Hayes decommits from USC

Five-star linebacker Daelin Hayes made his commitment to USC in July before his junior season. In the 15 months since Hayes has stayed with that commitment and signed a grant-in-aid form last month, but in the wake of the Trojans giving head coach Steve Sarkisian a leave of absence on Sunday, the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Skyline senior has decided to re-open his recruitment.

pic.twitter.com/HrCdpkiAQk- ⚡️Daelin Hayes⚡️ (@DaelinHayes_24) October 11, 2015

WHAT'S NEXT: Even before Sunday's news, Hayes had scheduled an official visit to Notre Dame to coincide with next weekend's game, which coincidentally is when the Fighting Irish will play host to USC. Hayes previously took an unofficial visit to South Bend to see Notre Dame's home opener on Sept. 5, saying after that he had a "great time" and "felt like I was a priority recruit." Hayes will be joined on next weekend's official visit by his mother.

OTHER CONTENDERS: Last month Hayes mentioned Ole Miss as a potential official visit destination and Michigan State had also come up as a team he was considering over the summer. When I spoke with Hayes at his game this past Friday, however, he told me he had cut off contact with other schools and that only USC and Notre Dame were under consideration. Now that he is open, it will be interesting to see which, if any, schools jump back into the mix.

RIVALS' REACTION: That Hayes has decided not to attend USC is not a huge surprise, but the timing was unexpected, even with the situation unfolding at that program today. A mid-year enrollee, Hayes had already signed his grant-in-aid form with the Trojans and was announced by the University as a member of the 2016 class. Prospects can sign multiple grant-in-aid forms, so that does not hold him back from pursuing other schools, but this is a major turn from the discussion I had with him on Friday.

Notre Dame obviously has a great opportunity to seal this recruitment up when Hayes makes his official visit to South Bend next weekend. The 6-foot-3, 254-pound linebacker has always welcomed the comparisons to current Irish linebacker Jaylon Smith and he has come out of previous visits to the school impressed and feeling like it was a good fit for him. This recruitment really hinges on the upcoming official visit and I would be surprised if he left South Bend without a commitment.

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