Rowe has last minute change of heart

Long Beach Poly (Calif.) defensive back Alfred Rowe committed to Oregon State way back in the summer but made no secret he wanted to keep his options open. He took visits to Fresno State and Oregon and nearly de-committed to the Bulldogs but remained loyal to the Beavers. There was really only one school that could have pulled Rowe away from his commitment and he got that offer just minutes ago.

Rowe, 6-0, 190 pounds grew up dreaming of playing for USC but until a week ago, he never believed that was a possibility. Then last Friday, he got a phone call from Trojan DL coach Jethro Franklin saying there was a good chance they would have an offer for him.

"This all happened so fast," Rowe's father Alfred Sr. said. "At first, they said they were offering him a scholarship but wouldn't be able to send over the letter of intent until 9:00 on Wednesday. That sounded a little funny to me so I told them I didn't think that was right for us to keep Oregon State waiting if they didn't really know for sure that they would be sending the paperwork over earlier than that.

"So then Jethro said he understood that, emphasized they did want Alfred and said they would send the paperwork Monday. Monday came and went and then today (Tuesday) and we still didn't receive the letter so I started to wonder again how serious they were and our whole family was also wondering why they decided to offer so late in the process.

"At first I thought they had a few players de-commit but I was told that wasn't the case. Then we found out that Jonas Mouton had told them he wasn't coming the day before they talked to us and that made sense.

"Pete Carroll spoke with us earlier tonight, just a few moments ago actually and was real up front and broke everything down for us. Alfred was already sleeping since he trains every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30 in the morning so I talked to Pete for a little bit and then woke up Alfred. I just told him it was his decision and he had to do what he felt was right.

"Pete was honest and said they had a few other players rated a little higher but they still felt Alfred could play at SC and they wanted him to be a part of the program. You have to understand, this was very tough for all of us. We always preach how important your word is and we gave Oregon State our word but at the same time, USC has been where Alfred has wanted to play ever since he first started playing football.

"So he committed to Coach Carroll and even though it probably isn't the ideal way for it to go down, were still all excited that he'll be fulfilling a lifetime dream of his. He's on track to graduate early and is hoping to be able to participate in spring practice. This whole recruitment has been crazy and I'm glad it's over but I'm also glad Alfred is happy and he'll be signing the papers tomorrow and he'll be a Trojan."

The commitment from Rowe is the third to come from the LB Poly program joining wide out Travon Patterson and defensive back Vincent Joseph.