LOS ANGELES -- Lane Kiffin and the USC coaches hosted 11 recruits from across the country, stretching from Oregon to Florida, in the first of three big official visit weekends for the Trojans.
Of the 11, five were committed prospects from California -- Kevon Seymour (Pasadena, Calif./Muir), Jordan Simmons (Encino, Calif./Crespi), Max Tuerk (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Santa Margarita), Jabari Ruffin (Downey, Calif./Downey) and Darreus Rogers (Carson, Calif./Carson). The out-of-state recruits included Andrus Peat (Tempe, Ariz./Corona Del Sol), Kyle Dodson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio./Cleveland Heights), De'Van Bogard (Cleveland/Glenville), Isaac Seumalo (Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis), Tracy Howard (Miramar, Fla./Miramar) and D.J. Foster (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro).
For the verbal commits, the official visit had a very positive effect. Simmons and Tuerk were never planning on taking visits after their trip to USC, and the two big linemen are locked into becoming Trojans. Simmons will be back on campus next week as an unofficial visitor for another big recruiting weekend.
Seymour, who has been to USC on numerous occacions, is the most recent USC commit and said stepping on campus after verballing was like doing so for the very first time. He raved about the time he was able to spend with the team and the coaching staff and said "it felt like home" to him.
Ruffin had been talking about taking an official visit to Oregon after his USC visit, but cancelled those plans late last week.
Rogers is the one committed player from the weekend who has official visits remaining. He will visit Arizona State this weekend and Oregon the following weekend. The USC coaches have done everything in their power to show Rogers that he is wanted in cardinal and gold. According to Rogers' mother, that came across loud and clear during the visit and she is fond of the fact that USC is close to home.
Of the out-of-state players, the Trojans made progress with both Foster and Seumalo. The visit moved USC into a dead heat with Arizona State and Cal for Foster. The tailback would be a very welcome addition for a USC team that will enter spring ball with just three scholarship running backs on the roster.
Seumalo has a chance to be a rare instant-impact player on the offensive line. The Oregon State commit was out of sight, out of mind for every program in the country besides the Beavers and Trojans. USC coaches continued to recruit Seumalo after his verbal commitment and are being rewarded by jumping into his final two and potentially stealing him away from the Beavers. The trip to USC might not sway him completely, but it will give the lineman something to think about from now until signing day.
Visiting the Farm
USC wasn't the only Pac-12 program to host an important recruiting weekend. Stanford brought in three of the top uncommitted linemen on the West Coast -- Aziz Shittu (Atwater, Calif./Buhach Colony), Kyle Murphy (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) and Joshua Garnett (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup).
While Garnett has eliminated the Trojans, Shittu and Murphy remain high on USC's board, although this weekend might have negatively impacted the Trojans chances. Shittu was cleared by Stanford admissions, which is always a big hurdle for recruits. Murphy has been thought to be leaning towards the Cardinal since the start of the recruiting process and this trip reportedly did nothing to change that.
Shittu has narrowed his choices to the four California schools, while Murphy looks to come down to Stanford and USC. Both players are scheduled to be at USC this weekend, as Lane Kiffin and staff will have a chance to do some immediate damage control.
Nearing the end
USC tight end commit Jalen Cope-Fitzpatrick (Rocklin, Calif./Whitney) always maintained that he would take visits during the recruiting process. Last weekend, he went to Colorado, a school that has consistently recruited and remained in the hunt for Cope-Fitzpatrick.
"It went pretty good," he said of the trip. "I got to spend a lot of time with the coaches. It was pretty much just me and the coaches all weekend, so I got all of my questions answered."
Cope-Fitzpatrick said much of the discussion revolved around the one- and four-year plans for coach Jon Embree and the Colorado program.
"I wanted to see where I could fit into that," Cope-Fitzpatrick said. "I've built a pretty close relationship with coach Embree. He's knowledgeable about football and especially my position."
Upon his return, Cope-Fitzpatrick barely had time to get settled when he received a visit from USC coach Lane Kiffin. It won't be the last time he sees Kiffin this week, as Cope-Fitzpatrick will take an official visit to USC on Friday. Living far away from Los Angeles in suburban Sacramento, Cope-Fitzpatrick hasn't had much of a chance to spend time with his fellow USC commits, so he's looking forward to the weekend.
"A couple of my friends are coming up Saturday, so it will be cool to hang out with them," Cope-Fitzpatrick said of Simmons and Seymour. "I'll also get to spend more time with the coaching staff to get all my questions answered. I haven't really had a lot of time to spend with them. At junior day, there were 300 people, and when I was there for camp, that's a different kind of setting. This will be my first time to go see and meet with all the coaches and see how they are outside of coaching and recruiting -- get a chance to open up with them a little.
Cope-Fitzpatrick will have in-home visit with coach Embree as well as UCLA head coach Jim L. Mora this week, but is looking forward to hopefully ending the process after this weekend.
"Every trip makes my decision harder," he said. "I'm just waiting until this weekend to figure everything out. I'd like to make my decision as soon as possible after the SC visit. I don't want to draw it out too long."
Erik McKinney is the recruiting editor for WeAreSC.com and has covered the Trojans since 2004. He can be reached at [email protected].