ORLANDO — After Wole Betiku re-opened his recruitment, the four-star defensive end decided to announce a new commitment during the Under Armour All-American Game.

That game is still days away and now, the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder is committed to be a Trojan. So why did he change his commitment date?

“Because I wanted to give a Christmas gift to the Trojans,” Betiku told TrojanSports.com at the Under Armour All-American game registration.

Another Christmas gift to USC fans would be Betiku’s plans to enroll early. He’s just days away from joining the team

“Possibly the 7th of January,” Betiku said.

The product of Gardena Serra HS says it’s “classified” whether USC coaches knew of his intentions to commit before he announced it on Christmas Day. He is willing to say that USC has been his choice for some time.

“I knew from the first day I stepped in California I wanted to go to USC,” Betiku said. “There were just a lot of other factors in recruiting, stuff that I had to learn about recruiting and just taking my time with everything. I made mistakes and I finally realized that my dream is my dream and I can only write my destiny myself and I won’t let what other people say or think is good for me or what they feel is the best fit for me define me. I’m the only one that can define myself and make myself what I’m going to be, just trust in God in everything and that’s why I went where I want to go.”

Betiku also says he doesn’t care who USC hires to coach him. He still has one goal in mind regardless of his position coach.

“They recruited me to come sack the quarterback and it doesn’t matter who the defensive line is being coached by, I’m still going to get to the quarterback,” Betiku said. “Just get people out of my way and get to the quarterback.”

His future position might not matter to him as much as people might think. At one time, Betiku was very concerned with which position he’d play in college. It helped lead him towards a UCLA commitment at one time. Now, he isn’t concerned about his position.

“My development as a player, I don’t know what I’m going to be when I get to college,” Betiku said. “I might put on weight, I might be 280, I don’t know. I’m not going to make my decision based on position, I don’t care where they put me on the field. I just want to be on the field playing and getting my education. That (position) wasn’t really a factor anymore. Back when I committed to UCLA, that was a factor, I was more worried about where I’m going to play but I saw players, like Robert Nkemdiche, he was recruited as a D-End, he got to Ole Miss, he started playing nose, he played everything, so I’m like why should I think about the position I’m going to play? I’m just going to go where I want to go and whatever happens from there, I’ll just work hard and get to the quarterback whatever position they put me.”

His decision eventually became about finding the best school and fit for him. According to Betiku, USC is clearly that fit.

“I know what it is, I’ve been there a lot of times, hanging out with Rasheem (Green) and some of my friends over there so I know what USC is about. I’m already part of the family from the first day I visited the school. So it’s not like I look forward to it because I know I’m already there. I know that’s what I think about, I dream about, I can’t wait to play for Coach Clay (Helton) and Coach X and Coach X and Coach X, because they don’t have names yet. Whatever coach comes, I’m ready to play.”

He hopes to make an early impact but understands there’s more to his future in football than his freshman season.

“I look forward to making an early impact but first want to get to know my teammates, work hard, earn their respect and learn a lot from going against Zach Banner everyday. If I don’t start, whatever time they give me on the field, I’ll try to do as much as I can, the best I can to try to contribute to the team, whatever position they put me to play, special teams, whatever.”

Betiku will likely not participate in the Under Armour Game due to a shoulder injury.