From USC:
Dec. 20, 2017
--USC FOOTBALL ANNOUNCES EARLY SIGNING PERIOD 2018 CLASS
LOS ANGELES–Eight high school football players signed letters of intentwith Pac-12 champion USC today (Dec. 20) on the first day of the early signing period, USC head coach Clay Helton announced.
Four of the signees will graduate early from high school and enroll at USC in January, so they can participate in the upcoming spring practice. The other four signees will join the Trojan program in the fall.
The 2018 spring enrollment signees are, alphabetically: OL
Justin Dedich of Chaparral High in Temecula (Calif.); LB
Kana’i Mauga of Waianae (Hi.) High; LB
Raymond Scott of Narbonne High in Harbor City (Calif.); and DB
Chase Williams of Roosevelt High in Eastvale (Calif.).
The 2018 fall enrollment signees are, alphabetically: OL
Liam Douglass of Harvard Westlake High in Studio City (Calif.); LB
Palaie Gaoteote IV of Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas (Nev.); LB
Abdul-Malik McClain of JSerra Catholic High in San Juan Capistrano (Calif.); and RB
Markese Stepp of Cathedral High in Indianapolis (Ind.).
“We are excited to welcome these eight new players to our Trojan football family,” said Helton. “We’re very pleased with this group. These are some extremely talented players who fill some of our needs. They are national recruits who were sought after by a lot of schools. I am thankful for the hard work put in by our staff to sign these players in this early period. Now we’ll continue to work hard to find some more talented players to sign in February.”
Helton said additional players could be added to this 2018 class in the near future.
New USC football season ticket deposits can be placed now and current season ticket holders may place a renewal deposit, both by calling
213-740-GOSC (4672). Season ticket renewals will officially launch in early January.
USC FOOTBALL EARLY SIGNING PERIOD 2018 CLASS SIGNEES
SPRING ENROLLMENT
HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS
NAME POS HGT WGT HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL)
Justin Dedich OL 6-2 290 Temecula, CA (Chaparral)
Kana’i Mauga LB 6-2 220 Waianae, HI (Waianae)
Raymond Scott LB 6-2 220 Harbor City, CA (Narbonne)
Chase Williams DB 6-2 190 Corona, CA (Roosevelt)
FALL ENROLLMENT
HIGH SCHOOL PLAYERS
NAME POS HGT WGT HOMETOWN (HIGH SCHOOL)
Liam Douglass OL 6-5 285 Topanga, CA (Harvard Westlake)
Palaie Gaoteote IV LB 6-2 235 Las Vegas, NV (Bishop Gorman)
Abdul-Malik McClain LB 6-4 230 San Juan Capistrano, CA (JSerra Catholic)
Markese Stepp RB 6-0 230 Indianapolis, IN (Cathedral)
BIOGRAPHIES ON USC FOOTBALL’S 2018 SPRING ENROLLEES
DEDICH—He made
2017 PrepStar All-American as a 2-way lineman (primarily center on offense) at Chaparral High in Temecula (Calif.). As a 2017 senior, he had 15 tackles, with 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble on defense. As a 2016 junior, he made
Cal-Hi Sports All-State Junior first team and Riverside Press-Enterprise All-Area second team. He also played soccer at Chaparral, with a 1.333 goals against average as a goalkeeper.
MAUGA—He made
2017 PrepStar All-American as a senior linebacker and tight end at Waianae (Hi.) High. As a 2016 junior, he made
All-State third team. He also was on the track team (sprints, hurdles, weights, jumps) at Waianae.
SCOTT—He was a 4-year starting linebacker at Narbonne High in Harbor City (Calif.), playing outside linebacker as a 2017 senior and inside linebacker before that. In 2017, he made
PrepStar Dream Team while recording 94 tackles, 3 deflections, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble and 1 blocked punt as Narbonne won the L.A. City Open Division championship and the California Division I-A Bowl. As a 2016 junior, he made
Max Preps Junior All-American second team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State Junior first team, USA Today All-California second team, All-L.A. City first team and All-Marine League first team while getting 100 tackles, with 7 for losses, plus 3 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 3 deflections as Narbonne won the L.A. City Division I title. As a 2015 sophomore, he made
Max Preps Sophomore All-American first team while getting 140 tackles, with 6 sacks, plus 4 deflections, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble as Narbonne won the L.A. City Division I crown and the California Division I-A Bowl.
