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As a top local prospect walked by a reporter Saturday at a big 7-on-7 tournament in Anaheim, he said "So, Donte ..." That was enough to get the message across.

USC's hiring last week of cornerbacks coach and former top Oregon recruiter Donte Williams continues to reverberate among top local prospects. That was the hope, of course, when the Trojans pried him away from the Pac-12 rival Ducks, and the true dividends of that move won't show until the program starts landing signatures from 2021 recruits in December.

But the feedback has been nothing but encouraging so far.

Anthony Beavers, a 4-star 2021 defensive back from Narbonne High School whom Williams had landed a commitment from at Oregon, spoke Saturday about Williams' impact after backing off his Ducks pledge.

"I believe it's pretty big. I think guys that think about staying home, I believe in the past they haven't been able to connect with the DB coaches before. So bringing another city guy in -- he's been recruiting the city from different places -- it just helps the city like stay connected, if that makes sense," Beavers said. "Because Donte recruited a lot of people like Justin Flowe, me, all those guys that went up to Oregon, pretty much the main recruiter was Donte. So for Donte to stay home, he's still the same dude, he's just at a different school. I believe it's going to boost 'SC's recruiting, especially because everybody in that building is kind of energetic about the future."

Minutes later, 2021 athlete/defensive back Jaylin Smith from Bishop Alemany HS was saying much of the same.