Despite the belief by most everyone, including yours truly, that Los Angeles (Calif.) Fremont's Thomas Herring is locked up for USC, the two way lineman continues to say he's open to everyone and will take all five of his trips before making his decision.

"That's why I'm taking these trips," Herring said. "Honestly, if I knew where I wanted to go already, I would have already committed there. I'm taking all five of my trips and when I'm done, I'll sit down with my mom and we'll talk about where the best place for me is."

Herring has already visited Michigan and tripped last weekend to Oklahoma.

"It was a lot better than what I thought it would be," Herring said. "I knew they have a great football program but there's so much more than that there. It has a nice small town feel to it and the city basically shuts down on game days. They have an incredible passion for football there and I really like all the the coaches and players that I was able to meet.

"I have Washington (Jan. 9), Miami (Jan. 16) and LSU (Jan. 23). USC is my leader because I'm so familiar with the school, the coaches and the players there. I'm not going to take an official visit there because I've been there so many times already. I should be ready to make my decision sometime close to Signing Day."