WILLIAMS—He played wide receiver and cornerback at Roosevelt High in Eastvale (Calif.). As a 2017 senior, he had 50 receptions for 785 yards (15.7 avg) with 12 TDs and 25 tackles with 1 interception. As a 2016 junior, he made
Cal-Hi Sports All-State Junior third team, All-CIF Division 5 and Riverside Press-Enterprise All-Area second team as he had 42 receptions for 1,007 yards (24.0 avg) with 19 TDs and 37 tackles with 1 interception. As a 2015 sophomore, he had 34 receptions for 620 yards (18.2 avg) with 6 TDs and 4 tackles. As a 2014 freshman, he had 3 receptions for 50 yards (16.7 avg).
BIOGRAPHIES ON USC FOOTBALL’S 2018 FALL ENROLLEES
DOUGLASS—He made
2017 PrepStar All-Western Region as a 2-way lineman (tackle on offense) at Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City (Calif.). As a 2017 senior, he had 16 tackles, with 4 sacks, and a forced fumble on defense. As a 2016 junior in his first year playing football, he made
All-Angelus League Co-Lineman of the Year. He also was on the baseball, track and wrestling teams at Harvard-Westlake.
GAOTEOTE—He made
2017 PrepStar Dream Team and Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Polynesian High School Football Player of the Year finalist as a senior linebacker at Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas (Nev.), when he made 80 tackles, including 20 for losses (with 3 sacks), 2 deflections, 2 forced fumbles and 3 blocked punts (he also caught a 6-yard TD pass). As a 2016 junior, he made
Max Preps Junior All-American first team and USA Today All-Nevada first teamwhile getting 68 tackles, including 11.5 for losses (with 2 sacks), 2 deflections, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery. Bishop Gorman won its second consecutive national championship. As a 2015 sophomore, he had 92 tackles, including 13.5 for losses (with 3 sacks), 1 interception, 3 deflections and 1 forced fumble as Bishop Gorman was the national champion. He spent his 2014 freshman year playing at Mililani (Hi.) High, which won the state championship. He spent his youth in American Samoa. His uncle is Ma’a Tanuvasa, who played defensive end at Hawaii (1990-92), then with the Denver Broncos (1995-2000), where he won Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII, San Diego Chargers (2001) and Atlanta Falcons (2002). His cousin, also named Ma’a Tanuvasa, is a redshirt freshman safety at Boise State, while another cousin, Haskell Garrett, is a freshman defensive lineman at Ohio State. His name is pronounced “pa-la-EE-ae nah-OE-tae-OE-tae.”
McCLAIN—He was a linebacker and tight end at JSerra Catholic High in San Juan Capistrano (Calif.). As a 2017 senior, he had 45 tackles, including 18 sacks, 1 fumble recovery and 1 forced fumble on defense and 9 receptions for 175 yards (19.4 avg) with 1 TD on offense. He also played basketball at JSerra, averaging 8.4 points and 4.6 rebounds as a 2017 junior. Before that, he attended Santa Margarita High in Rancho Santa Margarita. As a 2016 junior there, he had 51 tackles, including 8 for a loss (with 7.5 sacks), 1 deflection, 2 forced fumbles and 1 blocked field goal. As a 2015 sophomore, he had 11 tackles, including 2 for losses.
STEPP—He made
2017 Indianapolis Star All-Central Indiana Super Team and Indianapolis Star All-City as a senior running back at Cathedral High in Indianapolis (Ind.). In 2017, he ran for 975 yards on 124 carries (7.9 avg) with 17 TDs and had 4 receptions for 24 yards (6.0 avg) despite missing 3 games with an injury. He missed most of his 2016 junior season with a hamstring injury that occurred on his first carry of the season. As a 2015 sophomore, he ran for 888 yards on 104 carries (8.5 avg) with 12 TDs and caught 3 passes for 32 yards (10.7 avg). His father, Marcus Stepp, played football at Miami (Ohio) in 1994 and 1995, where he was a teammate of current USC running backs coach Deland McCullough. His brother, Marcus Jr., is a junior outside linebacker at Saint Francis, which won the 2016 and 2017 NAIA national championships.
