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Recruiting The latest on Kayvon Thibodeaux

I checked in on the recruitment of five-star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, who just this week released a top five of USC, Oregon, Florida State, Florida and Alabama. If it seems to be a bit quiet between USC and the Westlake Village Oaks Christian product, that's because it is.

And there's a reason for it.

A source with intimate knowledge of Thibodeaux's recruitment told me the USC coaches "love" his game. There have been murmurs that the staff isn't high on him and I was told that is patently false. The Trojans really want him. But they're not heavily pursuing Thibodeaux just yet because the feeling is he is a bit enchanted with the recruiting charade that often accompanies being the consensus top prospect in the country. This approach actually isn't that uncommon with local five-stars.

Part of USC's plan is to give him his space for now and reconnect with him when he's ready. Thibodeaux said he's not planning to decide on a school until sometime this fall. So there's some time.

Recruiting USC makes the cut for 2020 QB Bryce Young

Class of 2020 quarterback Bryce Young, the successor of J.T. Daniels at Mater Dei High and Rivals' top-rated dual-threat QB in his class, released a top six Saturday that included USC, Washington, Texas, Penn State, Oklahoma and Alabama.

Login to view embedded media Here's what Young told Adam Gorney about USC earlier this week:

“From Mater Dei, that would be the smoothest transition,” Young said. “I feel like it’s a great offense and there is that pipeline. I’ve probably had the longest relationship with those coaches. Coach (Clay) Helton was one of the first coaches that I talked to back in seventh, eighth grade. Coach (Bryan) Ellis is super cool, I’ve talked to him a lot and coach (Tee) Martin is really cool, I’ve known him for a long time. It’s close and there are a lot of advantages there.”

Young said he could be ready to announce a commitment in late July.

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Recruiting So, USC had a real shot at landing Devontae Dobbs, and then ...

I came across a story Monday evening from the Detroit Free Press, covering the commitment of prized OL prospect Devontae Dobbs to Michigan State. Dobbs said the only other schools that "really had a shot" were USC, Auburn and Florida State.

What I didn't expect to read was Dobbs detailing an unpleasant meeting with USC offensive line coach Neil Callaway this past weekend and how he says it submarined the Trojans' chances with him.

Here's an excerpt:

Devontae Dobbs was on his official visit to Southern Cal over the weekend and he didn’t like what he was hearing.

The 5-star offensive lineman from Belleville was trying to vibe with offensive line coach Neil Callaway. It wasn’t going well.

“He was trying to explain some things to me and it just didn’t sound right,’’ Dobbs said Monday night. ...

“I was going over the list of things and my best relationship is with the coaches at Michigan State. I was comparing the offensive line coaches. With Coach Callaway I was watching film and talking to him and I didn’t completely agree with how he was trying to teach me. I was comparing him to Coach (Mark) Staten. Coach Staten he really teaches us. Coach Callaway is stuck on what he knows and what he knows is the way it is."

Here's the full story from the Free Press
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