It's been another big week of news on the West Side. No news is bigger however than the addition of five-star Max Browne to the arsenal of Lane Kiffin at USC.
Tee Shepard was at UCLA on Thursday to watch practice.
Two nights ago, Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline quarterback Max Browne picked USC over a host of other offers, including runner-up Oklahoma. National Analyst Paul Strelow caught up with Browne after his commitment to shed some insight on his decision. You can view that article here.
The commitment of Browne moves the Trojans up to No. 28 in our team rankings. Earlier this week they also snared a commitment from four-star cornerback Chris Hawkins. Similar to last year, USC will be short on numbers in their recruiting class, but will not be short on talent as they continue to stockpile talent in Los Angeles.
However across the city, USC Arch-nemesis UCLA continues to make it's presence known on the recruiting trail. The Bruins kicked off Spring Ball this week with their second practice yesterday. They were set to host a talented group of recruits yesterday, but perhaps no bigger name than Tee Sheppard.
Sheppard has been under the radar since his departure and release from Notre Dame. He's been linked to a Washington State visit and now has surfaced at UCLA. The Trojans remain the heavy favorite at this time. Just a couple of weeks ago, Sheppard told me personally he intends to stay in the state of California to play his college football.
Hatari Byrd, L.J. Moore, Joe Mathis, Sebastian LaRue and Tanner Vallejo are just a few of the other names that were at UCLA's second practice yesterday.
Don't be surprised if the Bruins start to hit the class of 2014 hard in the next few weeks making offers to some of the top targets around the nation.
Wyomissing Area (Pa.) four-star linebacker Alex Anzalone continues his west coast tour today. He visited Stanford earlier in the week, USC on Tuesday and UCLA on Wednesday. Today he is back on campus at Stanford for their junior day tomorrow.
Fallbrook (Calif.) offensive lineman Sean Dowling will also be at Stanford and is very likely to pick up a Cardinal offer on his visit.
Four-star running back D.J. Martin could be loosening on his Cal commitment.
Cal snagged a commitment on Sunday from Norcross (Ga.) defensive back Shon Akins. Cal has three commitments in the class of 2013 thus far.
Keep an eye on running back D.J. Martin from Stockdale (Calif.) and his commitment to Cal. There is a feeling Martin may have 'jumped the gun' and may want to keep his options open. Cal is certainly the team to beat, but he will certainly take visits at the very least.
Few new offers roll out
Notre Dame offered Freedom (Calif.) WR Darrell Daniels this week. Daniels is also getting increased interest from USC. He is the No. 85 ranked player in the nation, according to 247Sports.
Nebraska made a new offer to Rialto (Calif.) defensive lineman Kenneth Clark this week. He approaches double-digit offers with the latest Husker offer.
Washington is the latest to offer St. John Bosco (Calif) offensive lineman Nico Falah.
Oregon and Nebraska are the latest two programs to offer Meade (Wash.) TE Danny Mattingly. Notre Dame may also be near an offer to the rising star. He may also be at UCLA later today.
Colorado is the first school to offer class of 2014 Serra (Calif.) outside linebacker Dwight Williams. He was the MVP of a talented Nike NFTC in Los Angeles on Sunday.
- Justin Hopkins
- Recruiting Insider - 247Sports