When a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from one to 10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.
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THE STORYLINE
Braxton Myers loved coach Lincoln Riley when he was at Oklahoma and USC was a dream school of his since he was in middle school so when Riley took the job with the Trojans everything was coming together.
The four-star cornerback from Coppell, Texas committed to USC in May and it was another big recruiting win in a talent-rich state as Riley and his staff look to build the Trojans back into a national power.
But in recent days, Myers backed off his pledge - and it was not a major shock at all.
The Coppell standout has taken numerous visits to Ole Miss recently and the Rebels have drastically stepped it up in Myers’ recruitment. There was chatter this summer that the four-star would flip to the SEC program before his senior season.
That did not happen. But the first step in Myers ending up in Oxford happened as he backed off his USC pledge. Maybe others get involved as well since Clemson, Florida State and a host of other SEC programs have connections to him but it looks like Ole Miss is by far the team to beat now.
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LOCAL REACTION
There had been rumblings this could happen for a couple months. Anytime an out-of-state prospect commits so early in the cycle, it always feels like such a long way to signing day that anything can happen. Cornerback is also not the most pressing concern for the Trojans, who have brought in some good young talent at the position via recruiting and the transfer portal. They also have a commitment from local CB Maliki Crawford and are in the mix with a couple others at that spot. Myers is certainly an intriguing prospect, but they should be able to recover fine. - Ryan Young, TrojanSports.com
Sting factor: 5
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NATIONAL REACTION
Myers is a talented prospect but USC has legit corners on the team already and while loading up is always important the Trojans should be just fine here. I wouldn’t be surprised if not only Christian Pierce but also Maliki Crawford both play safety down the road but if USC can replace Myers in this class with Gardena (Calif.) Serra’s Rodrick Pleasant all should be fine. Pleasant is by far a better athlete for sure and might even be a more impactful corner as well. Since Myers is expected to end up at Ole Miss, losing him in this recruiting class shouldn’t be a major deal for USC although he is a talented player who will contribute elsewhere. The Trojans will be just fine especially if Pleasant comes onboard. - Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 4
