Rivals100 CB explains changes at the top
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Rivals100 cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart is making progress in regards to choosing a college. The 6-foot-2 and 177-pounder will release a list of favorite programs very soon. But he says that he doesn't yet know who's on that list.
"I'm still undecided on that right now," Taylor-Stuart told TrojanSports.com when asked about releasing that list. "Probably before this month or next month."
When asked how many schools will make the cut, Taylor-Stuar responds "probably like 10 to 15."
Those 10 to 15 schools will get some special treatment.
"I'll probably take visits to all those schools," Taylor-Stuart said of that upcoming list.
After that, the product of St. Augustine HS in San Diego plans to cut his list again. Taylor-Stuart says the timing for these decisions feels right because he's started to develop close relationships with certain coaches.
"Just mainly, the connections of the coaches," Taylor-Stuart said when asked why he feels ready to name favorites. "That's what made me decide to narrow it down. And after that, I'll take visits and narrow it down even more based on what's best for me and stuff like that."
In fact, Taylor-Stuart has been thinking about favorites for a while. He's even given previous hints on who might make his list.
"I made a couple favorites but I never made a list of schools," Taylor-Stuart said.
His future plans also give further hints into his future list of schools.
"Just a couple camps and then try to visit some schools like Ohio State," Taylor-Stuart said when asked about his summer plans. "They've been hitting me up a lot and I've been talking to them a lot, coaches like Coach (Urban) Meyer. And then hopefully try to get to Michigan. That would also be a good one. And Alabama, I'll try to get back out there. Oklahoma and South Carolina too."
Taylor-Stuart also previously told TrojanSports.com that USC was one of his favorite schools. And at one time, he publicly named Alabama as his overall leader. All that can change quickly though.
When asked about Alabama, Taylor-Stuart says they're no longer his top school.
"They were my favorite school once but that's not the case anymore," Taylor-Stuart said of Alabama.
He says he initially favored the Crimson Tide because he was so impressed by his visit.
"A month after I took my visit to Alabama, things started cooling down," Taylor-Stuart said. "I started looking at more schools and stuff like that. They were my favorite because it was a college I saw and was like wow. But schools started coming more and there were more opportunities to just see what's out there for colleges. I looked around to see there was a lot of good stuff out there too so I decided to take my time."
Although St. Augustine HS is over 100 miles away from USC's campus, the Trojans are the local football power. And therefore, USC will always be considered a favorite until this prospect hints otherwise. So without question, USC fans were hurt when they initially heard that Alabama was ahead of USC in the eyes of Taylor-Stuart.
But after Alabama dismantled the Trojans in the opening game, the Trojans started winning. Eventually, USC went on a winning streak, won the Rose Bowl and proved that it could possibly have a team in Alabama's class.
So while Taylor-Stuart has his own reasons for now considering everyone equal, it should be noted that USC's win streak made an impact on him.
"It helped a lot," Taylor-Stuart said when asked about USC winning. "I didn't expect them to beat Penn State because Penn State beat Ohio State. For USC to get that win caught my eyes more."
USC impressed him so much that he's now even willing to give the coaching staff a bit of a break. If the Trojans don't do as well this season, he says he doesn't mind too much. He says winning this season doesn't matter, he just wants to feel confident the staff knows "what they're doing."
USC's coaches hope to further convince him of their abilities during a summer visit. In fact, they hope to host Taylor-Stuart in a camp setting.
"They want me to come down again and do a college camp," Taylor-Stuart said. "I'm not 100-percent sure but it would be nice to. It's a school to look into."
This cornerback says he's certain he'll get to USC at some point in the summer. He also recently visited USC for the spring game. But since Taylor-Stuart says a commitment is "probably" coming after the season, he admits that there isn't a lot of news to report on between him and USC.
"There's nothing new, it's just great there," Taylor-Stuart said of USC.
USC hasn't stopped by St. Augustine HS yet for spring football but a representative is expected to visit before the end of the evaluation period. And Taylor-Stuart does see college coaches regularly. When TrojanSports.com was at his high school on Tuesday, Greg Schiano of Ohio State and Ron Cooper of Texas A&M were watching him practice.
