College Football Recruiting

USC recruiting 2013: Toa Lobendahn headlines small class

The Trojans don't have a lot of commitments, but they have some strong talent in the fold.

By Steven Muma@akulawolf Oct 11, 2013, 2:52pm EDT

Southern Cal has just eight commitments in its 2014 class at this point. The group ranks eighth within the Pac-12 and 58th nationally, according to the 247Sports composite, though it does include some blue-chip talent.

The Trojans are in the midst of a coaching change, which adds some uncertainty to recruiting, and the atmosphere surrounding the program prior to Lane Kiffin's dismissal was not helping their efforts. Those circumstances may explain why this class isn't up to recent USC standards.

Despite the turmoil, the Trojans did pick up a commitment this month from consensus three-star safety Uchenna Nwosu. Here's a look at a couple of the top-rated players in the class:

Toa Lobendahn is a consensus four-star offensive guard prospect from La Habra (Calif.) High School. Lobendahn is the No. 10 player at his position, the No. 12 player from the state of California and is considered the No. 134 overall player in the 2014 class.

Rumors in late September indicated that four-star linebacker Derik Calhoun decommitted from USC, but those were later refuted by his father, and for now at least it appears Calhoun remains in the fold. The El Cerrito (Calif.) High School product is considered the 12th-best player at his position and the 162nd-best overall prospect in the class.

Top recruits will wait for new Trojans head coach

USC is still in contention for several five-stars, but it is difficult to call the Trojans strong favorites for many until the new head coach hire is made. There is no doubt that USC will soon again recruit at a very high level, and there are plenty of stars in USC's typical recruiting base of California and the area West of the Rockies.