Imatorbhebhe could decide McDonald's future with USC
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Camren McDonald is an impressive tight end prospect from Long Beach, Calif. Poly HS who has the unique ability to flex out wide as well. From what he’s shown in high school, it seems like the 6-foot-4 and 205-pound prospect could fit in and make an impact in just about any offense.
But McDonald sees a fit at USC. And he can also see himself playing like a current tight end on USC’s roster.
Clay Helton, Tee Martin and Gavin Morris have teamed up to recruit McDonald to USC but Daniel Imatorbhebhe’s name should be mentioned with them. When McDonald was asked what he wanted to see from USC, he pointed to the redshirt sophomore tight end.
“I have to see how many balls Daniel Imatorbhebhe catches this year,” McDonald said. “That’s really what’s making my decision. If he gets a lot of balls and he goes into the league this year. Then I think that’ll shut it down. But if his production is low, then I might have to look elsewhere.”
TrojanSports.com asked McDonald if he would commit to USC if Imatorbhebhe has an impressive year and leaves for the NFL.
“Absolutely.” McDonald said. “Because if the tight end that’s my body type and my body size, that plays like myself, gets a lot of balls in the offense, I don’t see why I wouldn’t get a lot of balls in the offense. That’s probably one of the main things.”
But the USC coaching staff isn’t just relying on Imatorbhebhe and his performance during the 2017 season. They have made McDonald feel like a priority.
“They’re probably one of the schools that’s recruiting me the toughest,” McDonald said of USC. “I don’t think they like seeing kids in their backyard go to other places. So they’re recruiting me hard.”
USC coaches have not stopped by Long Beach Poly HS yet this spring but McDonald expects that to happen soon. But while he waits on USC, he has 2018 Trojan quarterback commit Matt Corral in his ear.
“They’re still one of the schools on the top of my list,” McDonald said. “Having a quarterback that’s committed there, throwing me the ball, just hearing hime talk about the chemistry level we’re going to have once we’re already there, it’s promising. So USC is probably going to be on the top of my list through the remainder of my recruiting process, not solely because of that but Matt is going to be a big reason.”
Just don’t expect Corral or anyone else to convince McDonald to commit early. As he said earlier, he’s waiting to see what Imatorbhebhe does this season. He’s also focused on his current team.
“It’ll be a while because I want to focus on Poly football,” McDonald said. “After I’m done with Poly football, it’s probably going to be, I’m going to set a timeframe for the rest of my decision. But Poly football is my priority right now.”
He also plans visits to different college campuses in the summer. But he doesn’t know where he’s going yet.
“I might be thinking about being an early enrollee, so I don’t know yet,” McDonald said. “But more than likely signing day.”
McDonald also says he’s pushing hard to enroll in college early. But he might have trouble doing it.
“It would be hard to do because my school is on the semester system. It would be a lot of hoops to jump through. So I’m going to try but if it doesn’t go through, it doesn’t go through.”
