One of the key factors that helped USF become one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference over the past few years was the ability to keep Florida talent close to home, specifically those players in the Tampa Bay area. Those efforts have continued since Charlie Strong took over the Bulls program and the school continues to lay the groundwork with the top prospects in the area early. One of the early bay area targets in the Class of 2021 is linebacker Evan Graham. Rivals.com caught up with Graham at the recent Ray Lewis Linebacker Academy event to talk about his June visit to campus and his relationship with the Bulls coaches.

"I got offered by USF back in January. They were my first offer so that was a big one. I've been talking to them a lot since then."

Last visit: "I took a visit in June. It was fun. It was a nice experience. Everyone out there was cool and nice. They had the camp the week before but they just wanted to get me there with my family and show me everything. It was like home. I didn't know much about the campus going in. I live in the area but I didn't really know anything like that until I got on campus. I haven't been to a game there before either, so hopefully I can go this fall and get that experience."

Message from coaches: "They like my combination of size and speed and the effort I show to always pursue to the ball no matter what or where I am on the field. Coach Strong is a defensive-minded coach and they are trying to build their defense up to compete with all the offenses in their conference."