Southern Cal’s Pete Carroll offers Georgia DE prospect
Southern Cal offered Garrison Smith (left), who also likes UGA and Georgia Tech. His older brother played at Georgia Tech (AJC)
Douglass defensive end Garrison Smith, one of the nation’s leaders in early scholarships with around 30, had been offered by all of his dream schools except for one. That was Southern Cal, and Pete Carroll called with the news on Wednesday night.
“[Carroll] said he thinks I’m a good player, that I’d be a good fit, and I ought to come out to the West coast,” Smith said. “I was real excited about talking to him. USC is a legendary team with a legendary coach, and always winning championships. It’s just another blessing.”
The 6-foot-3, 255-pound Smith was offered by Oklahoma last week, and also holds scholarships from Georgia and Georgia Tech. His older brother, Greg Smith, played for Georgia Tech.
He was rumored to be considering making an early decision, but says he is unsure about when he will commit. “I just want to check out all of my options,” Smith said. “When I commit and give my word, my recruiting is over. So I want to see everything before committing.”
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39 comments Add your comment
sc4life
April 18th, 2009
10:30 pm
SC has more than 1 National Championship.. Check your facts…
Brent
April 18th, 2009
5:41 pm
actually, USC has TWO national championships in the BCS era, not to mention they played in another and they are in the title talk every year. They also still hold the most weeks being ranked number one.
and the “great run” still isn’t over, its just the beginning.
abe
April 17th, 2009
8:39 pm
Texas and Vince Young…THAT IS IT. In the world of logic that, which is where I come from, that was the EXCEPTION NOT THE RULE. And yes to echo Gilligan that was more VY than Texas, I can’t for the life of me remember an entire team’s success relying so heavily just on one player, conveniently so on the QB. A close one is Oregon in ‘07 which was ranked 2nd until their hiesman front runner QB went down and so did their season with him. The fact that Texas edged ‘SC in that game was not so much a statement of Texas’s overall strength, but rather the superhuman talent of their QB. Furthermore, ‘SC’s wins in bcs games are usually not just edges they are blowouts, teams completely unable to even compete, I mean total domination in every facet of the game. That my retarded friend is POWER. I hate ‘SC but I admire them.
Kuschelbear
April 17th, 2009
5:03 pm
Not an SEC fan, but I totally understand why an SEC school would NOT want to schedule USC. They have NOTHING to gain by playing them, whereas USC NEEDS to schedule a school like a UF or UGA because their competition out west is pedestrian. When they lose it’s usually because of not being focused for playing pansies each week. One school that wouldn’t turn USC down is Georgia Tech. GT usually plays a great OOC schedule every year. Maybe USC should ask them.
Gilligan
April 17th, 2009
4:41 pm
David, not trying to sound like a prick but USC is 6-1 in BCS bowls with VY’s superhuman performance as the lone exception. I know I am not the only USC fan who hated losing that game but at the same time gave a lot of credit to VY’s performance. Two of the 6 wins were in the Orange Bowl (vs. Iowa and OU).
I know for a fact USC fans want to play the elite SEC teams but according to some of the local USC beat writers it seemed that Mike Garrett (USC AD) received no interest fromm the SEC schools. From my understanding, USC wanted a home and away series but according to previous writings it seemed that a couple of the SEC teams only wanted to play USC in their own turf.
I also think the PAC 10 receives very little credit for scheduling tough non-conference games.
The reason only Pac 10 teams are able to beat USC is because they are used to playing their pro-style type of offense and non-conference opponents are not used to defending this type of offense. I mean think about it, how many teams utilize both the TE and FB in the game plan? It seems that a majority of schools are changing their offense to a spread and you notice this factor a lot in the SEC.
David
April 17th, 2009
3:19 pm
No one can touch SC in big games? Ever heard of Vince Young or the Texas Longhorns? I rest my case. The “big” games lately have ALL been in Cali. I’m not knocking SC. I think they are an awesome program with great teams. The reason SEC fans are hostile towards them is because the fans talk all of the crap in the world and do not play the same schedule. I am not saying SC could not win in the SEC, because I am convinced they could. I am saying they would not dominate the way they do on the west coast. 4-0 against SEC teams. SC fans usually bring that out, but they have only played arkansas and auburn. I’m not saying they are slouches, but if you played arkansas, auburn, florida, lsu, tenn, alabama, georgia in consecutive weeks, I think they would have a hard time being dominant the way they are over there.
Cory
April 17th, 2009
11:13 am
What is Southern Cal? The school is USC. I hear that South Carolina is not USC, and should only take on the name of USC when they start winning National Championships
abe
April 17th, 2009
3:09 am
Reality…thats b/c we have computers deciding who plays in NC games and who doesn’t. I am a Cal fan, and I hate ‘SC, like any Can fan does, but make no mistake there is NOT ONE FOOTBALL PROGRAM, that will even compete with ‘SC’s at a NC game. You should change your name from “Realty” to DILUSIONAL b/c thats precisely what u are.
78DAWG…you must be the all state RETARD, or maybe the 78 refers to the actual number brain cells that are found in your DAWG skull, b/c if you had an ounce of brain you would know better than to say ‘SC doesn’t perform at big games…its funny, thats actually the opposite of ‘SC’s tradition…they tend to get bored at unimportant games and hurt their rankings but given the opportunity, they tend to blow out any decent football team that gets in their way, whether during the regular season or the bowl season. i mean seriously wtf is wrong with u people, can’t u be a fan w/o being a retard?!!!!!!
Jennifer
April 17th, 2009
1:54 am
Bama get’s a highly touted QB from Virginia, Phillip Sims. Woohoo!!! Roll damn Tide. Nick Saban’s a recruiting machine.
PortlandTrojan
April 17th, 2009
1:33 am
SugarHillDawg – are you familiar with Pete Carroll’s program A Better L.A.? – http://www.abetterla.org
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A BETTER LA, founded by USC football head coach Pete Carroll, is a 501(c)(3) comprised of local leaders from the private, non-profit, social service, faith-based, education and law enforcement sectors. We are committed to supporting Los Angeles communities in their goal to reduce violence by empowering change. Our first target area is in South Los Angeles.
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Included in the Overall Vision:
Gangs are significantly re-directed from negative to positive activities and are natural helpers within the community, helping the community to grow.
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So… your comment about the gang scene seems really inappropriate, given Coach Carroll’s commitment to helping at risk youth in South Central L.A.