Major Pac-12 offer for Qualls

Elijah Qualls was offered by USC on Tuesday and it's a big one.

"It was definitely one I was waiting for," Qualls said.

The Petaluma (Calif.) Casa Grande athlete said he had been talking a little bit with the USC coaches but it was nothing major early on. They stopped by spring practice on Tuesday and the offer came soon after that trip.

The 6-foot-2, 280-pound three-star who has a good chance of moving up in the next round of rankings said it's definitely a huge offer and something to seriously consider moving forward.

"They're in my top five," Qualls said. "They're a great school. I really like coach (Ed) Orgeron and coach (Clay) Helton and I definitely want to get to know their coaches more. It's really cool that it's a reality that they could put me in the pros. They're definitely up there and they have great academics.

"I've been talking to them a few times and they kept apologizing and told me to be patient but I didn't get offered. I definitely respect them for how they handled things. I respect all my offers but I wouldn't say I got offered late since it's still early. I definitely respected how they did things."

Qualls said USC is recruiting him to play defensive tackle. He's expected to attend the Trojans' lineman camp in June and the Casa Grande standout wants to spend a few extra days around campus to get a better feel for the place.

"I'm still going to be patient with things," Qualls said.

"It's a great school. I'm going down there in June to go to their camp. I'll probably stay down there a couple days, go hang out with the coaches and talk with them a little bit more but I'm going to be patient with it."

Washington was considered the favorite before USC offered and the Huskies are still high on the list but will get more pressure now.

Arizona, Cal, Iowa State, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon State and UCLA are some other serious contenders.