USC Football News: Mother of 2024 USC Commit Opens Up About Decision
College football recruiting is one of the most interesting parts of the game. Now with the NIL deals being allowed to go through, it allows players to make more informed decisions based on potential financial compensation. But it doesn't take away from the core of recruitment, which is visits to the players by the coaching staff. It's a way for each side to get to know one another on a more personal level to see if they are the right fit.
For the USC Trojans, they have respected head coach Lincoln Riley heading up the ship in terms of recruitment, and he is a major reason as to why players want to come to USC. He makes players feel comfortable that they can both win while at USC and that the program can help set them up for the future as well.
This summer, the Trojans landed four-star offensive lineman Makai Saina and recently, his mom spoke about what went into the decision to head to USC.
"All of the schools were wonderful. But it came down to relationships with the schools and specifically with the coaches," she said. "Coach [Lincoln] Riley, Coach Henson and [offensive analyst Zach] Crabtree at USC felt like family and Makai felt like he could be a part of something much greater than football at USC. In addition, the USC education is unmatched from any of the schools that we were considering."
This shows just how important it is to have the right people in place. Not only are the coaching staff trying to sell the players on their school, but also the family. Riley and his staff made Saina and his family feel at home, and that is a big part of this process. She continued about the decision.
"For Makai, Coach Henson and Coach Crabtree were the main reasons he wanted to commit to USC. Makai feels comfortable with these coaches. He feels he can approach them and talk about football and all other things related to his life," Deidra Saina said. "In addition, they not only have been actual offensive linemen, but they have experience coaching offensive linemen. When you look at these two coaches, not only do they physically look like offensive linemen, they’ve proven to possess the elite skillset to develop our boys."
This is just one example of many for the Trojans. Since Riley took over last season, the team has been pilling on the strong recruitment of late, and it will continue to see them have more on-field success as the years go on.
