ESPN West recruiting Blog

Posted by Greg Biggins

The "soft" commitment from Inglewood (Calif.) receiver Shaquelle Evans to USC is huge on several fronts. Not only are the Trojans getting one of the elite receivers in the West, it puts a dagger in to the heart of their cross-town rivals at UCLA.

Evans, 6-1, 205 pounds, told us just a few weeks ago UCLA was the leader for his signature. He grew up a Bruins fan and the coaches at UCLA were making Evans their top offensive recruit. While USC is loaded at receiver, the Bruins have lacked a big-play threat at the position for years and Evans was/is really the only elite national receiver they're currently in on.

Things changed dramatically with Evans following USC's demolition of Ohio State last weekend. The talented athlete was on the sidelines for the game, and the fact that the big win coincided with UCLA losing to BYU 59-0 pushed the Trojans over the top.

According to Evans' mother Kalisha, the commitment to USC is a soft one and Shaq will stay take his official visits with a final decision coming in January. He still plans to visit Notre Dame in two weeks with Cal and Colorado on the docket as well.

Saying that, it's difficult to envision Evans signing with anyone else other than USC. The receiver has developed a relationship with several of the Trojans commitments, including quarterback Matt Barkley. He said he likes the idea of staying close to home and the team on the field appears to be rolling toward yet another BCS Bowl.

The irony is as good as Evans is, USC has several players just like him on the roster plus two other big-time receiver prospects already committed. For UCLA, Evans would have made its class.

Now we're not saying Pete Carroll and company recruited Evans just to keep him away from UCLA. We are saying the impact of his commitment to USC could have a greater impact on the Bruins than the Trojans in just how damaging it is in their desire to end the recruiting monopoly in Los Angeles Troy currently owns.

West Notes
• Staying with the Trojan theme, there was a recent report saying USC had cooled on Scottsdale (Ariz.) Saguaro defensive tackle Corey Adams while making fellow Arizona lineman Craig Roh more of the priority.

That was actually backward as USC canceled Roh's scheduled visit to Los Angeles for this past weekend; Roh ended up announcing for Michigan Wednesday. In the meantime, Adams is still extremely high on their board and likely the top defensive tackle it is recruiting. Adams has narrowed his choices to USC, Arizona State and Ohio State and set up his first official visit to USC for the weekend of (Dec. 12).

• One player we're surprised is still sitting without a single scholarship offer is Encino (Calif.) Crespi athlete Kevin Cummings. Cummings, 6-2, 165 pounds, had a very impressive spring and summer and might have been the best player on the field during the Celts impressive 31-0 win over a solid Van Nuys (Calif.) Birmingham last weekend.

Cummings doesn't have blazing speed but makes up for it in so many different ways. He's a tall, lanky athlete with long arms and great hands. He catches the ball away from his body and uses his height very well. Despite his narrow frame, Cummings is a physical player and isn't afraid to mix it up on both sides of the ball.

As good as he is at receiver, he's equally as solid playing defensive back and could project as a big corner or, if he can bulk up and put on some more weight, a free safety. Now we're not saying he's a high level Pac-10 guy, but he can definitely somewhere on the Div I level and there are plenty of players with far less talent holding multiple offers at this time.

• Los Angeles-Loyola athlete Anthony Barr is one of the hottest junior recruits in the state. The 6-3, 220-pound running back is off to a fast start this season after rushing for 232 yards and two touchdowns in the Cubs first game of the season and following it up with a 161-yard, three-touchdown performance the following week.

With his size and frame, Barr likely projects better on defense down the road. Although he's a bulldozer at running back, he may outgrow the position and could be a monster linebacker in a few years. Notre Dame, USC and UCLA have all offered, but it would be an upset if Barr ends up anywhere other than in South Bend.

Barr's father is former Irish running back Tony Brooks and his uncle, Reggie, was also a big-time back for the Domers back in the day. Barr admits to being born raised on Notre Dame football and with plenty of family still in South Bend, look for the Irish to continue their impressive run of reeling in Cali players next year.