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Rivals100 LB 'always knew' it would be USC

USC hosted an impressive collection of football talent over the weekend and all that hard work paid off. On Sunday, the Trojans secured a commitment from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman HS 2018 linebacker Palaie Gaoteote.

And this commitment is incredibly significant. Rivals.com rates Gaoteote as a Rivals100 linebacker, and also as the number one prospect in the country at his position.

In an interview with TrojanSports.com, the 6-foot-2 and 220-pounder reveals that USC has always felt like the school for him.

“First off, it’s always been my dream school,” Gaoteote told TrojanSports.com. “It’s been the school I’ve wanted to go to since I was probably four or five. And it’s always been a family school. My dad and my grandfather have always been USC fans. And just when I went there on the visit, everything just felt right. That feeling, the sense of comfort of being at home. I have a few cousins that go there, Vavae Malepeai and Jordan Iosefa. And just knowing that I’ll be with them for the next three years, because they’re freshmen there and I’m coming in next year as a freshman. So just to be there with them for three years, it just gave me another sense of comfort. And honestly, the biggest part for me was just being comfortable.”

Gaoteote says he will sign a letter of intent with USC in February and enroll as a member of the 2018 class. Bishop Gorman HS has a policy that doesn’t allow for its football players to graduate and enroll early.

But even with nearly a year between himself and National Signing Day 2018, Gaoteote is confident he’ll end up playing for USC at the next level.

“I’m a hard commit,” Gaoteote said. “I’m really solid on my decision and honestly I think the only way I would de-commit is something really really bad would have to happen. But shoot, more than likely, I’m not going to de-commit.”

In fact, Gaoteote says that in his heart, he’s been committed to USC for a very, very long time.

“I found out the first time I went to visit USC, that’s kind of where I got the idea that I wanted to go to USC,” Gaoteote said. “But the whole commitment part was just, I always knew in my heart that I was going to commit there, I just wanted to keep everything quiet.”

Despite the fact that he’s rated as an outside linebacker, Gaoteote told TrojanSports.com that he’ll be playing “either MIKE or WILL” at USC.

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