USC out of it for Juarez?
Arguably the No. 1 competitor for UCLA for five-star linebacker Mique Juarez appears to be officially out of it.
The five-star's coach at North Torrance, Todd Croce, spoke with our Chris Swanson this week and explained USC is fading for California's No. 1 prospect.
"I think his interest declined when the coaching situation was unclear," Croce said of Juarez and USC. "(He's) still waiting on the defensive coordinator position."
From the sounds of things, USC is in no hurry to make a DC hire. With Juarez already locking in an official to UCLA for next month, the Bruins now look to be in the driver's seat for the big linebacker.
Lamar Jackson update
Lamar Jackson released a top two a few weeks ago of USC and Nebraska. Later, he revealed he had a top four of Arizona State, Oregon, Nebraska and USC. This week, the four-star athlete told our Adam Gorney his final four are officially Nebraska, USC, UCLA and Arizona State.
I've been told by a source close to the situation, however, that the Bruins actually stopped recruiting Jackson in November. Which explains the whole top two then top four drama.
Regardless, this one looks like a USC-Nebraska race. But several sources close to the recruitment have now said Nebraska may be the one to land him. One source said Nebraska is recruiting Lamar and his half brother, 2017 ATH Jamarri Jackson, as a package deal, which could give the Huskers the edge here.
Either way, the UCLA-in-his-top-four talk isn't ever going to pan out into a commitment from what I've been told.
Balls still ballin’
The Ball brothers – Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo – have had a huge start to their high school season this winter, and it continued for the UCLA commitments at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic in Palm Springs.
Our Eric Bossi wrote of the trio:
After winning the prestigious City of Palms in Ft. Myers, Fla. earlier in the week behind the play of the UCLA committed brother trio of five-star senior point guard Lonzo Ball, three-star junior shooting guard LiAngelo Ball and freshman LaMelo Ball, I thought Chino Hills (Calif.) High might try to get their stars some rest.
I thought wrong.
A team that likes to press on defense while the Ball brothers let shots fly from all over, Chino Hills never took their foot off the gas en route to a 97-58 win. At the helm was the likely McDonald's All-American, Lonzo. A 6-foot-5 point guard who ranks No. 8 in the class of 2016, Ball is the most gifted passer in the country and he showed that along with his rebounding and ability to cause havoc in the press as he just missed a quadruple double racking up 25 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and 10 steals. His brother Gelo added 31 points of his own.
Short Shots
-Former UCLA commit Toleafoa Auwae pledged to Vanderbilt on Christmas. Former UCLA commit Wole Betiku committed to USC on Christmas as well.
-Four-star OL Terrance Davis, who was going to visit UCLA on Jan. 15, released his final three of Florida, Michigan and Maryland this week. I had heard his senior year wasn't all that impressive, but figured the Bruins would still take the run on the official. Guess that didn't happen. Nonetheless, it was going to be very tough to beat Michigan / Maryland here.
Arguably the No. 1 competitor for UCLA for five-star linebacker Mique Juarez appears to be officially out of it.
The five-star's coach at North Torrance, Todd Croce, spoke with our Chris Swanson this week and explained USC is fading for California's No. 1 prospect.
"I think his interest declined when the coaching situation was unclear," Croce said of Juarez and USC. "(He's) still waiting on the defensive coordinator position."
From the sounds of things, USC is in no hurry to make a DC hire. With Juarez already locking in an official to UCLA for next month, the Bruins now look to be in the driver's seat for the big linebacker.
Lamar Jackson update
Lamar Jackson released a top two a few weeks ago of USC and Nebraska. Later, he revealed he had a top four of Arizona State, Oregon, Nebraska and USC. This week, the four-star athlete told our Adam Gorney his final four are officially Nebraska, USC, UCLA and Arizona State.
I've been told by a source close to the situation, however, that the Bruins actually stopped recruiting Jackson in November. Which explains the whole top two then top four drama.
Regardless, this one looks like a USC-Nebraska race. But several sources close to the recruitment have now said Nebraska may be the one to land him. One source said Nebraska is recruiting Lamar and his half brother, 2017 ATH Jamarri Jackson, as a package deal, which could give the Huskers the edge here.
Either way, the UCLA-in-his-top-four talk isn't ever going to pan out into a commitment from what I've been told.
Balls still ballin’
The Ball brothers – Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo – have had a huge start to their high school season this winter, and it continued for the UCLA commitments at the MaxPreps Holiday Classic in Palm Springs.
Our Eric Bossi wrote of the trio:
After winning the prestigious City of Palms in Ft. Myers, Fla. earlier in the week behind the play of the UCLA committed brother trio of five-star senior point guard Lonzo Ball, three-star junior shooting guard LiAngelo Ball and freshman LaMelo Ball, I thought Chino Hills (Calif.) High might try to get their stars some rest.
I thought wrong.
A team that likes to press on defense while the Ball brothers let shots fly from all over, Chino Hills never took their foot off the gas en route to a 97-58 win. At the helm was the likely McDonald's All-American, Lonzo. A 6-foot-5 point guard who ranks No. 8 in the class of 2016, Ball is the most gifted passer in the country and he showed that along with his rebounding and ability to cause havoc in the press as he just missed a quadruple double racking up 25 points, 14 assists, seven rebounds and 10 steals. His brother Gelo added 31 points of his own.
Short Shots
-Former UCLA commit Toleafoa Auwae pledged to Vanderbilt on Christmas. Former UCLA commit Wole Betiku committed to USC on Christmas as well.
-Four-star OL Terrance Davis, who was going to visit UCLA on Jan. 15, released his final three of Florida, Michigan and Maryland this week. I had heard his senior year wasn't all that impressive, but figured the Bruins would still take the run on the official. Guess that didn't happen. Nonetheless, it was going to be very tough to beat Michigan / Maryland here.
