Recruiting notes: West Coast standouts planning out visits

It was a loaded weekend in the West region with the headliner on Friday night being Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei beating Las Vegas Bishop Gorman, 35-21, to snap the Gaels’ 55-game win streak. On Saturday, the Honor Bowl played host to three big-time matchups with the nightcap of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy beating Corona (Calif.) Centennial by 20 points.

Here are the latest recruiting notes from the busy weekend.

RELATED: Gorney's takeaways from a busy weekend on the West Coast

It would be stunning if Palaie Gaoteote backed off his USC pledge but the five-star linebacker continues to hear from other national programs and he plans to take some official visits.

Still, the standout middle linebacker from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman said it was mainly coach Clay Helton that sold him on the Trojans and his pledge does not seem to be wavering.

“It was coach Helton,” Gaoteote said. “He’s a genuine dude. I love the fact that he preached faith, family and football. Those are three concepts in my life so that’s probably what sold me.”

Ohio State, UCLA, Georgia, Clemson and Oregon are some of the schools interested in Gaoteote, who said he mainly wants to take some trips to see other parts of the country.

Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon and UCLA were four schools he said he’s considering for other official visits.

The only official visit Isaac Taylor-Stuart has planned so far is to LSU but the five-star cornerback has not set a date yet although he wants it to happen during the season.

The San Diego Helix standout said he’s developing a strong relationship with position coach Corey Raymond and getting to Baton Rouge is important. An unofficial to USC is also expected soon.

As for other trips, Taylor-Stuart said he wants to see Oregon, Texas A&M and Alabama. The Ducks and now especially the Crimson Tide are coming hardest after the five-star and the Aggies are definitely a top contender because he struck up a friendship with commit Leon O’Neal at the summer events.

Texas and Ohio State are two other schools Taylor-Stuart is watching closely.

The best receiver in the 2018 class, five-star Amon-Ra St. Brown, is starting to focus on visits this season with the same group of top schools being considered.

The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei standout who’s sidelined with a finger injury will take his first official visit to Notre Dame for the USC game later in October. He’s also planning to head over to USC next weekend for the Stanford matchup.

His oldest brother, Equanimeous, plays for the Irish and his middle brother, Osiris, is a freshman with the Cardinal.

USC, UCLA, Stanford, Notre Dame and Michigan seem to be the schools most focused on by St. Brown, who dominated every event this summer. Ohio State is still being considered but might be slipping a little.

Four-star athlete Bryan Addison will take his first official visit in a couple weeks to Nebraska when the Huskers host Northern Illinois and the Gardena (Calif.) Serra standout has two others booked as well.

Addison will head to Arizona State when Oregon visits on Sept. 23. The four-star has a unique connection to the Sun Devils since his brother, Joey Bryant, plays for them. That could be a significant factor.

The third visit scheduled is to Michigan when Michigan State comes to Ann Arbor in early October.

UCLA is considered a front-runner along with USC possibly and Addison said he’s setting up an official to Washington as well but doesn’t have a date yet.

Bru McCoy’s father said his son’s phone was constantly busy for hours once Sept. 1 started and coaches could contact him and the 2019 four-star receiver said Oklahoma was the first school to reach out.

There were many others, though, including USC, Washington, Cal, Alabama.

“A lot of schools,” McCoy said.

The Mater Dei receiver who has superstar potential is planning a round of visits this season with Michigan, Ohio State, Texas, Alabama, Washington, USC and UCLA all being scheduled.

McCoy could be one of the top 2019 prospects nationally after a dominating performance in Mater Dei’s win over Las Vegas Bishop Gorman.

Hard-hitting four-star linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu has no visits scheduled yet but he’s planning to see Ohio State, Notre Dame and Washington on official trips.

The Mater Dei standout said USC and UCLA are also staying involved but he’s just planning unofficial trips to the local schools. Trips to local games might not happen for a while as Tuliaupupu focuses on his new team after playing at Claremont, Calif., last season.

As for the Buckeyes, Tuliaupupu has already visited there and definitely wants to return soon.

“The way they play as a team, I saw the way they practice and they work hard,” Tuliaupupu said of Ohio State.

Andre Hunt committed to USC this summer, called it his dream school and it will be quite difficult for any school to flip him.

But the three-star receiver does plan to take official visits to Arizona and Washington State at some point this season. Hunt said USC is “at the top” and made it seem like the Trojans cannot be beaten in his recruitment. Utah and Oregon State could get trips as well.

Hunt said he does like the offenses in Tucson and Pullman and those coaching staffs aren’t giving up on him. He loves how often both Pac-12 schools pass the ball and he wants to give the Wildcats and Cougars a closer look.