USC Football Recruiting: Trojans Closing on Class of 2013 Early Enrollees

While headlines around the Trojans’ football program are clouded with rumors of Tee Martin’s return to Tennessee and questions as to who will replace Monte Kiffin as the defensive coordinator, the lone constant and bright spot for USC has been the Class of 2013.

Despite the recent decommitments of Max Redfield and Eldrige Massington, after a mass official visit for pending early enrollees over the weekend, the class appears to be closing strong with the anchors of group, including Chris Hawkins of Rancho Cucamonga.

Going into the weekend, the biggest question mark was the strength of Hawkins’s commitment, as his recruitment had been Topsy Turvy, going from hard verbal to soft verbal and back to solid. Rumors had spread that Hawkins wasn’t getting the communication from USC that he wanted, but on Sunday afternoon, ESPN’s Blair Angulo reported that the weekend answered all of the questions Hawkins had for Lane Kiffin’s staff, as the talented cornerback is all set to enroll for USC’s spring semester, which begins on January 14th.

Joining Hawkins in the classroom next month as early enrollees will be Justin Davis, Kenny Bigelow, Kylie Fitts, Max Browne and Su’a Cravens.

While Bigelow missed the group visit due to his US Army All-American ceremony back home in Maryland, the two other anchors for the class, Browne and Cravens, spent their weekend at Troy as leaders of the group visit. The two will not only suit up as teammates opposite of Bigelow at the US Army All-American Bowl on January 5th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, but they are Gatorade State Players of the Year, cutting their visit short as they headed to New York for Gatorade’s National Player of the Year Ceremony.

Before departing however, Browne snapped a picture of the Coliseum in all of its recruiting glory. On Saturday night, the group of recruits were given a tour of the place, highlighted by a lengthy stop inside the USC locker room and a tunnel walk to the field, where they were serenaded with a video montage on the 6,000 square-foot high-definition screen at the west end of the Coliseum.

Needless to say, Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron and company and going all out on securing their sanctioned class, which can only bring in 17 players for the Trojans. With Hawkins and company voicing their dedication to early enrollment, coupled with gains on A’Shawn Robinson and Max Redfield, the weekend was a big success for USC.