USC offers Chino's Pedroza hours before signing ceremony Wednesday morning but he inks letter with Utah
Aside from Devon Blackmon, the Summit High School receiver who signed with Oregon Wednesday morning, USC and UCLA took their time making inroads to the Inland Valley.
USC waited until precisely 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, UCLA three days before national signing day.
When Chino head football coach Matt McCain fielded a call from USC head coach Lane Kiffin early this morning it only added to the burden on Quinton Pedroza's mind. After his first and only season of high school football, the senior receiver/safety who had just spent the last three weeks mulling over offers from Utah and Arizona State had one more school to ponder when USC offered him two and a half hours before Chino's 10:30 a.m. signing ceremony Wednesday.
"I think he was already overwhelmed," McCain said. "It was a lot of stress when they came on board and I think it was just too late. thought it was a big deal but it didn't have the effect on him I thought it would. You had Utah waiting for their letter of intent and he was racing against the clock."
Pedroza, who committed to Arizona State Jan. 8 before Utah offered him a scholarship Jan. 11, had already donemore thinking than he ever bargained for. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senoir signed with Utah, at 10:30.
"I asked him if he wanted to wait," McCain said. "He said 'No coach.' He already had his Utah shirt on under his sweatshirt and his mother was coming down. When 'SC offered it was just too much too think about too fast."
Claremont defensive tackle Brandon Tuliaupupu, whose quarterback Daniel Kessler will join Pedroza at Utah as a preferred walk-on, was given a few more days notice. The 6-3, 295-pound senior who committed to Washington State Jan. 16, was offered by UCLA on Saturday during a late official visit to the school. By Sunday night, Tuliaupupu was committed to the Bruins, with whom he signed Wednesday.
"No disrespect to Washington State," Tuliaupupu said. "They're both good schools but UCLA is home. You can't beat it. When they offered me it was definitely surprising. It was an easy decision."
About Clay
Clay Fowler has been covering high school sports for six years in California and Texas. He was born in Dallas, attended the University of Texas and worked in Central Texas before joining the Daily Bulletin staff in 2006.
Email Clay here
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