Who is the best USC football recruit this century?

Who was the most sought-after recruit USC football has had since the 2000s?

USC football usually dominates out on the West Coast for a very good reason.

The USC Trojans are the glamor program in the Pac-12. There is more top-tier talent residing in California than in any other state in that part of the country. Given their illustrious history of winning championship after championship, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise of how the Trojans have crushed it historically in the recruiting department. But who is their greatest recruit?

In the age of the 247Sports Composite, that honor belongs to running back Joe McKnight. Back in 2007, McKnight was the crown jewel of his recruiting class. Though he didn’t hail from California, the five-star running back boasted a higher rating than any player USC has landed this century at a staggering 0.9997. The New Orleans, Louisiana native had six offers but ultimately chose USC.

McKnight had offers from other programs such as the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Florida State Seminoles, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Ole Miss Rebels. Shockingly enough, the in-state LSU Tigers never formally offered the five-star standout from John Curtis Christian High School. Surely, the Bayou Bengals regret that decision.

On Feb. 7, 2007, McKnight signed with USC to play for head coach Pete Carroll. While he was the first No. 1 overall recruit USC landed during the Carroll era in Los Angeles, he would later be joined by pro-style quarterback Matt Barkley of Santa Ana, California in 2009, who McKnight just edged out for the top spot on USC’s all-time recruiting rankings. Unfortunately, USC was on the decline.

Joe McKnight was the greatest recruit for the USC Trojans since the 2000s.

McKnight’s commitment to USC was a huge one, as many people back in his native Louisiana thought he’d end up at LSU. While former LSU head coach Les Miles came in at the last minute to try to sway his commitment, McKnight went to USC so he could become the next Reggie Bush for the Trojans. He set the bar very high for himself, but never cleared it.

In McKnight’s first two years at USC, he didn’t really move the needle. He never had 100 rushing attempts as a freshman in 2007 or as a sophomore in 2008, barely totaling over 110 total touches in his first two campaigns. However, he would tap into his five-star status to some degree in his true junior season of 2009.

McKnight had 164 carries for 1,014 yards and eight rushing touchdowns in what would be his final college season. He left USC with 347 carries, 2,213 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns. In January 2010, McKnight declared for the 2010 NFL Draft after a largely underwhelming college career, giving the hype that surrounded him coming to USC by way of New Orleans.

He would be a fourth-round pick by the New York Jets in the 2010 NFL Draft, where he would spend three of his four NFL seasons. After spending the 2013 NFL season out of the league, McKnight played for the 2014 Kansas City Chiefs. Then in 2016, he played in the CFL for the Edmonton Eskimos and the Saskatchewan Roughriders before his life tragically end.

McKnight was murdered in the middle of an intersection in Terrytown, Louisiana by Ronald Gasser in a fit of road rage. Gasser gunned down McKnight on Dec. 1, 2016. McKnight was 28 years old, still under contract with the Roughriders at the time of his murder. Gasser was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting and killing McKnight in the middle of that Terrytown intersection.

Though he never lived up to the hype, McKnight was the star recruit of his 2007 high school class.

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