Recruiting Rumblings: Devin Kirkwood says USC is 'really up there' for him

Devin Kirkwood has been up to USC multiple times, including the Trojans' big junior day at the end of January, but his latest visit last weekend was different.

First, he got a chance to meet the rest of the new staff that wasn't in place before that junior day event, but more importantly he got to spend time with them in a different setting than usual.

The entire USC coaching staff and a collection of top targets visiting last weekend attended the Trojans' final basketball game against UCLA with the focus of the experience being more casual and social.

"They wanted me to come hang out with them, so I really liked how they let me come visit and see how the campus was and how they got down for a different sport instead of me just coming up to watch a football game. I got to know the coaches a little bit more," Kirkwood told TrojanSports.com. "... It impacted [me] a lot because I got to meet the new coaches to see how I would bond with them without just talking about football or seeing them during football games or football camps."

Kirkwood spent a lot of time with new USC director of high school relations Armond Hawkins Jr., which sets up an interesting storyline in his recruitment as Arizona State -- with brother Chris Hawkins (who was a USC GA last year) as the new DBs coach there -- is another school really involved with him.