SANTA ANA -- Like many prospects -- many people in general, for that matter -- this relentless pandemic had made Kyron Ware-Hudson see things in a different perspective, and so when USC initiated contact a couple weeks ago to gauge if he might have any interest, the thought of staying close to home, close to family became an opportunity he couldn't dismiss.

Ware-Hudson, a Rivals100 4-star wide receiver from national power Mater Dei HS, had been committed to Oregon since December, but on Monday he flipped that pledge to USC, giving the Trojans one of their most high-profile recruiting wins in this 2021 class.

And on Tuesday he went in-depth with TrojanSports.com about how that move came together and how it felt to make the announcement Monday on his mother's birthday.

"It was just a great day, starting off with just saying 'Happy Birthday' to my mom -- a person who is very important to me, I'm very close, I'm a momma's boy. So getting that moment to announce that and tell her that I'm staying home was very special to me. I'm just excited to be a Trojan," he said. "... Living in Cali and being a Cali football player, everyone was really excited I'm going to University of Southern California. It felt different, you know. It felt different. It felt like I was made to be there. So I'm just really excited and can't wait."

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What made the news especially interesting is that his older brother, Keyon Ware-Hudson, is a redshirt freshman defensive tackle at Oregon, and that had obviously been a key factor in his initial decision to commit to the Ducks.

"He's my brother and it's nothing but love, but at the same time it's the best decision for me and he's going to be happy regardless," Kyron said. "We both have a vision to get where we want to get and help our parents, just pay them back for the things they did for us, so it's just we're on a mission together so we're just putting in a work."