USC football gets commitment from OL Caadyn Stephen

The high school football season doesn’t begin until this weekend in the state of Washington. Camas High offensive lineman Caadyn Stephen chose to take advantage of his final free weekend this fall by taking his first of a possible five official visits.

The 6-foot-5, 295-pound senior tackle traveled down the coast to Los Angeles to check out what USC has to offer. He loved it. He was all smiles on the field at the Coliseum as he watched the Trojans warm up prior to their 31-23 win over Fresno State and wrote on social media that he had “an amazing time” on a trip that was “one to remember.”

Stephen took that a step further late Wednesday night when he announced on Twitter his intentions to become a Trojan.

“To continue my football and academic journey I am proud to announce that I am committed to the University of Southern California!!” he wrote after thanking God, his family, his coaches, the college coaches who have recruited him and his Camas teammates.

Stephen joined Camas before his junior year, moving from Alaska to Washington where he’s had an opportunity to play against better competition and get more exposure. It has helped him earn 12 scholarship offers, including from seven Pac-12 Conference schools.

It’s a similar path to that of current USC player Brandon Pili, who became the first Trojan football player from Alaska when he arrived in 2017. Pili moved to Oregon during his senior year of high school and quickly saw his recruitment take off. Stephen saw offers start to roll in following his junior season, including one from USC in May.

Stephen is rated as the eighth-best prospect in the state of Washington in the 2020 recruiting class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings. (He would be No. 1 in Alaska.) The three-star lineman is the No. 50 offensive tackle in the nation and No. 607 overall prospect.

USC now has commitments from six offensive linemen, though it is believed that Kyle Juergens, San Juan Capistrano St. Margaret’s two-way lineman, will be slotted as a defensive lineman for the Trojans. They have eight total linemen committed. All eight are rated three-star prospects.

The addition of Stephen bumped USC up to No. 42 in the 2020 team rankings. The Trojans’ 12 total commitments are the least of any team ranked in the top 50. They remain ranked No. 7 among Pac-12 schools.