Cooper Lovelace, versatile JC offensive lineman, commits to USC over Florida, Oklahoma State; Enrolling next week

The last time USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley signed an offensive lineman from Butler Community College (Kansas), it turned out pretty well.

Ben Powers signed with Oklahoma as part of the 2016 recruiting class.

He's currently a guard in the NFL for the Baltimore Ravens.

"Lincoln (Riley) said he's done good with one before, doesn't hurt to get another," Cooper Lovelace said. 

Given what seems to be a nationwide lack of offensive line talent, college football coaches flocked to Butler C.C. in recent weeks in hopes of finding a hidden gem as a late class 2022 addition.

They discovered versatile 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman Cooper Lovelace, who quickly added offers from Florida, Oklahoma State, USC and others.

But with hopes of seamlessly transitioning to his next destination, Lovelace knew he didn't have much time to make a decision.

Following a visit to Los Angeles over the weekend, the JC prospect announced his commitment to USC on Thursday - with the intention to move in to his new home Sunday:

"I'm going to USC," Lovelace said. "The willingness and openness to know they need help, especially coming from a new staff. Being from junior college in Kansas, I was really close to Oklahoma, so I was pretty well-established with Lincoln and how he operates. The up-front honesty that those guys have in that building and the football they run and what we're both looking for, it's all a good fit." 

Such a good fit, in fact, he nearly committed during his visit over the weekend. 

"We were having dinner at Lincoln Riley's house on Saturday and I was sitting on the back step," Lovelace said. "I was pretty dang sure I was going to go there. I told them in my exit interview that I'm not going to make a decision while I'm in 'La La Land,' because everything looks better while you're here. I'm going to take Dorothy, we're going to head back to Kansas and sleep on it." 

By Wednesday, he knew he was ready and informed the staff.

But just as Lovelace wanted some time to think, USC wanted to put the JC lineman to the test, as he spent more than an hour on the whiteboard drawing up his blocking assignments and responsibilities in different looks and packages.

"Not a lot of guys can do that," he said. "There are a lot of 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 guys, but there's not a lot of those guys that can do that." 

Lovelace, who took his last final at Butler C.C. on Thursday morning, will move to USC in the coming days and expects to be enrolled by Monday.

As for football, he wants to be a versatile piece - with the understanding he's likely to slide inside.

"I'm working at trying tackle and guard, but I've snapped, too," he said. "Coming in, it's about seeing what I'll be best at. Personally, I think long-term I'll be best as an interior guy in terms of my goals to play on Sunday. But I feel like I have the quickness to play on the exterior. I feel like I can bump all around."