USC offer impacts James recruitment

The four words Andre James used immediately after receiving a scholarship offer from USC were telling. They didn't go into much detail or provide much depth, but they were certainly enough to drop a few hints about where the Trojans stand in relation the larger picture of the Herriman (Utah) High School tackle's recruitment.

He trumpeted his initial reaction with a text message.

"It's a huge one," James typed.

He later elaborated via phone. The offer became official on Wednesday night, but the process began on Tuesday. USC's official entrance into his recruitment didn't come on suddenly. This was a slow burn of sorts.

"Coach (Marques Tuiasosopo) DM'd me on Twitter last night and said they were going to offer but he had to talk to Coach (Steve Sarkisian)," James said. "Then, he confirmed it today. I went to visit them when I was out there for the Nike camp, so I know a little about them already."

There's no official list of frontrunners in James' recruitment as things stand now. The three-star offensive tackle carries 16 total scholarship offers. And while he isn't releasing anything official or narrowing his options as of yet, the Trojans certain have carved out some nice real estate for themselves.

"I really don't have a list, but If I had one, USC would be up there," James said. "They're one of top schools right now for sure."

The reasons behind his affection for USC are many, but most seem to center around the NFL, and, more specifically, the Trojan coaches' ability to get him there.

"When I visited there, I really liked the coaches," James said. "Coach Tim Drevno was telling me about his time with the 49ers. It's really cool having a coach that coached in the league because that's something I aspire to do. I like the pro-style offense there, too. That's what I like and that's what they run in the league."

James says he's hopeful that he'll find time to visit Ohio State in June, but isn't certain whether or not such a trip will take place at the time being. If it doesn't happen, however, he'll simply wait for the fall to resume travel.

James is already thinking official visits and has just one destination in mind.

"Oklahoma is definitely one," James said. "They're one of my top schools, and I didn't get top visit them on an unofficial. They are one of my top schools that I haven't visited yet.

James intends to trim his list to an undetermined number of programs sometime this spring.