Commitment Analysis: Impressive local 2021 safety Xamarion Gordon picks USC
**TrojanSports.com is excited to offer a special FREE TRIAL for new subscribers during this unique situation nationally. Sign up by April 30 and get unlimited premium access for free until Sept. 5 -- the expected start of the 2020 college football season. Give us a try for the next few months and see what we have to offer in the way of thorough daily USC football recruiting and team coverage, exclusive reporting and interviews with coaches and administrators, features, podcasts and much more.
New subscribers can follow this link and use promo code USC2020. Returning free users and past subscribers can follow this link to sign in first and start here and enter the promo code.**
USC's recent recruiting momentum continued Friday afternoon as local 2021 safety Xamarion Gordon announced his commitment to the Trojans.
Gordon, a 3-star prospect from Warren High School in nearby Downey, is the first defensive back commit for USC in this class -- and the first since 2019 for that matter after the program failed to sign any in the last cycle.
That also makes three 2021 commitments in the last couple weeks for USC, following pledges from 3-star OT Mason Murphy (JSerra HS) and 4-star RB Brandon Campbell (Katy HS/Houston, Texas).
The Trojans are up to No. 10 in the Rivals 2021 recruiting rankings with their six commits now.
The USC staff has been high on Gordon and hosted him on campus back on March 1 for an unofficial visit.
Overall, the Trojans are now up to six commitments in this 2021 class, including La Habra HS 4-star QB Jake Garcia (the No. 3 pro-style QB and No. 23 overall prospect in the class), St. John Bosco HS 4-star OLB Ma'a Gaoteote (another Rivals100 prospect), Grace Brethren HS 4-star DT Jay Toia, Murphy and Campbell.
Meanwhile, safeties coach Craig Naivar shared his reaction on Twitter.
Commitment analysis with Rivals recruiting analyst Adam Gorney ...
What stands out to you about Xamarion Gordon as a safety prospect?
Gorney: "He's a very long, athletic kid who loves to hit people. That's kind of his thing. He's a very physical kid, he's always looking to lower his shoulder and knock people around. I think that's the kind of guy Todd Orlando is looking for, some of the new coaches on defense are looking for. He always has his eye kind of just to knock people on their back, so he's going to be a physical safety. He's going to be a kid who, people coming across the middle or on the sideline, he is not going to just push them out of bounds. He's going to lower his shoulder, he's going to go after them. I think that's what stands out.
"One thing that I did notice about him on film that I question is kind of his straight-line speed. I need to see him more in person to really judge if he's kind of this bouncy athlete or he's just a guy who's playing kind of marginal competition and roughing them up. So there's no question about his physicality and his toughness on the field and his ability to go after the ball and attack it, but I do want to see just how fast he is in person because film can kind of be deceiving a little bit."
Is that the main difference between his current 3-star rating and a potential 4-star rating?
You must be a member to read the full article. Subscribe now for instant access to all premium content.
-
Members-only forums
-
Predict prospect commits with FanFutureCast
-
Exclusive highlights and interviews
-
Exclusive coverage of Rivals Camp Series
-
Breaking recruiting news