Kylie Fitts is a four-star defensive end recruit from Redlands (Calif.) East Valley High School who was set to enroll at USC this month, but Lane Kiffin reportedly threw a kink in his plans. According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Fitts was offered a scholarship from USC that inspired him to take extra classes in order to finish high school early. He was supposed to be on the USC campus on Jan. 10.
Instead, Fitts says he received a call from USC telling him his scholarship would be available for the fall semester, not the spring. At the U.S. Army All-American Bowl just a few days before the call, Fitts says the USC coaching staff told him everything was all set. Fitts’ high school coach, Kurt Bruich, is not please with the turn of events.
“Recruiting man, it’s crazy,” the Redlands East Valley coach said. “He’s wanted to go to USC for as long as he can remember and now he feels betrayed. He did everything he was supposed to do from his end and he was a loyal kid. I think they thought because of that loyalty he’d still want to go there. He said to me ‘What am I supposed to do for the next five months?’ It seems shady. I think it seems shady to everyone.”
Bruich said Fitts has decommitted from USC and is exploring other options including UCLA, Washington and Notre Dame. He also took to Twitter on Friday to rip Kiffin:
When people are desperate, their true colors show. Take the USC coach, captain of an underachieving ship. His true color: SHADY! #goKylie
— Kurt Bruich (@CoachBruich) January 11, 2013
As Tommy Tuberville can tell you, we hear stories like this from recruits all the time. Unfortunately, college athletics is just as much a business as professional sports.
Helmet smack to Dr. Saturday
