Grahams dream decision

Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. - In front of a sizable crowd at the Athletic Republic training facility, Thomas Graham made an announcement that most expected him to make.

The 2017 cornerback passed up on a collection of impressive scholarship offers and committed to USC.

Graham even admits that his commitment wasn't a surprise. Immediately after he received a scholarship offer from USC, Graham knew what he wanted to do.

"I was thinking as soon as I got it, I already knew I was going to commit," Graham told TrojanSports.com. "I think everyone here already knew that."

There was the obvious: He's from Southern California and his sister, Jasmine, is a future track star that will be enrolled at USC in the fall.

Graham also grew up a Trojan.

"As a kid, he just embraced whatever Dad liked," Thomas Graham Sr. said. "He fell in love with it. I took him to a game or two and he enjoyed it. He was like, Dad, that's where I want to go. We told him to dream big but we never imagined this."

Like most millenials rooting for USC, Thomas Graham's favorite player was a certain Heisman-winning running back.

"He had a Reggie Bush jersey and he wore it until the numbers peeled off," Graham Sr. said. "(His mother) had to slip him a new one because he wore it every single day. He wore it to school and people were like, does he have any clothes besides this Reggie Bush jersey? But she had to steal the jersey from him and get him a new one."

As Graham grew up, his love for USC and its football program stayed strong. But for a brief moment, it seemed like the four-star prospect might not be a Trojan.

That's because Graham didn't receive a scholarship offer until last week's Rising Stars Camp. And he almost didn't attend that camp.

"The conversation was, how much do you want to go to USC?" Graham Sr. said he told his son before the camp. "He was like, that's my dream school, I want to go to USC. I was like, you have to go to the camp. You can't be a USC target without going to their camp. When he woke up and he was like, I'm going to their camp, I let out a little cheer. I was high-fiving mom like, let's go get it. And it was her birthday. We gave a speech and he was like, OK, Dad. But first thing I said was, we're Grahams, we give 110-percent, go get mom her birthday present.

"At the end of the day, when Sark said he earned it, when Hawk (Armond Hawkins) said he earned it, it was an unbelievable feeling. They said we're going to save half a million dollars in education with our son going to USC. It's a no-brainer. We live right down the street, we can go see him play, practice and be a part of a great family. But it was a no-brainer. If you want to go to USC, you have to go to their camp."

Graham admits that before he had the scholarship offer, he was frustrated with USC. Now, of course, he's very excited.

"I was frustrated but then I understood what Coach Sarkisian said about why he didn't want to offer me," Graham said. "He wanted to wait to see me in person. He made me realize why he waited this far and this long."

It was worth the wait to realize a childhood dream.

"Me and my sister, since we were little, said we wanted to go to 'SC together and the dream became a reality right now," Graham said. "When we were younger, it was mainly Reggie Bush that got us on it. But then just the USC program getting better at track got my sister to go there, and then the football program arising from the point where they had the restrictions and rising from that now."

After Graham received the scholarship offer, it was obvious how his family felt about USC. Graham's mother probably gave away any chance of her son surprising the coaches with a commitment.

"Sark called and I told Sark that I had to put it on speakerphone because my wife wanted to hear," Graham Sr. said. "So he talked and he said Thomas had a great camp and he wanted to offer him a scholarship. Before I hung up the phone, she screamed. She ran through the house screaming. Sark heard, he was laughing but we were so excited to put both of them in the same place. We don't have to travel to different places, we all have USC gear, so our whole collection of clothing will be USC gear. It's a crazy feeling."

For Tamisha Graham, it was the perfect birthday gift.

"The day of the camp was my birthday and I was kind of upset that I couldn't go," Tamisha Graham said. "I like to go to his stuff. I was like, Dad has to work but Momma's going to figure it out. But I couldn't get the time because he said it last minute. So I was like, it's my birthday, I always wanted to go there, so I need you to go there and bring me back a present. So when they called, it was like, Happy birthday. I ran in there and told my daughter, they just offered your brother."

Even though Sarkisian seems to have Graham's commitment locked up, pitches about track - he also runs - football and education will still continue. That's because Graham is a 2017 prospect. He'll still get recruited for quite some time.

"It's a hard commitment right now," Graham said. "But I might take official visits someplace else."

But USC will still be extremely hard to beat. Beyond his family connections to the school and his childhood love for the football team, Graham made his decision for very real reasons.

"The biggest attraction to USC is the tradition there," Graham said. "It's a very strong tradition. You can tell just by the alumni's reaction when they changed their face masks to chrome. But the tradition there and the coaches - Coach Sarkisian, when he was at Washington, he was a strong leader of the team. He helped his team win at Washington and he's at USC to help change the program."

It also doesn't hurt that Graham's family is so invested in the school.

"I'm feeling blessed, I can't even express it," Graham Sr. said. "Me and my wife joked around, if we sent one kid to college, but if we get two-for-two, it's like a dream right now. We have to pinch ourselves right now to see if this is reality, let alone USC. I grew up in LA, walking around the campus, I never imagined I would have a connection to that place. It's been a dream."