USC offers junior linebacker

Here comes Michael Hutchings, the next big thing from powerhouse Concord (Calif.) De La Salle.

Hutchings, a 6-foot, 184-pound outside linebacker, had an offer from Cal and has now added one from USC, which he has called a dream school. The Trojans' staff has been talking to Hutchings for a while and has now come through with a verbal offer.

Hutchings and De La Salle teammate Michael Barton, a four-star Cal commit, will visit USC later this month.

"We've been in the process of talking about it because I know they visited our school a while back," Hutchings said.

"I've been in contact since then. They said I'm their No. 1 junior on the board right now and we'll talk it more when we go down for the unofficial visit. As soon as I go down there I'll talk to coach (Lane) Kiffin and make it official. He likes to finalize all offers.

"It's a little overwhelming right now so early in my recruitment. That's a dream offer. That's something a lot of kids dream about in their childhood. That's definitely up there with Cal because those are my first two offers and I'm heavily interested because they're my first two offers. They're definitely going to be up there at the top of the board."

USC is well-liked by Hutchings, who is also hearing from Michigan and others, and the Trojans are definitely one of the favorites but the De La Salle standout who finished with 53 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery in his sophomore season is probably not ready yet to make a commitment.

The family talks about USC a lot, Hutchings said, but his father won't be on the unofficial visit so he doesn't see himself making a pledge just yet.

The Trojans are definitely a favorite though so a good trip to Los Angeles could go a long way in Hutchings making up his mind.

"I know my dad won't be able to go down with me, it will be me and my mom because he has work but he said try to get a good feel for the campus and the coaches and then we can discuss what you want to do," Hutchings said.

"He won't be down there so there won't be any commitment on the unofficial visit but we definitely talk about USC a lot."