Recruiting: 2021 Commit Xamarion Gordon Talks USC
Xamarion Gordon is a safety out of Warren High School in Downey, California. Gordon is currently committed to the USC Trojans for 2021 and plans to enroll early in January.
SI All American evaluated Xamarion Gordon back in July of 2020, as he was one of Sport Illustrated's All American candidates for the safety position. SI All American writes,
Frame: Gordon will arrive on the college scene with an already thick build to his towering frame.
Athleticism: Fills the enforcer role with prowess. Gordon is pretty much a brick wall at top speed. Dynamic football player and excels at everything asked of him. He’ll step into a D1 strength program as a Ferrari, whereas most of his position group might be corvettes.
Instincts: Gordon plays with a dog mentality and with contagious enthusiasm. He’s in a league of his own in terms of physicality. He can bang around in the box and still stay sticky like glue to a slot on a wheel route as needed.
Polish: His preference for leaving his feet and going for the knockout is apparent. Gordon lines up in so many spots in high school (which is part of the allure to him as a recruit) that it’s hard to qualify him as polished in any one of them, though holding his own at each spot.
Bottom Line: Xamarion Gordon should make an immediate impact on special teams at the next level, and as he adapts to the speed of college ball, he could develop into a nasty hybrid box safety or overhang flat defender. Regardless of position, he will add value to any football team he is on.
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SI All Trojans reporter Claudette Montana Pattison caught up with the physical defensive player to talk about Gordon's training and recruiting process leading up to early signing day on December 16th, 2020.
Despite not having a high school season this year, due to COVID-19, Xamarion is still staying active, working with a trainer to prepare for USC. ""I still have my trainer, we still do stuff a lot, all of the time actually. It's really just me preparing and waiting for my time, really to get back on the field. When it's the time I'll be ready." (Gordon).
Now not all SoCal athletes have stayed put at home this year. Jake Garcia, for example traveled all the way down south to Georgia to play high school football this season. We asked Xamarion if he ever considered leaving home to get some extra reps before enrolling in college and he said, "I actually got hit up by one of my coaches. He wanted me to go with him to Texas. I'm not going to lie it sounded pretty good to me for a minute. But then I was like, this will probably mess me up academically, I will probably be ruled ineligible, let me just stay here." (Gordon)
Gordon committed to USC back in April of 2020, and although he has been vocal about being locked on the Trojans, one other Pac-12 team has remained aggressive with their offer.
"Oregon actually is still pushing really hard to get me to go there. But I told them I already made up my mind." (Gordon)
You can expect to see Xamarion bring his "tenacious" and "aggressive" play skills to Todd Orlando's defense next year, and be an immediate impact player for the Trojans in 2021.
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