BREAKING: Big-Time Arizona Offensive Tackle Elijah Paige Commits to USC
Talented 4-Star 2023 Offensive Tackle Elijah Paige from Pinnacle HS in Phoenix (AZ) announced his commitment to USC on Monday (10/3).
“After I decommitted from Notre Dame, USC was definitely a school I thought I could end up at,” Paige told WeAreSC. “But the visit sealed the deal and left no doubt in my mind. I got to spend a lot time with Coach (Lincoln) Riley, Coach (Josh) Henson and it just confirmed everything for me. It was a great vibe and me and my parents agreed USC was the place for me.
“Before my Notre Dame visit, I thought USC was where I was going to end up. But that visit blew me away. Right now everything Coach Riley has talked about, they’re now doing it at USC on and off the field.”
In the Spring Paige planned to take an official visit to USC. He was originally scheduled to visit May 27, but rescheduled for for the Massive June 16-19 recruiting weekend. That weekend had 5-Star Pinnacle HS teammate Duce Robinson and 23 other priority prospectson campus for their officials.
“The 16th thru the 19th is when all the top guys are going to be there,” Paige said in May.”The list is long, but they wanted me to change to that weekend.”
When we were with Paige and Robinson last May, the feeling was the Trojans were the school to beat for both. But Paige took an official visit to Notre Dame and announced his commitment shortly after.
Two weeks ago Paige announced his decommitment from the Irish. That led to a large number of USC predictions the same day. WeAreSC led the way with our prediction for the Trojans.
USC Became the heavy favorite on Sept. 22
The afternoon of Sept. 22, I submitted the first USC prediction for Paige. That prediction was followed by about 10 for the Trojans by various recruiting experts.
Two days later Paige texted myself and Chad Simmons about his plans to take a USC official visit this past weekend when the Trojans faced Arizona St.
As of his today, Paige has offers from USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, Auburn, Duke, Washington St., Colorado St., Michigan, Baylor, Missouri, Arizona, BYU, Cal, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Miami, Michigan St., Northwestern, Oregon St, Oregon, Ole Miss, Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Penn St., San Diego St., Stanford, Tennessee, Utah, Utah St., Washington, Nebraska and West Virginia.
That’s 30+ offers for the 6-6 and 295 pound USC Offensive Tackle prospect and there’s still time to earn more.
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First time back at USC since Jan. 29
Although living just a 90 minute flight away from Los Angeles, Paige’s Jan. 29 visit to USC was his first. But it was an impactful visit and Paige said he planned to be back. He finally had that opportunity when he and his family arrived in Los Angeles on Friday night (9/30).
“I had been building a relationship with Coach (Lincoln) Riley and Coach (Josh) Henson, they came to my school, they showed great interest by offering me a scholarship and I thought I’d show my interest by taking a visit,” Paige said.”And I loved it.”
Part of the Junior Day was having an opportunity to see the campus, talk with the coaches and get a feel for what it’s like being a student athlete at the University of Southern California.
But being on campus for several hours also provided Paige an opportunity to experience the new “Vibe” recruits talk about at USC.
“I got a good sense of the vibe around the coaches, how they do things and what their vision is for the USC Football Program,” said Paige.”USC is also a beautiful campus, the facilities are good and it was great getting to see the Coliseum.”
Solid relationship with Josh Henson
Riley made a homerun hire with OL Coach Josh Henson and Paige has developed a solid relationship with him in a relatively short amount of time.
“We got to do a position meeting when I visited, so I was in the room with him going over film of how he ran things at Texas A&M,” said Paige in May..”He’s one of the most knowledgeable guys at the college level. We’re also building a relationship where it’s bigger than football. I talk to him all the time and really like him.”
Lincoln Riley
One of the topics most talked about with Riley is how many guys have followed him to USC. Whether it’s coaches, players or recruits, it’s a significant and says a lot about Riley without anyone uttering a word. At least to me it does. I’ll defer to those who know him versus angry Sooner fans when looking for an opinion.
“He’s obviously a great coach, but he’s an even better person,” Paige said.”When you talk to he’s so genuine. You talk to some of these other coaches, it’s just not as genuine as Coach Riley. He’s down to earth, he’s a really good dude and I just really like him.”
While Riley and his program are vital part of the attraction at USC for guys like Paige, Josh Henson is also a very big factor for him.
“It’s pretty much the same as it is with Coach Riley, they’re just both really good people,” Paige said.”I can sit down and have a conversation with him for an hour and we won’t bring up football. It’s a personal relationship and bigger than football. That’s something special about him. He’s another big reason I’m going back to USC for an official and why USC is one of my top schools.”
