Four-star Cathedral defensive end Stephon Wright announced his commitment to ASU over USC football on Early Signing Day.
USC football missed out on the opportunity to sign Cathedral’s Stephon Wright on Wednesday’s Early Signing Day as the defensive end chose ASU over the Trojans.
The four-star prospect ranks 255th nationally, according to the 247Sports composite, slotting in as the No. 33 player in the state of California for 2019. As such, he represents a major recruiting victory for Herm Edwards and company, dipping into USC’s normally guarded territory for the big man.
When it comes to strongside defensive ends, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound Wright ranks 18th. He would have been a welcome addition to the Trojans defensive line, which could always use more bodies on the end.
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Unfortunately for the Trojans, the Sun Devils made a stronger case for his signature. USC’s pursuit was complicated by the removal of defensive line coach Kenechi Udeze. He was fired following the 2018 season, shortly after making an in-home visit to Wright and family at the end of November.
USC will have to make due without Wright, but their recruiting efforts on the defensive line in this cycle have been sorely impacted by Udeze’s absence.
The Trojans lost out on Laiatu Latu on Tuesday night to Washington State. They also closed the door on three-star JUCO prospect Datona Jackson late in the game, leaving him to sign with UCLA on Wednesday.
The Trojans do have Christian Rector returning as a starter at defensive end along with versatile lineman Jay Tufele. Backups Liam Jimmons and Jacob Lichtenstein have been able to further bolster the position, along with Caleb Tremblay, who redshirted in 2018 due to injury.
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Still, with never enough depth in the trenches, it will certainly hurt USC to see a 6-foot-3, 260-pound prospect like Wright go to a division rival.