Freeman, who stands in a 6-feet-tall and 210 pounds, is the 28th back in the nation per rivals, and now holds scholarship offers from ten Pac-12 schools, with Utah and Washington State being the only holdouts. Other national offers include powers Florida, Florida State and Tennessee, making Freeman one of the most sought after backs in the country.

How’s the offer rank for Freeman? Well, here’s tweets from Gerard Martinez of Rivals and Greg Biggins of Scout.

Imperial running back Royce Freeman offered a scholarship by #USC Wednesday. Freeman had assistant coach Mike Summers visit him last week.

— Gerard Martinez (@gmartlive) May 15, 2013

Freeman does not have an official list of favorites, but in my view, #USC now goes head to head with #Oregon for his interest right now.

— Gerard Martinez (@gmartlive) May 15, 2013

#USC has offered Imperial (Calif.) RB Royce Freeman, “this is a big one,” he said.

— Greg Biggins (@GregBiggins) May 15, 2013

USC’s class of 2014 currently stands at five commitments, all of them linemen. At this time last year, the Trojans were just starting to get skill players locked into the class, with early commitments from Steven Mitchell and Su’a Cravens.

Dr. Dre | JASON PERSSE (Creative Commons via Flikr)

The rich get richer as today USC will formally announce a $70 million donation from music mogul Jimmy Iovine and award-winning rapper Dr. Dre to create the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts. But other than giving the school access to high-priced headphones and even more industry connections, the academy’s impact on football and basketball recruiting will be an interesting subplot to watch unfold in the coming years.

While the initial intake of students for the academy will be just 25 in the fall of 2014 –which all but eliminates the notion of frivolous majoring practices– the Trojans have had a recent history with musicians that has to make one think that the academy could be another ploy for Lane Kiffin and Andy Enfield to play up, if needed.

Within the last calendar year, USC has been the landing spot for two athletes with music industry aspirations, Tennessee basketball transfer Renaldo Woolridge and five-star safety Leon McQuay III.

The pair, who go by stage names SB Babyy and LM3 Beats, have been featured on big outlets as student athletes. Woolridge’s ‘Fight On (We Play to Rise)’ became the musical theme of USC’s 2012-13 athletics year, and McQuay produced a song by Infinite Skillz that was used heavily in the promotion of the Under Armour All-American Game on ESPN.

For McQuay specifically, who enrolled at USC in January, academics played an enormous role in his recruitment. While on a recruiting trip in December, McQuay got to show his music to faculty within USC’s Thornton School of Music, with a video of his portfolio review hitting YouTube three weeks before officially enrolling at USC.

Without saying, the opportunities at USC to study and produce music with industry connections while playing football at a major program was the ultimate reason he decided to make the 3,000 mile from Tampa to Los Angeles, rather than going to Vanderbilt, whom McQuay also considered. And that was five months before Dr. Dre and Iovine even entered the mix.

Now, players like Woolridge and McQuay are among a select few athletes that try to excel in music and sports simultaneously. McQuay, as a five-star safety and record producer, is even a rarer commodity.

That said, the academy is immediate name recognition for recruits who have grown up listening to Dr. Dre on their iPods. In a recruiting world where uniforms and spring games at NFL venues have more stock in recruiting decisions than they should, the opportunity to study at a school named after a world famous rapper probably won’t fall on deaf ears of recruits that have a legitimate interest in the music industry.

Plus, it comes at a remarkable time for recruiting in Southern California, with multiple sons of rappers having emerged as recruiting targets at USC, including Snoop Dogg’s son Cordell Broadus and the son of the late Nate Dogg, Naijiel Hale. Even UCLA has Justin Combs, the son of P. Diddy.

Expecting Broadus and Hale to go to USC solely because of Dr. Dre is silly, but recruiting is hands down the silliest aspect of American sports, and Kiffin isn’t doing his job if he doesn’t at least once mention that Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Dr. Dre have all worked together. Multiple times.

“OK, Cordell, let’s Lay Low. Here’s the playbook. It’s like this and like that and like this and uh, it’s like that and like this and like that and uh.”

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Once again, Thomas presumably became the hottest name on the cusp of Lane Kiffin’s depth chart, as the linebacker’s future appears as though it’s need of a re-write.

With Thomas seeking a release from his Florida State letter of intent, there’s plenty of questions to be asked, with very few answers to be had. Will he be a Dawg? A Trojan? Will Jimbo Fisher actually let a five-star linebacker walk away?

While we wait for the answers to unfold, it’s important to note that there’s direct precedence for this exact scenario. Oddly enough, the last time it happened on a grand scale, it was Lane Kiffin letting a five-star player walk, which may or may not make it easier for Fisher.

In 2010, Seantrel Henderson(right) was the nation’s top offensive lineman, and by some accounts, the best prospective recruit in the country. At 6-foot-8 and 301 pounds, Henderson gave the Trojans a sizable boost to their recruiting class when he chose the cardinal and gold on Signing Day, over Ohio State.

The timing however, was a little strange. USC, having put together a masterful recruiting class that included three of the nation’s top six players, were not standing on solid footing. Kiffin had just taken over for Pete Carroll, who had ditched the Trojans for the Seattle Seahawks in anticipation of NCAA sanctions stemming from the Reggie Bush investigation.

That ominous cloud over the Coliseum was large enough to wade over Henderson, who at one point threatened to not sign his LOI until USC’s penalties were disclosed by the NCAA.

Henderson ultimately signed his letter of intent six weeks after Signing Day, only to find out a few months later that USC would be banned from postseason play in 2010 and 2011, his freshman and sophomore seasons.

While the Trojans’ upperclassmen were granted immediate transfer eligibility had they chosen to leave, Henderson was forced to get creative if he wanted to depart USC.

Like Thomas, he showed signs of being an orientation no-show. Kiffin and his staff flew to Minnesota to re-recruit Henderson, which only resulted in the future franchise left tackle wanting a release from his letter of intent so he could sign with his second college choice.

On July 6, 2010, just 153 days removed from Signing Day, USC officially announced that Kiffin had released Henderson from the binding of his letter of intent. Three days later, Henderson informed Miami that he planned to enroll for their fall semester. Two months after that, he suited up in his first game as a Hurricane, playing without any restriction that would have caused him to sit out a year.

Fast forward to today, and Kiffin might not be calling Henderson the ‘one that got away’, but the ‘one that set the precedent’.

While Henderson’s move to Miami wasn’t a true legal precedent due to the variety of ways that a recruit can accept a scholarship other than a letter of intent, it provides an example for multiple parties to consider.

For Jimbo Fisher, it has to give him some assurance that he wouldn’t be the only head coach to gift a five-star talent free of charge.

For Matthew Thomas, Henderson’s ordeal is proof that requesting an LOI release isn’t that bad of an idea.

For Lane Kiffin, it of course serves as a recruiting tool.

And given the likelihood that Thomas ultimately lands in Athens as opposed to Troy, Kiffin just might need to get Platonic.