USC lands commitment from OT Ty Buchanan out of Texas
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USC has placed a major investment in recruiting the state of Texas the last couple years, leveraging the geographical familiarity and established connections of its several staff members from the Lone Star State, and the returns continue to come in for the Trojans.
On Thursday, USC landed a commitment from offensive lineman Ty Buchanan, out of Calallen HS in Corpus Christi, Texas, providing a desired fourth OL commit in this 2021 class.
It's also the Trojans' second 2021 commitment of the week, following 4-star cornerback Philip Riley on Monday.
Buchanan's recruitment proceeded swiftly after he was offered by USC in early August, and ultimately he chose the Trojans over Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
Listed at 6-foot-6, 289 pounds, he's rated as a 3-star prospect. His film is impressive, and once he came on the staff's radar the Trojans' pursuit of him was consistent and compelling. Buchanan said it was ultimately the connection he felt with the coaching staff that made his decision clear to him.
"Just the coaching staff. I've built a really great relationship with them, and I love USC, the location, coaching staff and just everything about USC. It's like the best fit for me," Buchanan told TrojanSports.com ahead of his announcement.
"They really believed in me after watching my film. They immediately offered me after that, so that really meant a lot to me that they believed in me right after seeing my film. So I just really built a great connection with them and I believe it's the best for me."
USC landed three early offensive line commitments in this class in 4-star OT Mason Murphy (JSerra HS), 3-star OG Maximus Gibbs (St. John Bosco HS) and 3-star OT Saia Mapakaitolo (Red Mountain HS/Mesa, Ariz., formerly at Bishop Alemany HS).
The Trojans started their pursuit of Buchanan before the outcome of their recruiting battle for 4-star Rivals100 OT Kingsley Suamataia, who ultimately committed to Oregon earlier this month, but once that happened landing Buchanan took on even greater importance for USC to fill out this 2021 recruiting class.
After signing six offensive linemen in the 2020 class plus these four 2021 commits, USC has now restocked at the position for the future.
And three of those prospects have come from Texas, including 2020 signees Courtland Ford (Cedar Hill, Texas) and Casey Collier (Baytown, Texas). While he didn't know them previously, Buchanan talked to both Ford and Collier about their early experiences at USC and making the transition from Texas to California.
He also had that conversation with USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell and some of the other coaches on staff from Texas.
While Buchanan hasn't been able to visit USC and has never been to Los Angeles, he has been to California before and was intrigued by the opportunity to live out here.
"It's much different than Texas, but I've been to California and it's somewhere I could see myself living and being there for my next chapter of my life," he said. "I talked to Coach Harrell and a couple others. It's helpful because they understand all the questions I'm asking and the questions I have about Texas to California, they understand all that."
In this class, USC also holds commitments from 4-star Rivals250 RB Brandon Campbell, out of Houston, Texas, and 4-star Rivals100 WR Quaydarius Davis out of Dallas, Texas.
As for Buchanan, he said he was recruited as an offensive tackle "but I'll play anywhere they want me to."
He said from the moment he received his USC offer, he knew the Trojans were going to be a major factor in his recruitment, even though it was frustrating the ongoing NCAA recruiting dead period precluded him from taking a visit to campus.
"I've been talking to coach [Tim] Drevno every day, doing a lot of Zoom calls and just building this relationship. They're just a great coaching staff and great people," he said. "... I knew it was my biggest offer and a great opportunity, so I always knew that this whole process."
