USC Football Recruiting: 4-Star DE Malik Herring Names Top 7

Malik Herring, a highly-rated defensive end out of Georgia, named USC in his Top 7 schools Sunday, giving the Trojans hope of shoring up the defensive line.

Four-star defensive end Malik Herring named his Top 7 schools on Twitter Sunday, listing USC football third among his candidates.

Herring’s list, which was ranking in order, also includes Clemson at No. 1 at Alabama at No. 2, with the Trojans followed by Middle Tennessee State, Georgia, Tennessee and LSU.

At 6-foot-3, 261 pounds, Herring is the No. 7 weakside defensive end in the class and stands just inside the Top 100 players for 2017, per the 247 Sports composite rankings.

Herring’s father played football for Middle Tennessee State, which explains the Raiders’ inclusion on the list. He recently visited Clemson, the top school on his list.

However, the 247 Sports crystal ball projections predict Georgia is the favorite to land the lineman’s signature. Some have also projected him to Florida State.

USC will hope that new defensive line coach Kenechi Udeze can work some magic to convince Herring to consider the Trojans even more closely.

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There are no defensive line commits for USC’s 2017 class as it stands now and though the Trojans have worked to rebuild defensive front numbers in recent recruiting classes it remains a position of need.

Overall USC has eight commits for this class. Running back Stephen Carr headlines the group along with safety Bubba Bolden, receiver Marlon Williams, athlete Randal Grimes, and linebackers Juliano Falaniko and Daniel Green.

Recently, the Trojans added four-star center Brett Neilon and three-star tackle Andrew Vorhees to the class.

With Utah transfer Stevie Tu’ikolovatu taking up a blueshirt spot, the Trojans have 15 spots left in the class.