LOS ANGELES -- USC coach Clay Helton woke up on national signing day with a lot of work to do.
In addition to the seven players who enrolled early, the Trojans, almost always near the top of the national recruiting rankings, had just six more known commitments when the day began, leaving seven spots unaccounted for in USC’s 20-scholarship allotment. The potential for a small, disappointing class was there.
Instead, Helton and the Trojans rallied with as strong a day as they could have realistically hoped for, filling all seven spots with talented players at positions of need from across the country to secure the Pac-12’s top-ranked class and No.