USC first to get visit set

When you're a four-star player and ranked as one of the nation's top 250 players, your phone is bound to ring off the hook in the month of September. Irvine (Calif.) Woodbridge standout defensive end Alex Parsons is one of those elite players, and his ear has been attached to the phone a lot here since September 1.

"I've heard from coach (George) Yarno from Washington State, and I just got of the phone with coach (Lane) Kiffin from USC," Parsons said late on Tuesday night. "I also talked to coach (Brian) Cabral from Colorado and coach (Karl) Durrell from UCLA."

And after those calls, Parsons said he's shaking things up a little bit on his list of favorites.

"Colorado is gaining a lot of interest from me right now," he said. "I'd say USC is my favorite team right now, but I like Colorado's defensive style. They've always been a pretty fierce defense."

Parsons, like many others in his position, is starting to sort his future out with official visits starting to be lined up.

"Coach Kiffin set me up with a visit to USC on December 16th," Parsons said. "That is the only visit I have scheduled right now. The other four visits are pretty wide open right now.

"I plan on making my decision after I take my visits. It will either be during the season or soon after the season. I plan to take all five visits, but I could see myself committing on a visit. If I had taken two or three visits I could see myself committing on the fourth visit since I'll have a good idea what most schools have to offer. It wouldn't be on the first visit I take, but possibly later in the process if I really like it somewhere."

Parsons, ranked as the nation's No. 13 strongside defensive end, has a few things in mind when it comes to picking a school.

"I'm looking for a school with a good education," he said.

"I either want to be a lawyer or a doctor, so whichever school I pick will have to have a pretty good program in one of those, whichever one I decide on. If I have the opportunity to play in the NFL, then I will, but I have more goals in life than just that. I know the most important thing is getting my education, because if you don't get that you'll be pretty worthless after football is over."