Versatile DB Maliki Crawford announces USC commitment

Maliki Crawford became one of the most coveted West Coast defensive backs for a handful of Pac-12 programs this recruiting cycle, but he won't be going far from home after announcing his commitment to USC on Tuesday.

Crawford chose the Trojans over fellow finalists Cal and UCLA, after previously cutting Oregon and Washington from his earlier top 5 list.

The 6-foot-3, 171-pound Crawford was recruited as a cornerback, but he has the versatility to play safety down the road as well.

The timing of his commitment comes as a little bit of a surprise after he wasn't able to take his schedule June official visit to USC to a family scheduling conflict, instead pushing it off to the regular season. But he took another unofficial visit last week and has been to campus multiple times so he had mostly seen what he needed to.

Crawford had always been intrigued by USC, telling TrojanSports.com as far back the winter of 2021 about his strong interest in the program -- even before the Trojans had chosen to make him a major target.

The addition of Lincoln Riley and this new staff to the mix, along with his existing relationship with DBs coach Donte Williams, only furthered the appeal.

"Coach Lincoln Riley. At Oklahoma that staff, they did really well at Oklahoma and they come from a winning culture, so going to USC, that would be nice to see USC go back to consistently winning. That's definitely what stands out to me," he said last month.

Crawford is the Trojans' 14th commit in this 2023 recruiting class and the third defensive back, along with four-star corner Braxton Myers (Coppell, Texas) and four-star safety Christian Pierce (Rancho Cucamonga HS), though Ole Miss is making a strong push to sway Myers.

What stands out to you about Maliki Crawford as a versatile defensive back?

Gorney: "He is a long, rangy, athletic defensive back, so it will be interesting to see if he can stay at corner over the long term or if he moves to safety. I think he kind of wants to play corner, but we'll see. He reminds me a lot of Devin Kirkwood at UCLA, who could actually start this year. Just an athletic guy who has incredible length. He's not as refined as like an Eli Ricks or someone like that, but when you see someone with those long spider arms like he has, he's definitely an interesting prospect for three or four years down the road."

How did you see his recruitment unfold?

Gorney: "He had been committed to UCLA. And I didn't think that was a major surprise. I think they're looking for those long, lanky defensive backs that can cover and have range, like everybody is looking for. He did make it early, though, so as his recruitment picked up and more schools got interested and you kind of saw Lincoln Riley get the job and what he was doing there, I think he wanted reopen things and kind of restart everything. He had talked about schools outside of the Pac-12 for a little bit, but it always was the sense that he was going to end up in the Pac-12, whether back at UCLA or at Washington, or at USC. It looks like before his senior season really started, he wanted to get it out of the way."

What's the biggest area he really needs to shore up to be ready to contribute at the Pac-12 (and eventually Big Ten) level?

Gorney: "He's not playing elite competition at the high school level out in Oxnard, and I do think he needs to get more physically developed. Right now he's like a long, skinny kid. He's very much like Devin Kirkwood, who needed a year to really get into a college weight room, really needed to develop physically and all of those kinds of things. Now, no one's going to be pushing him around, but in terms of jamming people at the line or doing those kind of things or possibly moving to safety, he's going to need a few years to develop. But the physical traits he brings to the table, you can't teach and are really special. And so I think that's where his value really comes to the USC football team."