There are countless connections between Serra High School in Gardena and USC. Many of the school’s most recent stars ultimately decided to stay home and play for the Trojans. As Lincoln Riley begins his tenure as the program’s new head coach there will be plenty of attention paid to the Serra football program.

One recruit who continues to give the Trojans a strong look is 2023 athlete Rodrick Pleasant. The 5-foot-11 recruit has continued to build a relationship with the new coaches at USC, and the program remains on his list of viable options.

Pleasant released his top 13 back on Feb. 1, but he has since continued to add offers and says that his recruitment is “100%” open at this stage. USC made the cut for that last along with Pac-12 programs Oregon, Cal, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and UCLA. Georgia, Boston College, Texas, Penn State, Ole Miss and Michigan also made the list.

Many of the schools listed continue to make Pleasant feel like a priority. He named USC, Oregon, Georgia, Penn State, Michigan, Boston College and UCLA among that group.

“I’m just taking it in,” he said. “Especially with all the coaching changes and everything else. The recruiting process is crazy, but I am blessed to be in the situation that I am in.”

Now that he has some direction in the process, the 5-foot-11 athlete is beginning to take a stronger look at some of his top options. He made visits to USC and Oregon in January plus he has a couple important visits coming up this month.

The process is about to get much busier as he will soon make his return to the track. Last year he ran personal-best 10.32 100m to set the sophomore record in California. Track is a big part of his life, and it will play into his college decision as well.

That is where a lot of his attention has been this spring when he isn’t keeping up with his recruitment.

“Just being more efficient in my breaks,” Pleasant said about what he is focused on this season. “It’s track season. People didn’t know that I was playing on two ankle sprains the whole season. The film doesn’t look like it, but it could’ve been 10 times better.”