Howard adds another major offer

Theo Howard noticed some USC coaches added him on Facebook in recent weeks and then he was invited to the game against Arizona State last weekend.

After that trip, the USC coaches told Howard to call, the 2016 wide receiver from Westlake Village (Calif.) Westlake talked with coach Steve Sarkisian and he picked up his latest offer from the Trojans.

"A couple weeks ago coach (Marques) Tuiasosopo and coach Tee (Martin) added me on Facebook," Howard said. "We finally connected and they invited me down to the game. I really liked it. It was a great experience even though they lost.

"I was talking to them before the game and went in the locker room after and I was talking to coach Sark and them and they told me to call. They put me on the phone with coach Sark and he offered me."

Howard, who had an excellent showing in Westlake's close loss to Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei last Thursday, said the offer from USC is definitely something to seriously consider.

"USC is definitely a big one," Howard said. "Now that USC offered I think a lot of other schools are going to start looking and USC has definitely always been high on my list along with UCLA and Michigan.

"I like the coaches a lot. They all know what they're talking about and just how they recruit. They always have the best of the best at their school and it has great tradition."

Michigan, UCLA, Washington, San Diego State and Washington State have also offered Howard, who transferred from Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian to Westlake for his junior season.

Prior to the USC offer, the Wolverines and Bruins stood out most. They still do but now USC joins that top group for sure.

"It was very huge," Howard said of the Michigan offer. "It was always a dream school since I was little. Everybody in my family was happy for that one.

"I'm open to any school. I'm not going to focus on just one school but Michigan is definitely up there. UCLA is up there, too. I like the coaches - coach (Eric) Yarber and coach (Jim) Mora, they're just cool dudes. It helps having guys from Oaks there like Ishmael (Adams), Jordan (Payton) and Cameron Judge. They're very welcoming."