The trend lately among elite high school football recruits has been to collect scholarship offers, take as many recruiting visits as possible, gradually narrow down the top NCAA suitors in a series of social media posts, and then commit in a ceremony of some sort, usually televised. Long Beach Poly sophomore wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr. decided last weekend that he didn’t want to follow the regular path, and made waves by committing to USC shortly after they’d offered him a scholarship.
“It feels great to get that weight off my back, not having to worry about all that and just go play football, go do what I love to do,” said Robinson after a Poly practice on Wednesday evening.
Robinson is an undersized but electric receiver, and is leading the Jackrabbits in all receiving categories this year. He’s got great speed and elusiveness as well as incredibly developed route-running skills for a sophomore.
“I’m extremely happy for him, he’s a very hard worker and honestly one of the best route-runners I’ve ever seen,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee. “He gets in and out of his breaks and accelerates, hes phenomenal at the high school level and it’ll easily translate to being a playmaker in college. He was able to make that choice to commit with his family and I couldn’t be more happy for him.”
Robinson said the fact that the USC program is in a tough spot at the moment with an interim coach didn’t faze him at all, and that he has faith that when he’s graduating and moving to the college ranks that the Trojans will be on track. He said they also recruited him aggressively.
“USC was also my grandfather’s favorite school, and I got that offer two days after he passed away,” he said. “It played a role in it for sure. But they made me feel at home and it felt like that’s where I should be so I said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
