RECRUITING NOTEBOOK

By Jeremy Crabtree

updated 7:32 p.m. ET June 24, 2008

There are many reasons USC is the nation’s most successful recruiting program since Pete Carroll stepped on campus. One of the biggest reasons is the type of players who end up attending USC’s Rising Stars Camp each summer.

The Trojans kick off the elite camp Wednesday, and the list of players scheduled to attend is impressive.

Five five-star players are scheduled to appear, including the nation’s top prospect — quarterback Matt Barkley of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. He’ll be joined by five-star prospects Patrick Hall of Ventura (Calif.) St. Bonaventure, Shaquelle Evans of Inglewood (Calif.) High, Marlon Brown of Memphis Harding Academy and Devon Kennard of Phoenix Desert Vista.

Barkley has been a longtime USC commitment, and he’ll do his best recruiting job on Evans, Brown, Kennard and Hall. There has been plenty of speculation that Hall might give UCLA a strong look, especially after close friend Byron Moore committed to the Bruins earlier this spring.

Other big name skill-position players scheduled to be in L.A. this week include running backs David Oku from Midwest City (Okla.) High and Dasarte Yarnway of San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral, fullback Tyler Gaffney of San Diego Cathedral Catholic and wide receivers De’von Flournoy of Van Nuys (Calif.) Birmingham, Rolando Jefferson of Fresno (Calif.) Edison and Alshon Jeffrey of St. Matthews (S.C.) Calhoun County.

The offensive line group should also be strong with Kevin Graf of Agoura Hills (Calif.) High, John Martinez of Salt Lake City Cottonwood, Xavier Su’a Filo of Provo (Utah) Timpview, Stan Hasiak of Kapolei (Hawaii) High, Sione Tuihalamaka of Gardena (Calif.) Serra and Kevin Danser of San Jose (Calif.) Bellarmine expected.

The strong defensive line group should make for some amazing one-on-one matchups. Standouts like Corey Adams of Phoenix Saguaro, Craig Roh of Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral, Eddie Nuckols of San Marcos (Calif.) Mission Hills and Kevin Greene of San Francisco Sacred Heart Cathedral are scheduled to be there.

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In years past, the Rising Star Camp also has been a showcase for many top junior recruits. That’s expected to be the case this time, too. That’s especially true at quarterback. Tyler Shreve of Redlands (Calif.) East Valley, who was outstanding last weekend at the EA Sports Elite 11 Regional qualifier in Las Vegas, and Jake Heaps of Sammamish (Wash.) Skyline should be there. Heaps is widely considered as one of the top passers in the nation, and Shreve could put himself on that same level with another strong showing.

Buckeyes still on a roll
Ohio State is sitting at 22 commitments after picking up five more pledges in the past four days. It’s the same type of tear they went on in late April, when they received five commitments in seven days. While that was impressive, the run the past few days has been nothing short of amazing.

Four of the five commitments came from players ranked in the top 10 at their positions nationally. It also includes two Rivals100 prospects in Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway athlete Corey Brown and Louisville Male cornerback Justin Green. Throw in underappreciated safety Bradley McDougald and the nation’s No. 2 fullback in Carlos Hyde, and it was a big weekend.

“I talked to Corey Brown and a couple of other guys who were committed or thinking about committing this weekend,” McDougald said after he pledged himself. “I just worked with them, and I think that helped me feel more comfortable with the situation at Ohio State as well.”

With all the early commitments, the Buckeyes now will start to focus on some other national recruits who might take a while longer to make a decision. They include household names such as Chris Watt, the nation’s No. 2 guard; Marcus Hall, the nation’s No. 4 tackle; three-star defensive end Jonathan Newsome; four-star safety Vladimir Emilien; and Jaamal Berry, the nation’s No. 4 running back.

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