You can’t win ‘em all, but a day after blue-chip recruit Arik Armstead announced his intention to sign with Oregon, the USC Trojans scored a lineman of their own in five-star offensive tackle Zach Banner.
A five-star U.S. Army All-American at offensive tackle, Zach Banner will play football and basketball for the USC Trojans.
Banner, out of Lakewood, Washington, announced Lebron-style that he’s taking his talents – and his efforts – to Los Angeles next season to play for the Trojans.
The 6’9″, 320 pound tackle, a U.S. Army All-American, chose USC over his home state of Washington, and Oklahoma. He plans to play both basketball and football for the Trojans.
Banner joins a recruiting class at ‘SC that already features several O-linemen, including commits Max Tuerk and Jordan Simmons and early enrollee Chad Wheeler. Wheeler, who graduated early from Santa Monica High and enrolled at USC, is technically a member of the 2011 recruiting class and does not count against this year’s 15-signee limit.
Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, Arik Armstead won’t count against that limit either. Armstead, a lineman who can play on offense or defense, originally committed to USC following his sophomore season but announced yesterday that he will sign with the Oregon Ducks as a defensive lineman and basketball player.
Armstead decommitted from the Trojans after his older brother, Armond, who played D-line for USC, was denied medical clearance by the university’s doctors following an unspecified health condition that landed him in the hospital last offseason. The Armstead family contended that Armond had been cleared to play by independent doctors, but he redshirted in 2011, in what would have been his senior year.
The disagreement between the family and the football program over the way Armond’s situation was handled effectively cost the Trojans two players. Armond plans to transfer and join his brother in Eugene with the rival Ducks. His departure releases a valuable scholarship the Trojans can use to sign another new recruit this season.
