TOP PREP SAFETY BYRON MOORE WITHDRAWS COMMITMENT TO USC

One of the top prep safeties in the nation withdrew his long staying commitment to USC and appears to be heading to arch rival Notre Dame less than two weeks till signing day according to WeAreSC.com....

"Yeah, I went ahead and decommitted today," said Moore. "I just felt USC wasn't the place I wanted to be and I want to look at some other options out of state. Right now it's pretty much Notre dame and LSU, with Notre Dame in the lead. I'll probably take a trip down to LSU next week.

"I kind of feel like I want to go to school out of state, see something new on my own, go somewhere I will get a good education and have an opportunity to play early."

Moore was asked what Seto's reaction to the news was?

"He was just real surprised and shocked," said Moore. "It was a real hard decision for me and I did it on my own. It was just me and Coach Seto in the room together, and I told him to his face that I felt USC wasn't the place for me, anymore."

Moore informed Coach Brian Polian from Notre Dame and Coach D.J. McCarthy from LSU earlier today that he was no longer committed to USC.

Note: Notre Dame and LSU are also two schools Moore's teammate, Sean Parker, has serious interest in.

Picking up Byron Moore would be absolutely huge for Notre Dame. They currently have a small class of less than 17 commitments that is ranked near 20th by Scout and Rivals and their only secondary defensive players in the class reside in offensive players who would need to switch positions once in South Bend. They lost Marlon Pollard recently to UCLA and it appears that current commitment Nyshier Oliver (currently projected to play WR but in my opinion has college safety written all over him) is suppose to visit Tennessee this weekend where he was previously committed before Phil Fulmer was on the hot seat. And if committed recruits like Oliver are visiting other campuses this late in the process it means 99% of the time they are not committed to signing to their current school of choice.

If Notre Dame can land Byron Moore along Manti Te'o and Jawanza Starling who both appear to be leaning towards Notre Dame at this point it would be tremendous in terms of adding speed and talent to a defense that desperately needs it. With less than two weeks left till signing day the gloves are off and the closers in recruiting will show their true colors. Charlie Weis and his staff's future in Notre Dame could very much depend on what recruits from California, Florida, and Hawaii decide to do on signing day.