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Published Feb 4, 2021
USC 2021 Recruiting in Review: Surprises, superlatives, stings and more
Ryan Young  •  TrojanSports
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The 2021 recruiting cycle mostly wrapped up for USC on National Signing Day, as the Trojans added 4-star Rivals100 linebacker Raesjon Davis on Wednesday to further bolster the No. 8-ranked class in the country.

USC remains in pursuit of 5-star defensive end J.T. Tuimoloau (Bellevue, Wash.), who has no set timeline for his decision while still hoping to take visits to schools. And the Trojans will likely evaluate the NCAA transfer portal again in the spring with an eye toward offensive line help.

But it's also possible this is the full haul -- 22 incoming freshmen and four intriguing transfer additions (assuming Texas RB transfer Keaontay Ingram officially signs, which he had not done as of Wednesday). See the full list of signees here.

RELATED: Column: The significance of USC's 2021 recruiting class is not the ranking

So it's time to break it down once more, recapping the 2021 recruiting class from every angle and handing out some superlatives.

Most impactful signing

Some answers are obvious, but it can't be said enough how important and significant it was for USC to win the most high-profile recruiting battle in the country and land 5-star defensive end Korey Foreman.

Foreman had been committed to Clemson for several months early last year and continued to consider the Tigers, along with the likes of LSU, Georgia and Pac-12 rival Oregon.

Every time he took a visit, the narrative seemed to shift and buzz grew for that respective school. But USC remained steady and aggressive from start to finish to keep the local standout home.

Cornerbacks coach and all-around recruiting ace Donte Williams, director of player development Gavin Morris and defensive line coach Vic So'oto all put in major work, with So'oto earning Foreman's trust throughout the process and Williams and Morris serving as the closers.

Foreman is about as sure and no-doubt of a prospect as there is, and his impact will be felt not only on the field on Saturdays -- immediately -- but also on the recruiting trail.

Best recruiter

Again, no debate here. Donte Williams arrived at USC a year ago with a reputation as one of the top recruiters on the west coast, and he exceeded even the highest of expectations while proving that he's actually one of the top recruiters in all of college football.

Williams was the lead recruiter for Foreman, Davis, Rivals100 WR Kyron Ware-Hudson, 4-star cornerbacks Ceyair Wright, Prophet Brown and Jaylin Smith, , 4-star linebacker Julien Simon and he and safeties coach Craig Naivar both played huge rules in landing 4-star safeties Calen Bullock, Xamarion Gordon and Anthony Beavers.

In the Non-Donte Division, director of player development Gavin Morris and Naivar deserve special mention. Morris was also huge in the recruitment of Foreman and other prospects. And Naivar both quickly locked up three safety commits all by last April and then landed Xavion Alford -- a 4-star top-150 prospect from the 2020 class -- as a transfer from Texas, where he had initially recruited him.

Biggest surprise

We're going to allow ties here and give it to both 4-star cornerback Prophet Brown and 4-star wide receiver Kyron Ware-Hudson.

As noted, both were recruiting wins for Williams and both happened with almost no buildup buzz or expectation. Most prognosticators had Brown pegged for Oklahoma when all of a sudden in mid July word started trickling out that USC had surged to the top of his recruitment with a commitment quickly following. It was the first true signal to not assume any prospect was out of play with Williams involved.

And Ware-Hudson had been committed to Oregon for almost a year when he flipped to USC in December. His brother still plays for the Ducks, making the flip even more surprising when it happened. Williams, of course, had been on staff at Oregon when Ware-Hudson committed and had known him since before he got into high school, through the recruitment of his brother. USC had one Rivals100 WR fall out of the class in Quay Davis (who ended up at Kansas) and managed to recover from that loss by poaching Ware-Hudson from a Pac-12 rival.

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