Elyjah Gordon Hopes to Set up Official Visits to Oregon, Two Other Schools

Oregon Ducks coaches Demetrice Martin and Chris Hampton already have a great secondary haul in the 2024 recruiting class, headlined by a trio of All-Americans in Dakoda Fields, Ify Obidegwu and Aaron Flowers.

But Oregon is doing their homework and staying in the picture with an intriguing defensive back out of Southern California.

Elyjah Gordon is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound defensive back out of Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High. Despite played a hybrid safety and outside linebacker role for the Cougars, he's mainly being recruited as a cornerback.

Gordon is a three-star recruit according to 247Sports and holds four reported scholarship offers, with his latest coming from Oregon after he attended the school's Saturday Night Live camp in July.

Now, five games into his senior season, Oregon is one of three schools he's hoping to take an official visit to.

"I don't have any official trips right now," Gordon told Ducks Digest. "I'm trying to get them to USC, Oregon and Auburn."

There is one other Pac-12 school that's staying involved, and it's known for fielding great defenses.

"I want to trip to Utah," he continued. "But I'm talking to the coach right now, we're seeing what we can get going."

The defensive back out of Rancho Cucamonga, where the Ducks signed wide receiver Jaylon Redd in 2017, spoke about what stands out about Dan Lanning's program.

"It's the coaches. The coaches really mention family there. I know a lot of coaches preach it, but not a lot of coaches actually do it," Gordon said. "And when I went to Oregon for the camp, where I got my offer, they actually treated me as a family. Not just me, but everybody as one. It was just a cool experience."

The Ducks' coaching staff has strong ties up and down the state of California, but one coach has been the most involved with the rangy defensive back.

"I talk to Coach Meat (Demetrice Martin) the most and to be honest Coach Meat is like an uncle. I could talk to him about anything, not just on a football basis but anything I need help in life, school. I could go to him and talk to him about anything I need."

The USC Trojans are another school that's been involved with Gordon, and the opportunity to play for Lincoln Riley is also a chance to continue what's become something of a family tradition.

"One of my cousins/uncles Sua Cravens, he went there," he said of his USC interest. "A lot of my early cousins/uncles, they all went to USC and played football, so it's basically like a family school. If I go it's a legacy I get to carry on. It's just a nice place."

Gordon is hearing the most from three schools.

"I'm hearing from Oregon, USC and Utah. I don't talk to Auburn as much."

When can we expect a decision from him?

"I don't know when I want to make the big decision. I want to do it definitely before the season ends, but if I if I get any more big-time offers or if I still talk to more schools, then I'm gonna wait until not the deadline--but I'm gonna wait until a little bit after. I'm gonna try to get it like early December or mid-December."

Based on his communication with schools, it looks like his official visits would likely come after the season and he laid out what he's looking for at his future home.

"What I'm prioritizing, like what I said about Oregon--I just want to be (where) everybody is family. At some schools people tell me some schools prioritize more players than others and I'm not really a big fan of that.

"So if you really preach family and you do family, then that'll be a good thing. All the schools that I've talked to have said they preach family and they do family so we just gotta see."

Elyjah Gordon 2022 Junior Season Highlights