Oregon Holds off Push From Arizona and USC, Signs WR Dillon Gresham
Oregon wide receiver coach Junior Adams is having himself quite the day.
On Wednesday, the veteran coach not only flipped two wide receivers from big time programs in Jeremiah McClellan (Ohio State) and Ryan Pellum (USC), but he was also able to hang on to one of his top commits in San Jacinto (Calif.) pass catcher Dillon Gresham. But it wasn't a walk in the park.
On Wednesday he officially signed his national letter of intent with Oregon after taking late visits to Arizona and USC. Gresham committed to Oregon in late May, but decided to take late recruiting visits to the Wildcats and Trojans in the weeks leading up to the early signing period.
The 6-foot, 175-pound Gresham is from USC’s backyard in southern California. The Trojans didn’t show much interest in the receiver, that is until he was committed to Oregon and they wanted to circle back on their options late. Lincoln Riley and company were able to get him on campus, as he took his official visit with the Trojans on December 9.
Oregon has been using California, especially the southern part of the state as a pipeline for recruits in recent years. The pipeline really started to gain traction when the Ducks signed five-star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux, the No. 1 recruit in the 2019 class according to ESPN.
Five of Oregon’s seven California signees, including Gresham are Southern California natives.
The electric wide receiver finished his senior year with 819 receiving yards and 12 receiving touchdowns, a noticeable decline from his staggering junior year where he put up 2,051 receiving yards and 31 receiving touchdowns. The decrease in numbers could potentially be attributed to Gresham's role changing on offense, as San Jacinto utilized him more in the run game as well.
He's rated a four-star (0.9256) recruit by the 247Sports Composite, and ranked the No. 16 recruit in California.
In addition to Gresham, the Ducks are bringing in Ryan Pellum, Jeremiah McClellan and Jack Ressler.
