USC Blog: Losing Seantrel Henderson Is Not A Big Deal

Now that USC has released Seantrel Henderson from his scholarship which allows him to sign with any team without having to sit out a year, it is now time to get some reaction from the USC side.  SB Nation's USC blog Conquest Chronicle feels that it is not necessarily a bad thing to lose the nation's number two recruit:

... this remains a small victory for USC. Even more so in the wake of the NCAA sanctions, USC remains a "big boy" program reserved for athletes with killer instincts and intense competitive spirits, who are driven and motivated to become the best players possible. The right players for this program are not, however, motivated by the possibility of playing in one or two bowl games, as Kiffin echoed the other day.

Here are some words from Lane Kiffin echoing the importance of playing in more then playing in bowl games:

"I hope in the end Seantrel sees what every other freshman in this class has... that one or two games isn't why you choose a university," Kiffin said. "They didn't come to SC because of a bowl game the first or second year. They came here because of the education; they came here because of the football program."

Conquest Chronicles also believes big time recruits will still go to USC because of their history of sending players to the NFL draft:

If Seantrel has a problem in missing out on a bowl game and seeing the big picture in all of this, than USC probably isn't the best fit for him in the first place. The USC football program does one thing better than any other school in America - getting players to the NFL. Just look at the number of draft picks that hail from this university. It's staggering. That's why you come to 'SC.

The 2011 class is when we will see if any top recruits will spurn USC for other programs due to their sanctions, but according to Conquest Chronicle they believe the Trojans will still get the top recruits.