Shittu talks USC junior day
Aziz Shittu was impressed by a lot of things during his junior day visit to USC last weekend but what struck the Atwater (Calif.) Buhach defensive tackle most was all the history and tradition he saw on campus.
The Trojans have not yet offered Shittu, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound prospect, but he's definitely interested in USC as the formulation of a top five list gets underway.
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"What really stood out was the place itself, all the tradition and how many great players have come through there," Shittu said.
"They have a good lineage of getting guys to the league and a lot of the coaching staff has been in the league and they know what it takes to get there so that is a little hotbed there.
"It's nice to hear all that stuff from USC but I haven't even played a down in my senior year of football so that's not something I'm looking for right now. When it gets to that point it will be nice and something I'll look into but not now."
The USC coaching staff said they'd like to see Shittu work out for one day at the Rising Stars camp this summer so that's something he's strongly considering.
An offer is important to him because he's only putting teams that have offered on his top list. Shittu should have that list prepared by mid-summer.
"They're really interested," Shittu said of USC. "I think they just want to verify everything because of their scholarship reductions. They said they need to see me one day at camp and then they should make a decision off that. That's what I'm thinking in my head.
"I don't really know right now. It would be nicer if the offer came earlier because I won't put a team in my top five without having an offer from that school. When I put a top five together, it could be a revolving top five, but if I don't have an offer then I guess the interest isn't that strong."
Stanford has been considered a long-time favorite for Shittu, who said the Cardinal will definitely make his top five. He also wants to visit UCLA before making any decisions.
Arizona, Arizona State, Boise State, Colorado, Iowa State, Michigan, Nevada, Oregon State, San Jose State, Stanford, UCLA, Washington and Washington State have already offered him.