Trojans add new commitment

With the pledge of a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker with 4.58-second 40-yard dash speed, the University of Southern California has snared its sixth commitment of the recruiting campaign.

That linebacker is Oscar Lua, a two-sport star from Indio, Calif. Lua has registered 117 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions in 9 games as a senior. In baseball, Lua hit .485 a season ago with 11 home runs.

“He verbally committed to USC over the weekend,” sixth year Indio coach Ovidio Machado said of Lua. “Their coaches came down here on Friday – they sent the defensive coordinator – and they offered him a scholarship. We talked to coach Carroll on the phone on Friday and they invited him to the game on Saturday. I think that that’s when he verbally committed.”

Lua said the reasons why he picked USC were simple.

“I chose USC because it’s a great academic school,” Lua said. “They also talked about their being a great opportunity to play early because they are losing so many linebackers. It’s also close to home. It wasn’t just any one thing, it’s just an all around great place.”

Lua is described as a “playmaker” by Machado. Although he was recruited as a linebacker, he also starts at tight end for Indio.

“Whenever we need something big, it’s always Oscar who does it. It was 0-0 at half against Palm Springs and he broke through and blocked a punt for a touchdown. Then against Palm Dessert it was 7-7 and he caught a tight end screen for a 40-yard touchdown. It’s always something, he’s just always doing something good.”

Lua is a “soft” commitment to USC, however. He still intends on taking official visits that he had already scheduled with coaches at Fresno State and UNLV.

Machado says Lua became a big-time player late in his junior year and that has carried over into his senior year.

“He was a little green when he first came up to the varsity as a sophomore. We were playing him outside (linebacker) because he runs so good. But when we moved him to the middle as a junior, and he got a little stronger and got better with his technique, then he was like a whole different player. That’s when he became more aggressive and his athleticism just came out of him naturally.”

Machado said he was unsure if Southern Cal had offered Lua the opportunity to also play baseball in college, but he was definite that the scholarship was offered in football.

“Coach Moses (a USC assistant) is the one who had been talking to him, but now he’s talked to all of the coaches and stuff. He seems excited about staying pretty close to home.”

Indio is approximately 175 miles due east of Los Angeles on Interstate-10.