Armstead pulls in big offer

Elk Grove (Calif.) Pleasant Grove two way lineman Armond Armstead has made no secret about his desire for a scholarship offer from USC. Armstead attended the Trojans lineman camp a few weeks back and was back in Los Angeles last week for the Rising Star camp. It appears the lineman's hard work has paid off.

"I just talked to Coach Carroll and they offered me a scholarship," Armstead said. "I'm very excited right now, USC has been my top school for awhile now and to get this offer, it's just amazing.

"Ever since I had been playing Pop Warner, USC has been my school. I kind of knew it was coming because Coach Seto had been communicating that to me but to actually to talk with Coach Carroll and hear it from him was pretty special.

"They want me as a defensive end. Coach Carroll said they're losing four seniors on the line and he wants me to come in and be prepared to make an early impact. He said if things aren't working out for me at defensive end, they would find another place and that's fine with me. I just want a shot at defensive end and then we'll go from there."

Armstead said although USC is his top choice right now, he's not ready to pull the trigger just yet.

"Coach Carroll asked me what I thought in terms of making a decision and asked where they were on my list," Armstead said. "I told him they were my top choice but I promised some other schools I would visit them before I made a decision and I wanted to be a man of my award. I said my integrity was important to me and he totally respected that and said that was a good thing.

"So I'm going to visit Arizona, Arizona State, Fresno State and Texas A&M and then I'm going to announce my decision on July 30. My birthday is August 3 so I'm going to have a birthday/announcement party and that's when I'll make my commitment known.

"Right now, USC is on top and they're going to be tough to beat. I just love the intensity of the practices they have and I think the coaches are going to be able to get me to play better than anyone else because of that. At the two camps I've been at, I've loved working with those guys and I think I could do some great things there if that's where I end up going."