Trojans can still ink top recruits on Signing Day


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With National Signing Day quickly approaching for the USC football program, there are still several highly rated prospects that are undecided. Just a few days before Signing Day, USC already has 20 committed recruits and according to Rivals.com, boasts the second-best recruiting class behind Alabama. The main recruit left for the Trojans to secure is five-star cornerback Iman Marshall.

Marshall is a 6-foot-1, 190-pound from Long Beach Poly, who had a tremendous senior season with 85 total tackles and 16 pass break-ups. He even played a little offense, accumulating 315 yards and eight touchdowns. In his final season, Marshall led the Jackrabbits to an 11-2 record but they ultimately lost to St. John Bosco in the CIF semifinals.

Even though Marshall’s high school career ended against St. John Bosco, he received an invitation to play in the Under Armour All-America Game where he shone. He played in all aspects of the Under Armour game: offense, defense and special teams. Marshall had five tackles overall while playing excellent pass coverage on the top wide receiver recruits in the country.

Even new USC commit Ronald Jones II, who is the top running back in the country, said that Marshall was the most impressive USC target who played in the Under Armour game.

What makes Marshall such a highly touted prospect is his size and his instincts on the outside. He is a large corner who can use his strength to jam receivers as well as push them off their routes. Marshall can even quickly recover from a mistake and still make a play on the ball. He can be compared to former USC cornerback and safety Josh Shaw, in that he has the size of a safety but the speed and instincts of a cornerback.

Many teams are now looking for bigger, faster receivers, and in this way Marshall stands out. He is a player that can be plugged in and play right away. With his skill set, he could be one of the best cornerbacks to ever come through USC.

Last season, USC struggled with the lack of depth at the cornerback position, especially with the loss of Shaw early on. Several times last season, players in the secondary had to play before they were ready due to injuries. Starting cornerbacks freshman Adoree’ Jackson, junior Kevon Seymour and redshirt freshman Chris Hawkins are all returning and Marshall could fit right into the mix.

One edge that USC has over its rivals is that the Trojans have Marshall’s old counterpart in freshman wide receiver JuJu Smith. Smith played at Long Beach Poly with Marshall and he also was the opposite corner with Marshall. No doubt, Smith will be telling Marshall what a great place USC is and how great this Trojan football team can be.

So far Marshall has narrowed down his top choices to USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, LSU and Michigan. He will make his college decision on Feb. 4, and many analysts believe that Marshall will follow the Long Beach Poly pipeline and join the Trojans in the fall. But until then, the USC coaching staff will have to anxiously await his    decision.

Marshall has until National Signing Day on Feb. 4 to reveal which collegiate team he will play for.