Where are they now?: The recruits that could have been

Junipero Serra has been a big hitter in SoCal for some time, and one of it’s more recent successes was QB Jalen Greene. A dual-threat QB listed at 6’3 and 190lbs lead Serra to a 13-1 season his senior year with the unfortunate loss coming in the playoffs to Chaminade. His 6,355 career passing yards, 68 passing and 30 rushing TDs garnered less attention than one would think. Boise State would be his first offer on March 23rd. A little over a week later, he committed to the Broncos.

Chris Petersen had found his guy, and Greene had found his team. With the weight of commitment and the recruiting process off his shoulders, Greene focused on his season along with trying to recruit his buddies to come play with him on the Blue. While he didn’t have success with his fellow teammates, the Broncos did amass a very respectable class after a lackluster 2013 season. All seemed right in the world, though, and with a stellar class in line, Boise was staged for a bounce-back season.

On the night of December 5th, rumors and rumblings began to float around the Twittersphere, and mutterings of Petersen leaving were abound. None of this was new to us. We as Bronco fans had become accustomed to heavy pocketed suitors courting our patriarch, but always to no avail. Why should this time be any different? But it was different. We all felt it and knew this was it. That sinking feeling stayed in our stomachs until the next morning when our fears were confirmed: Coach Pete was leaving for Washington. Our beloved magic maker of 12 years was off to greener pastures, and along with him? The majority of our bright and shiny 2014 recruiting class. Greg Gaines, Drew Sample, Jesse Sosebee, Will Dissly, Brandon Lewis, and Jalen Greene all followed the familiar face they had developed relationships with the previous year. Commit to the school, not the coach, is a common phrase heard during the recruiting cycles. You can’t fault a kid for following his recruiter though.

Jalen decommited from the Broncos December 16th, 3 days after Petersen was officially announced as the head coach of the Huskies. The dark days post-Petersen were very dark indeed, but fortunately also very short.  Petersen’s prodigy, Bryan Harsin, returned to his alma mater on December 11th, but there was little to be done to keep a lot of those recruits around.

Oddly enough for Petersen, as well as Greene, he only stayed committed to the Huskies for 6 days. He quickly flipped his commitment to Steve Sarkisian and the USC Trojans. He enrolled early on January 13th to try and get a head start on his career and hopefully get a foot in the door for playing time. Unfortunately for Greene, Cody Kessler was already in a position to lead the Trojans once again with the departure of Max Wittek, not to mention having 4-star 2013 commit Max Browne ahead of him.

Following his redshirt freshman season, Greene is now in a competition with Max Browne and Ricky Town along with incoming freshman Sam Darnold for the back up position. According to an April 4th article in the LA Times, Browne seems to be the favorite, but no such declarations have been made. It sounds like Greene has an uphill battle, but his spirits and work ethic remain high. Max Browne is plenty of competition, but with the arrival of 5-star Town, it will only get tougher. As long as Greene remains committed to his work ethic and stays patient, his dedication will pay off.