Sting Factor: Ty Kana's decommitment from USC
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
Ty Kana saw the perfect fit at USC. He was recruited by coaches he was familiar with from their time at Texas, he understood the system and where they wanted to use him and playing the Trojans looked like the perfect opportunity.
But there is a coaching change at USC and it’s unlikely many of the assistant coaches will be retained once the new head coach is named.
Because of that uncertainty, the three-star linebacker from Katy, Texas, has backed off his pledge and reopened his recruitment as the Early Signing Period inches closer.
In September after Clay Helton was fired, Kana said that it would not change his commitment status. Now the three-star linebacker wants to see what else is out there and find the best opportunity.
LOCAL REACTION
Kana was an early commit last February due to his strong connection to defensive coordinator Todd Orlando and safeties coach Craig Naivar, who had also recruited him when they were at Texas. He felt like he was a fit in Orlando’s defense and likely wouldn’t have wavered if everything had stayed status quo,.
But it’s unlikely that Orlando will be retained by a new head coach, so this move by Kana isn’t any surprise. Considering linebacker is one of USC’s primary positions of need in this recruiting cycle, it’s a loss to drop a commit at this point. - Ryan Young, TrojanSports.com
Sting factor: 3
NATIONAL REACTION
When there is a coaching change, decommitments are inevitable and this is the outcome of that. Kana and USC parted ways and while it’s a loss since the Trojans are down to eight total commitments, which is third-fewest in the Pac-12. Kana is a talented prospect but USC only really needs to get concerned if five-star Domani Jackson and high four-star quarterback Devin Brown back off their pledges.
This is how it always works: Once a new coach is hired and he brings in his own staff, a lot of top prospects are going to get excited and start looking at USC again. The 2022 class might be tough to pull together but things could pick up quickly in 2023 and beyond. Kana will be missed but there are many players who will be aching to take his spot. - Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
Sting factor: 4