South Florida has lost one of the biggest recruting battles of the 2009 football class, and they lost it to an in-conference rival.
Dual-threat quarterback Eugene Smith told Rivals.com on Monday that he’s given a ’soft verbal’ to West Virginia. Smith, a 6-foot-3 182 pound athletic player, had narrowed his choices down to USF, LSU, and the Mountaineers before giving his committment. He still received offers from schools like Michigan, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, and Oregon.
I’ve watched film on Smith, and can confirm he would be a perfect fit into USF offensive coordinator Greg Gregory’s system. The Miramar, Florida native has a mix of size, speed, and a good arm. He rushed for seven touchdowns, and threw for 2,222 yards as a junior in high school.
Smith did say that he still plans on taking a recruiting visit to South Florida. So maybe the coaching staff can work their magic, and convince him to change his mind.
So what’s this mean for the squad?
Well, it isn’t entirely a huge loss, although, it is another athlete lost to the likes of WVU. However, remember that the Bulls have a very talented freshman quarterback in B.J. Daniels, and he is expected to medical redshirt this year. From what i’ve seen … Daniels is more than capable of taking the reigns once Matt Grothe leaves the program.
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