Patterson will stay close to home

Long Beach Poly (Calif.) wide receiver Travon Patterson has one school on his mind since the summer and that was USC. When the Trojans offered Patterson a scholarship midway through the season, he wasted no time in telling the coaches he was coming, and he made the news public Thursday night announcing for USC over Oregon.

Patterson, 5-8, 160 pounds has tremendous speed and quickness and is probably the best receiver in the West in his ability to run after the catch. It was that explosiveness as well as his ability to return punts and kicks that earned him the offer from the Trojans in the first place.

"When they called me to offer, they said they needed a guy like me who can play in the slot and also stretch the field," Patterson said. "USC is always where I've wanted to go, it's like a dream come true for me to get an offer from them.

"They have such a great program and so many good players coming in. They have a great quarterback in Mark Sanchez and I love the offense and the entire coaching staff. The coaches have known for awhile I was coming but I wanted to check out some other schools and I really liked Oregon a lot.

"They have a great program as well and a lot to offer. I know I would have been happy if I had gone to Oregon but USC has been my dream school forever and I couldn't pass them up."

In addition to USC and Oregon, Patterson also took visits to Arizona and Oregon State but narrowed his choices to the Trojans and Ducks. He was set to announce his college choice at the CaliFlorida Bowl but said he wanted his family to be a part of his announcement and decided to wait to do it in the Fox studio on the L.A Times High School show.