Tosh Lupoi reportedly tells recruit he’s going to be at USC

Here’s a report that should please USC Trojans fans: Tosh Lupoi supposedly told a recruit that he is going to USC.

Lupoi, who is considered one of the top recruiters in the country, has been the defensive line/run game coordinator at Washington the past two seasons. His status has been in flux since Steve Sarkisian left Washington for USC, but all indications have pointed to him joining Sark in LA. The big obstacle is said to be a $400,000 buyout for him leaving to coach another Pac-12 school.

247 Sports says defensive end recruit Tui Talia of Diablo Valley College in California is still being pursued by Lupoi even though he’s committed to Oregon.

Talia was originally committed to Washington, but he flipped to Oregon, and Lupoi is still trying to recruit him. Only Lupoi now is supposedly recruiting him to USC, not Seattle.

“I guess USC has kept trying to contact me,” Talia told 247 Sports. “They have been talking to my coach but I haven’t talked to them. He was saying he talked to coach Lupoi but he was talking about him going to USC and he wants me there.”

Talia says he’s firmly committed to Oregon, but that’s not the big story. The big story is that Lupoi appears to be heading to USC.

Lupoi supposedly denied the report. Here’s what Kim Grinolds of Dawgman.com reported:

Spoke with @CoachLupUW Lupoi Can't talk about specific recruits but said reports that he's recruiting kids to USC is ridiculous and not true

— Kim Grinolds (@KimGrinolds) December 11, 2013

I’m still expecting Lupoi to end up at USC. The other big question is what happens with Justin Wilcox.

Wilcox was said to be a head coaching candidate for the Boise State job that went to Bryan Harsin. New Washington coach Chris Petersen brought his defensive coordinator with him from Boise State to Washington, but The Seattle Times’ Adam Jude believes Petersen will still try to retain Wilcox, who was his defensive coordinator at Boise State for four years. Sark also reportedly wants Wilcox at USC, but the problem may be his $1 million buyout.