USC impresses Smalls
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USC's coaches aren't shy about identifying top talent outside of the 2018 class. They offered a scholarship to Sav'ell Smalls, a defensive end from the 2020 class, in March of this year.
The scholarship offer was definitely warranted. Smalls already offers from programs like Michigan, Oregon, UCLA and Washington. And being proactive in recruiting can definitely pay off. Shortly after USC offered, Smalls visited. He was on campus on April 21, in what he says was his first trip to see the school.
This visit might have also been sparked by Smalls' head coach. He recently visited USC and the campus impressed him.
"It was great," Smalls said of his trip to USC. "I guess they had a coaching clinic a couple of weeks ago. And my head coach from (Seattle, Wash.) Garfield (Joey Thomas), he went down there and he said it was crazy out there and I would love it. And I did. It has great facilities. I only met two of the coaches but they seem cool. I saw the locker rooms, the weight rooms. All the stuff that they have to support the athletes, it seems like a good place."
After making the trip to campus, the 6-foot-4 and 230-pounder noticed all the titles and awards USC has displayed throughout Heritage Hall.
"Coach Alex Rios went around, showed us a few videos and told what USC is about, what it stands for and what makes it stands out," Smalls said. "He showed us around the facilities, the weight room and all that, all the historic stuff, all the national championships, all the Heisman Trophies. He just took us around the place."
And Smalls was impressed by the mentality of the USC program. The coaches he spoke with showed their competitive side. Apparently, They they don't view the recent and impressive Rose Bowl victory as living up to their standards.
"USC is crazy, they're bringing in top recruiting classes every year," Smalls said. "I know Zach Banner went down there so I was following them a little bit but I haven't been following them as much. But then I saw the season they had this year, I started watching them after they beat UDub and they just won a bunch of games and won the Rose Bowl. But they said they don't want to just win the Rose Bowl, they want to win National Championships. I really like the winning mentality that they've got."
Smalls says a decision is coming "closer to signing day" which is a long time considering he won't graduate high school until 2020. But it seems like the Trojans are in a very good position to potentially sign him down the road.
"I definitely like it a lot," Smalls said of USC. "I really don't know where they stand right now because I haven't taken time to think about it yet. But I definitely like USC and I definitely see them being a player for me."
