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Five-star talks USC visit

Plenty of people were duped recently when a fake Twitter account announced that John Houston had committed to USC.
That would have been especially big news since it's no secret the five-star linebacker from Gardena (Calif.) Serra has high interest in the Trojans but it happened not to be true.
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The fake account has been deactivated but Houston still got questions about the false commitment news and how it affected him in a hectic recruiting process last weekend at the Passing Down Elite 7on7 SoCal Regional.
"That was a fake Twitter," Houston said. "Everybody had the fake one because I didn't have a Twitter at first and then he made it and I had to make one so everybody knows me.
"It was a hurdle. It wasn't frustrating. It's just a hurdle to life. I went over the hurdle and everything is all right."
A commitment to USC has not happened but it would not be a major shock if Houston, the top-rated outside linebacker in the 2015 class by Rivals.com, ends up with the Trojans.
The Gardena Serra standout recently visited USC for practice and spent a lot of time with recent signee Adoree' Jackson, his high school teammate, but he is not expected to make his decision until National Signing Day.
Houston's familiarity with USC continues to grow.
"What I got from practice is talking to the coach, the linebacker coach, and he told me what I was going to play," Houston said. "He said he wants to start me outside and eventually move me to inside, learn the defense and control the defense, the leader of the defense. That was the main focus of the practice the other day.
"The defense was great. They have a fast tempo. They have the offense going fast tempo and that makes the defense go fast tempo. They look all in shape getting there and they look ready for the season.
"I have a great relationship with all the coaches. I've talked to everybody recently. I talked to the d-line coach, the linebackers coach, the receivers coach. You name it, I've talked to all of them."
Jackson could be a factor as Houston gets closer to his decision but the former five-star athlete who picked USC over Florida, LSU, Tennessee, UCLA and others is not pressuring the Serra standout at this point.
"He's not in my ear," Houston said. "He's giving me pointers here and there about USC but he's not going to force me to go there or pressure me to go there. He's going to let me make my own decision but give me some input on the program and some highlights about the program."
Houston was recently offered by Arizona State and he said a trip to Tempe is possible over spring break.
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