," Orgeron said. "He always wanted to come here, and I think once he gets on campus and visits again with coaches and teammates in the No. 1 recruiting class, which he helped recruit, he's going to be here."

Who knows what's going through Seantrel's head right now.  I think I speak for all SC fans in saying that he needs to make up his mind already and stick with his decision whether it be SC or elsewhere.

Rumor: Seantrel Henderson Now Heading to Miami?

Hearing from a source that Seantrel is headed to SC in the next few days.  I rarely post things like this but that's what I'm hearing so take it for what it is!

Update: Still hearing that Seantrel is coming but changing "next few days" to "near future" since time tables change fairly often.

Update 7/1:  St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that Seantrel is now leaning towards Miami.  Strange thing is this is what I heard initially last week and then was told that Seantrel's father wanted him to go to SC after meeting with the coaches the 1st time around.  Something must have changed after CLK & staff made their visit because why else would a 2nd visit be necessary?  If Seantrel wasn't on-board the 1st time they visited, there's no need for a 2nd visit.  Only thing that makes sense is if Seantrel was on-board after the 1st visit and then changed his mind, prompting another 2nd emergency visit.

Recruiting: Seantrel Henderson Set to Sign With USC on Tuesday

Looks like this roller-coaster ride will finally come to an end:

On Sunday, Henderson’s father, Sean, said that his son will his letter of intent on Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. CST during a ceremony at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul, Minn. and then fax it to U.S.C.

“It is U.S.C.,” the elder Henderson said in a telephone interview. “There’s no doubts. A hundred thousand, trillion percent, it’s U.S.C. It’s 100 percent.”

...But Henderson said the reason that his son didn’t sign last Thursday was because “there were people that wanted to be there that couldn’t be there.” He dismissed speculation by some that he and his son delayed signing to try to generate more publicity.

With Seantrel signing, that gives USC the top class in the nation for 2010.  Very impressive start for CLK, even though he can't take full credit for the class, he does deserve some credit for keeping the class intact and pulling some major recruits like Seantrel, Nickell Robey, Glen Stanley, etc.

Seantrel is easily the most important recruit of this class.  With Butch Lewis graduating and Tyron Smith likely gone after next year, we will have Seantrel and Matt Kalil to fill out the tackle spots in 2011.  Matt played RT against Boston College in the Emerald Bowl and looked more comfortable at that spot.

Recruiting: Seantrel Henderson Waiting Till After NCAA Meeting?

And just when you thought you can breathe a final sigh of relief, this comes out:

"According to Henderson’s father, Sean, he will wait until U.S.C. appears before an N.C.A.A. infractions committee from Feb. 19-21 to hear about possible sanctions for the program before deciding whether to sign the letter. Though the Trojans are not likely to hear about any possible sanctions at that time, Sean Henderson said the hearing would give the family a sense of where the process was headed."

If true, the coaching staff had to have known this before NSD.  I just find it hard to believe that Seantrel & Dad would pull a knee-jerk decision of this magnitude.  I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this was an agreement made beforehand.

As mentioned above, the NCAA meeting will occur on Feb. 19-21.  Guess we'll have to endure another 3 weeks of insanity.

USC Commitment: Seantrel Henderson to USC

And the biggest announcement of the day tilts in favor of SC. Huge commitment, both literally and figuratively, for SC.

Predictions: 6/10

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 ;).

Recruiting: Giovanni Di Poalo Reaffirms Commitment to USC

From ESPN.com:

"He's a USC commit," Therrien said Tuesday morning.

"We weren't in school yesterday, but I talked to him today and he's here wearing a USC sweatshirt," Therrien said.

Therrien also added that Di Poalo has canceled the visit to Oregon and will sign with the Trojans next Wednesday.

"When all that coaching stuff was up in the air, he was up in the air," Therrien said. "But he's back with USC now."

Big news.  I had a good feeling about Giovanni coming back on board.  I think he's an underrated prospect that can be elite if he's able to put on the proper weight.  Right now he's listed at 260lbs but a redshirt year should do big things for him.  He reminds me sort of Jeff Byers.

Preferably we land 3 O-Linemen in this class.  With Giovanni locked up, the ideal situation would be commitments from Seantrel Henderson and Chaz Green. Definitely a possibility.

Recruiting: Former USC Commit Brice Schwab Picks ASU

Brice was one of the former commits I believed would end up elsewhere.  For now, I count this as an actual loss cause O-Linemen depth was a primary need in this class.  Although I've heard mixed reviews about Brice's potential, he did have prototypical size at 6'8 and 320lbs and more than enough raw skill to build on.  If SC is able to land Seantrel Henderson and/or Chaz Green and get Giovanni Di Poalo back on board, this loss won't be a big deal.

In related news, CLK hired James Cregg as the offensive line coach.  Not sure how I feel about this hire, since I know nothing about him.  Hoping he can recruit cause we need some OL commits stat.