Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier in December WR Eldridge Massington announced that he would re-open his recruitment and de-commit from USC. On Tuesday night, news broke that he now intends to flip to the Trojans’ cross-town rival, aligning himself with UCLA.

#UCLA‘s newest pledge Eldridge Massington –> RT @oh_gottaman I wanna thank God for guiding me through this process but Go Bruins!!!!

— Edward Lewis (@EdwardLewisBSR) December 19, 2012

Massington’s de-commitment leaves USC with one scholarship left to give out, allowing them room to go after blue chip recruits like Safety Leon McQuay III and lineman A’Shawn Robinson.

The wide receiver tore his ACL the summer before his senior year and thus did not play at all in 2012, but USC did not pull his scholarship. Massington intended to enroll at USC in January so he could start rehabbing his knee early, but there were limiting factors that would have required him to come in June instead. If he had stayed with USC, Massington would have been listed on the depth chart behind current Trojans Marqise Lee, Nelson Agholor, George Farmer, and Robert Woods should he decline leaving for the NFL. Considering the Trojans also have two WR commits in Steven Mitchell and Sebastian LaRue, it is possible that Massington felt he could earn playing time sooner with a different program.

His new commitment to UCLA would imply that the Bruins have room to bring him in as an early enrollee and that he meets the academic requirements to do so.

National Signing Day is still over a month away, however, and anything can still happen between now and then.

WR Eldridge Massington decommits from #USC.

— Brandon Williams (@BW_Recruiting) December 4, 2012

Massington committed to the Trojans back in June and was one of three wide receivers to commit to the Trojans, along with Steven Mitchell of Alemany and Sebastian LaRue of Santa Monica.

With Massington out of the mix for the time being as he opens his recruitment, USC’s class stands at 16 commitments, one shy of the maximum allowed due to sanctions, early enrollees and Silas Redd’s transfer from Penn State.

Four-star safety Max Redfield of Mission Viejo decommitted from the Trojans last month, and with the extra scholarships, the Trojans now have more ammo in the race for 5-star safety Leon McQuay III out of Tampa, who along with Redfield, will visit USC with the committed early enrollees this weekend.

Over the summer, Massington’s commitment made waves after he tore an ACL that cost him his senior season in high school. Despite that, the Trojans kept his scholarship offer intact and Massington was a solid verbal, as evident when tweeted that he was a ‘USC man’ last week, after an in-home visit from USC coaches.

Per 247 Sports Scott Schrader on Twitter, Massington’s rationale is due to being asked to enroll in June, and not as an early enrollee as planned.

• Jalen Ramsey had an in-home visit on Monday night from wide receivers coach Tee Martin, who is the head recruiter for the Tennessee and Kentucky region, in addition other areas within SEC country. Ramsey visited Coliseum on Saturday for the Notre Dame game and took in the Vista Murrieta vs. Rancho Cucamonga high school game on Friday to support fellow defensive back commits Su’a Cravens and Chris Hawkins.
• Next up for Tee Martin is defense end commit Jason Hatcher from Louisville, Kentucky. Martin’s visit with Hatcher is scheduled for today.
• Ty Isaac had a visit from USC’s special teams coordinator John Baxter on Monday night and it ‘went well’ according to ESPN’s Blair Angulo.
• Eldridge Massington had a visit on Tuesday and judging by his tweets here, here and here, the visit appears to have been a success for Massington and the Trojans.
• Michael Hutchings will host USC quarterbacks coach Clay Helton tonight for an in-home visit up north in Concord, while Helton caught up with running back Justin Davis on Monday in Stockton.
• Eddie Vanderdoes will also get a visit from Helton, with his being on Thursday. Defensive line coach Ed Orgeron is also scheduled to visit the Placer defensive tackle, as he is set to stop by next week. Vanderdoes visited UCLA for the Stanford game on Saturday although according to Angulo, he will only open his recruitment if Orgeron were to leave USC.
• This week, Orgeron is heading to the east coast where he will have in-home visits with USC commits and East Christian Academy teammates Kenny Bigelow and Khaliel Rodgers on Thursday.
• On Tuesday, linebacker Trey Johnson was the first recruit to get an Orgeron visit this week, and it came on the same day he decommitted from Auburn.
• Montravius Adams appears to be the Trojans’ biggest current target, despite the class being fully maxed out with 17 commitments for the time being. Orgeron will visit Adams today at his home in Vienna, Georgia, and also has a visit scheduled this week with top Auburn commit Carl Lawson, who resides in Alpharetta, just north of Atlanta.