Isaiah Langley picks USC over Cal

Before Isaiah Langley became one of America's most highly sought after recruits, before he had attention from the likes of Tennessee, Florida State, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame, Cal was first -- first to notice his immense talent at a camp last spring, and then first to offer a scholarship, as well.  That gesture has been crucial to recruiting to the Pleasanton cornerback over the last year, something that he has mentioned repeatedly in interviews, and it's surely played a large part in keeping the Bears atop his finalists, despite more prestigious suitors.

Unfortunately, the Nor-Cal product ended up giving the Trojans his commitment at Nike's annual The Opening event on national TV. Cal was a finalist but the USC allure was too strong.

This is a tough recruiting defeat -- Langley would have filled a position of need, he is a local product, and Langley is the type of gem you build classes around, period. But it's clear we have a lot of states.

The rankings:

Rivals: 4 stars, 9th ranked cornerback, 13th ranked player in California

ESPN: 4 stars [80], 29th ranked cornerback, 33rd ranked player in California

Scout: 4 stars, 10th ranked cornerback, 71st ranked player overall

247sports: 4 stars [94], 12th ranked cornerback, 18th ranked player in California