USC football No. 1 WR commit in country reaches even higher, rare status as a recruit
By Evan Desai
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USC Football five-star WR commit Zachariah Branch is the No. 1 Wide Receiver recruit in all of the United States, according to 247Sports. That's high praise for the 2023 sensation out of Bishop Gorman (Nevada). Even higher praise was soon to be on its way, though:
🚨NEW🚨 USC WR commit Zachariah Branch now ranks as a Five-Star Plus+ recruit joining Arch Manning, Malachi Nelson, and Cormani McClain🔥
— On3 Recruits (@On3Recruits) July 25, 2022
Five-Star Plus+ recruits are the rare athletes that are 5-stars by all four major recruiting media services.https://t.co/G5eBQL11Jh pic.twitter.com/Qa5KpRpKFU
Ranking as a Five-Star Plus recruit is obviously about as difficult as it gets for a recruit. How many times have college football fans seen even some of the highest of the most highly-touted recruits go rather unnoticed by one of 247Sports, Rivals, ESPN, or On3?
Now, Branch--who is an elite deep ball prospect that also is great returning punts--gets to share the coveted Five-Star Plus+ tag with Texas QB commit Arch Manning, USC's own QB commit Malachi Nelson, and CB recruit Cormani McClain.
Elite USC Football WR commit Zachariah Branch has a flawless resume as a recruit.
At Bishop Gorman this past season, future USC Football WR Zachariah Branch posted 48 catches for 1,094 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. His elusive speed paid massive dividends in a State Championship for Gorman. He also ran back two punts for TD's.
Branch isn't the biggest receiver, but the No. 1 player in the state (247Sports) is a strong kid who has proven to be able to separate early in routes. He's a nightmare to try to cover in the vertical passing game, and Lincoln Riley has had lots of success with tremendous deep threat prospects like this.
Ranking Caleb Williams among Pac-12 QBs. dark. Next
CeeDee Lamb anyone? What about Hollywood Brown? Branch has the opportunity to have that level of impact and maybe even more with Riley. He's one of just four players in the entire 2023 class to hit Five-Star Plus+ category, and that's the case for a reason. There's no other receiver in this class at Branch's level.