Godfrey sees himself as a Trojan
USC’s coaches are working to add to quality players to the defensive backfield in 2017. And on Sunday, they did just that. Three-star Je’Quari Godfrey announced his intentions to sign with USC, shortly after he concluded an official visit with the Trojans.
“I’m just really happy to be a part of the Trojan family,” Godfrey told TrojanSports.com after making a commitment to USC.
When USC originally offered the 6-foot-2 and 175-pound cornerback a scholarship, he was committed to Cal. And he was publicly committed to be a Golden Bear until he visited USC this weekend. But the product of Bishop O’Dowd HS in Oakland, Calif. was definitely on the verge of flipping to USC even before he made it to campus.
“When I got the offer, I was definitely super excited,” Godfrey said. “USC is a huge program. It was just really big for me to have even any attention from them. I was just really honored and thankful for that. So, just seeing the potential for me to play for them was just the start of that. But I was still at that point locked in with Cal and I was set on my decision. But then as time passed, I heard possible things about a coaching change. And I just wasn’t sure about that but things kind of settled down for a while. I thought it was okay. But then something, I just changed my mind. It wasn’t even about the coaching. I just thought about what I wanted to do, what I wanted to be and the level that I wanted to compete at. And that led me to USC. And I even changed my mind before anything happened with the coaching staff. I knew I wanted to go to USC.”
In fact, he felt that he was going to end up as a Trojan even before he made it Los Angeles this weekend.
“That would be the Friday before my visit,” Godfrey said. “It just hit me. I had been thinking about it for a long time of course and it just finally came to my mind. This is what I want to do. I want to go there.”
And when he did arrive at USC, Godfrey saw everything he expected and much more.
“First of all, I have to say the food was amazing,” Godfrey said. “The weekend was filled with great, great food. So that was awesome. I love food and that was great. One of the things that was really the highlight of my visit was me putting on the 22 jersey, that’s my number. We had a photo shoot with USC helmets, my mom and my sister and then we all walked out to the Coliseum and that was amazing. Outstanding. We walked down and saw all the historic players painted on the wall. And then you get to the field and standing at the 50 yard line, just looking around and the stands are empty and it’s so quiet. That was when I looked around and said I can really see myself playing here.”
It was shortly after his visit to Coliseum that he told Clay Helton he wanted to be a Trojan.
“I told the coaches I committed Saturday night at dinner,” Godfrey said. “I told Coach (Clay) Helton.”
And Clay Helton was incredibly excited that Godfrey jumped on board.
“It was a reaction I’ve never seen before,” Godfrey said. “It was hilarious. Coach Helton was ecstatic. He was ecstatic. He said, ‘thank you, thank you so much, you just made me the happiest coach in the country.’ He said he was just really thankful. Just thankful that I was giving him the opportunity to coach me and that was shocking to me. I was thankful to him. I was like thank you for letting me have the opportunity to visit here, for recruiting me and offering me a scholarship and everything. But he was just thankful that I decided to come there. That was amazing.”
Godfrey, like Helton, is also very thankful to be committed to USC. He feels at home and like he’s surrounded by quality people.
“When they offered me and a little before they offered me, they were recruiting and everything like that,” Godfrey said. “Since then, they have never let off. Even before, when I was still deliberating everything, they texted me all the time, checked in. They heard about my knees (Godfrey tweaked his LCL and PCL in one knee) and they asked me about that and how I was doing. Just constant communication. That was really great for me. But then I went on the visit and being there with them and actually being there this weekend was great. They’re just great people aside from football. At USC, they’re great men, their families are amazing. They wives and kids are just so supportive and amazing people.”