Football Recruiting Update: Hutchings Picks USC, Stanford Offers Hooper

A couple of notes involving some Oregon offers that have made moves or received other offers from Pac-12 schools, and an update on a top recruit for 2014.

Four-star outside linebacker from Concord, California, Michael Hutchings, has finally committed to USC. The announcement comes after spending the weekend at the USC Rising Stars Camp.

According to a report by 247Sports’ Scott Schrader, the reason Hutchings wanted to make the announcement now was to avoid distractions at next week’s The Opening camp at Beaverton, Oregon. This is USC’s 10 commitment in the class of 2013.

Another recruit from Concord, Austin Hooper, is a three-star defensive end that received an offer from Stanford. This is Hooper’s 14th offer and 8th from a Pac-12 school. Oregon, California, and Washington remain his highest interests.

Also going to The Opening is Nico Falah, four-star offensive tackle from Bellflower, California. Falah has narrowed his choices down to either UCLA or USC, and will make his decision sometime early this month. A quote from an ESPN video interview:

“I’m going to go where I fit in,” said Falah, “where I feel comfortable, [and] where I see myself for four years.”

247Sports’ JC Shurburtt was at the NLA 7-on-7 Nationals at Brooklyn, New York. He noted a 2014 recruit, Quin Blanding, as “being spectacular at times” and having “tremendous ability to break on the ball.”

Blanding is a 5-star safety that is ranked 12th in 247Sports’ Top247. He already has 22 offers, but is interested in Oregon who has yet to offer him.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor for Autzen Zoo, follow the site on Facebook and Twitter. Read his other work on the lacrosse blog, Watson Talk Lacrosse.