This week on the Peristyle Podcasts hosts Ryan Abraham and Coach Harvey Hyde preview what could happen on Wednesday for the Trojans, the traditional National Letter of Intent Day for the 2023 recruiting class. With the early signing period in December and the NCAA Transfer Portal now closed to new entrants until May, there aren't expected to be many busy fax machines going in the John McKay Center Wednesday morning, but there are a couple of high profile uncommitted prospects that head coach Lincoln Riley has on his radar so it has the potential to be a great day for USC football.
Gardena (Calif.) Serra four-star cornerback Rodrick Pleasant is set to make his announcement at his high school at 10:30 a.m. PT on February 1. Ryan recently saw Pleasant out in Hawaii for the Polynesian Bowl and the speedster would be a welcomed addition to the Trojan secondary. Before heading off to Hawaii he took an official visit to USC and he is closed with Trojan defensive backs coach Donte Williams.
Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle five-star tight end/wide receiver Duce Robinson was also set to make his college choice known on Signing Day but there has been some recent buzz that Robinson could delay his decision and wait until later to sign. The baseball/football star is a match-up nightmare and Ryan was also able to check him out at the Poly Bowl. Many recruiting analysts feel Robinson is heading to Georgia, but the Trojans still have a good shot to bring in one of the top prospects on the West Coast.
Currently the Trojans have the No. 15 ranked high school class for the 2023 cycle and No. 2 in the Pac-12 behind No. 10 Oregon. USC has 20 prospects signed currently and if Riley was able to add Pleasant and Robinson it would move the team up into the top-8 for high school class rankings.
USC has the No. 5 ranked transfer class for the 2023 cycle with 12 total transfer commits. The Trojans are No. 2 in the Pac-12 transfer classes behind No. 4 Colorado and their 23 transfer commits.
For the overall rankings with high school and transfers combined USC comes in at No. 8 nationally and No. 1 in the Pac-12 with Oregon at No. 10 being the closest competition. Colorado (21), UCLA (24) and Utah (25) are the only other Pac-12 programs in the top-25 rankings for overall class.
Coach Hyde also talked about some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Trojans playing a week zero game against San Jose State, setting up USC with an extra week of practice and a potential opportunity to get a rest before the Pac-12 Championship Game. Coach Hyde isn't a fan of bye weeks at the end of the year, especially if his team is on a roll. While the rest is good, it can really break up your rhythm and timing. He says he important thing is to not dwell on your schedule, something that is out of your control. You play the game each week that is on the schedule and you don't let any of that be a distraction.
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