All-American Bowl: Five-star Bru McCoy picks USC
SAN ANTONIO - Five-star athlete Bru McCoy committed to USC over Texas and others Saturday at the All-American Bowl in what was a heated recruitment between the Trojans and the Longhorns for longer than expected.
Currently the top-ranked prospect in the state of California, McCoy had always been high on USC for many reasons and one of them being he plays at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, where many former Trojans players went to high school.
But McCoy’s recruitment went deeper than that. The five-star who should play receiver in college talked about the power of the alumni and the power of the diploma playing huge factors in his final decision and USC won out for him there.
He also had an excellent in-home visit with new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and then a great official trip where he saw Kingsbury’s vision for the offense and how he could be utilized as a receiver.
Texas pursued hard though. McCoy had a phenomenal trip to Austin and he really had a terrific relationship with position coach Drew Mehringer. The five-star said this week he wouldn’t even have considered the Longhorns if Mehringer was not on staff.
HOW IT HELPS USC
The Trojans are already loaded at receiver heading into next season with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Michael Pittman and Tyler Vaughns leading the way but McCoy could be an immediate contributor as well. Kingsbury is being courted by NFL teams but if he stays at USC the Trojans are going to pass the ball a whole lot more. McCoy has size, speed and everything the Pac-12 team needs to score and score fast. USC has not loaded up on the highest-end players in the West this recruiting cycle but McCoy is as good as it gets and landing him was important.
HOW IT HURTS TEXAS
Collin Johnson has announced his return next season and Lil’Jordan Humphrey is still deciding whether he will leave for the NFL but if he returns to the Longhorns, the miss on McCoy won’t feel nearly as bad. Still, McCoy is that big, physical receiver who could have thrived in Texas’ offense. After beating Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, the Longhorns enter the offseason riding a high note and getting McCoy would have been huge.
