LOS ANGELES _ The consensus top basketball prospect in the country is on his way to USC.
Evan Mobley, the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2020 class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings, chose the Trojans on Monday, The Times has confirmed. Mobley will be the highest-rated recruit to ever join USC's basketball program.
Mobley's commitment has long been viewed as a foregone conclusion, since his father, Eric Mobley, joined Andy Enfield's staff. Mobley's brother, Isaiah, is a five-star forward who is already practicing with the team as a freshman.
In an interview with 247Sports, Mobley said he kept his recruitment open, in spite of his family connection to the Trojans. But other schools never "recruited me super hard," he said. "USC was always at the top."
For a school that has spent most of the last decade in relative basketball obscurity, the significance of such a high-profile commitment can't be understated. An athletic and talented 7-footer, capable of dominating on both ends, Mobley averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds and nearly five blocks per game last season as a senior at Rancho Christian in Temecula.
Mobley is seen by many as "a generational talent," says Etop Udo-Ema, the founder of Compton Magic, Mobley's AAU program. His commitment, the first for USC in the 2020 class, could lead to a serious shift in how recruits, now and in the near future, view USC's basketball trajectory.
"When has USC had the No. 1 player in the country?" Udo-Ema said. "This is a positionless 7-footer who really could be a marquee guy in the NBA someday."
