USC Recruiting: Trojans active in Arizona
By Matthew Moreno
Apr 13, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans defensive line coach Ed Orgeron leads players Ryan Henderson (14), Devian Shelton (17), and Anthony Sarao (56), and Demetrius Wright (24) and Kevin Greene (81) on the field before the spring game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
With Ed Orgeron currently at the helm of the USC Trojans, the coaching staff looked to remain aggressive with their recruiting efforts, offering scholarships on Tuesday to a trio prospects from Arizona.
All three of the players offered are from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Ariz., and two of them are verbally committed to other universities.
The scholarship offers come prior to Orgeron holding his first practice as acting head coach of Trojans, which is scheduled for Wednesday.
The decision to offer the scholarships to the Arizona-based prospects may seem a bit oddly timed as the Trojans are fresh off a shellacking at the hands of the Arizona State Sun Devils and are without a permanent head coach, but such is life in the world of college recruiting.
With the overall positive response Trojan targets echoed in the wake of Lane Kiffin’s firing, USC may attempt to ride the “momentum”, if you will.
The Trojan coaching staff appears to be subscribers to the theory that the only bad opportunity is a missed one.
The newly offered players are:
Walker, a four star, 6’5″ 266-pound offensive tackle holds scholarship offers from Arizona, Arizona State, Nebraska, and UCLA.
ESPN lists Walker as the second best 2015 prospect in the state of Arizona.
2014 tight end Trevor Wood (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chapparal)
Tight end is a position the Trojans are heavily focusing on for their 2014 class as they could see the departure of Randall Telfer and Xavier Grimble after the 2013 season.
Wood has given his verbal pledge to Arizona but recruiting is often unsettled until National Signing Day, and he holds scholarship offers from a slew of division one schools.
The list includes Alabama, Nebraska, and Oklahoma, among others.
Wood told Jason Jewell of Scout.com that he remains committed to Arizona.
2014 wide receiver/defensive back Tyler Whiley (Scottsdale, Ariz./Chapparal)
Whiley is verbally committed to Arizona State, but Whiley also spoke to Jewell, and said he would consider the Trojans depending on who they hired as head coach.
After losing out on Jalen Ramsey in the last recruiting cycle, corner back remains a position of need for the Trojans.
ESPN lists Whiley as a corner back and the second best prospect in Arizona for the 2014 class.