The USC Trojans now have two of the nation's Top 10 prep quarterbacks as early football commitments continue. Penn State, LSU, UCLA and Ohio State also added outstanding prospects.

Six-foot-five Matt Leinart, a quarterback from Santa Ana-Mater Dei, Calif., picked USC (five verbals) over Michigan. Among others were Georgia Tech, Texas A&M and Colorado. The Trojans had an earlier commitment from highly rated quarterback Billy Hart of Santa Ana-Mission Viejo, Calif.

A Top 100 defensive lineman prospect, Robert Taylor of Oak Creek, Wis., will play for the Wisconsin Badgers (nine verbals) over Michigan, Michigan State, Iowa, Colorado and Minnesota. The Badgers also gained recent commitments from linebacker/running back Matt Bernstein of Scarsdale, N.Y., and running back Julius Davis of Mt. Holy-Holy Cross, N.J., over Northwestern, Maryland, North Carolina State, Nebraska, Miami (Fla.) and Minnesota.

The Michigan Wolverines (15 verbals) gained a pledge from quarterback Spencer Brinton of Temecula-Temecula Valley, Calif./San Diego State, who is currently on Mormon mission in Africa. Brinton played in six games as a true freshman in 1997, starting the last five, and led the Aztecs for the first two games the next season before taking a medical redshirt with an injured thumb. He quit the team prior to their bowl game. Running back/receiver/defensive back Ryan Grant of Ramsey-Don Boscoe Prep, N.J., is near a commitment to the Wolverines.

LSU (four verbals) gained quarterback Rick Clausen of Woodland Hills-Taft, Calif., over Kentucky. Others included Missouri, Clemson, Louisville, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Kansas State and Mississippi. Clausen's brother, Casey, signed with Tennessee last spring.

Penn State (11 verbals) gained outstanding defensive lineman Dethrell Garcia of Harrisburg-Bishop McDevitt, Pa., over Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, Boston College, Clemson, UCLA, Stanford, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Syracuse, among others.

One of the top receiver prospects in the nation, Angelo Chattams of Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne, Ohio, has picked the Ohio State Buckeyes (nine verbals). Chattams, who had 80 receptions for 1,500 yards as a junior, picked OSU over Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue and Miami (Ohio).

The UCLA Bruins (nine verbals) gained a commitment from outstanding linebacker Spencer Havner of Nevada City-Nevada Union, Calif., who drew interest from California, Washington State, Arizona State, Illinois, Colorado, Nebraska and Notre Dame. Defensive back Jibril Raymo of Beverly Hills, Calif., who is also being recruited by Ohio State, Washington State, Oregon State, Iowa State, Michigan, Tennessee and USC, has delayed a probable Bruin commitment until after retaking the SAT.

California (five verbals) has a pledge from rated quarterback Richard Schwartz of Huntington Beach-Edison, Calif., over Colorado State and Washington State.

Miami (Fla.) (six verbals) has a pledge from outstanding receiver Chris Murray of Seffner-Armwood, Fla., over interest from Kentucky, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Michigan, Iowa and Central Florida. The Hurricanes recently signed defensive lineman Santonio Thomas of Belle Glade-Glades Central, Fla., for this fall. Thomas initially signed with Florida in February but did not receive a qualifying test score until July, two weeks after the university's deadline for summer enrollment. Also joining Miami this fall is defensive lineman Jerome McDougle of Hinds CC, Miss.

Class 2001 has 354 players already committed, including 49 of the UPDATED Top 150 prospects. Michigan has 15 verbals to lead the conference commitment lists.

Big Ten:
Northwestern (two verbals) gained a commitment from defensive lineman Greg Lutzen of Pewaukee, Wis.

The Iowa Hawkeyes (three verbals) gained a commitment from linebacker/defensive lineman Matt Neubauer of Iowa Falls, Ia., over interest from Iowa State and Kansas. The Hawkeyes recently gained a commitment from outstanding tight end Ben Gates of Toledo-South Tama, Ia., over Iowa State. Others were Michigan and Kansas State.

Michigan State has lost three players from this fall's incoming class due to eligibility problems: receiver Charles Rogers, defensive lineman Jesse Sias and defensive back Jeremiah McLaurin. Neither quarterback Damon Dowdell nor tight end Eric Knott will report until legal problems are resolved.

Ohio State has lost three players from this fall's incoming class due to eligibility problems, including running back Terry Pogue, defensive lineman Alphonso Townsend and offensive lineman Larry Kinnard. Pogue is expected to retake his ACT.

Big 12:
Oklahoma (two verbals) pledged linebacker Russell Dennison of Weatherford, Okla. He also considered Oklahoma State, Colorado, Colorado State, Arkansas and Wyoming.

Tight end Kyle Hix of Ardmore-Dickson, Okla., will play for Oklahoma State (two verbals) over interest from Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

Baylor (two verbals) has a commitment from linebacker Justin Crooks of Round Rock-McNeil, Tex., over interest in TCU, Arkansas, Rice and Northwestern.

ACC:
Wake Forest (eight verbals) added commitments from defensive lineman Goryal Scales of Winston-Salem/Carver, N.C.; receiver Maurice Moten of Statesville-West Iredell, N.C.; and linebacker Garrett Young of Zanesville, Ohio. The Demon Deacons recently gained verbals from defensive lineman Arthur Orlebar of Hyattsville-DeMatha, Md; offensive lineman John Kato of Winston-Salem/West Forsyth, N.C.; and linebacker/quarterback Charlton Keith of Akron-Buchtel, Ohio.

Big East:
Pittsburgh (nine verbals) pledged defensive back Teze Morris of Hamilton, Ohio, over interest in Kentucky, Miami (Ohio) and Ohio

SEC:
The saga of Florida offensive lineman Jonathan Colon of Miami-Central, Fla., continues as the freshman decided not to enroll for the fall semester while he waits to see if a college entrance score will stand. If the score stands, Colon will enroll at Florida in January. Last February, the lineman signed with both Florida and Miami, starting a dispute over which school actually held his rights.

The Georgia Bulldogs (seven verbals) have a pledge from receiver/defensive back Kevin Schimmelmann of Marietta-Lassiter, Ga., over Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Duke and Northwestern.

One of the top prospects in Class 1999, former prep All-American quarterback Gary Brashears of Clarksville, Ark., has quit Arkansas and will transfer. The sophomore would have three years remaining after a redshirt season.

Pac-10:
Washington (five verbals) has a commitment from defensive back O'Neil Howell of West Palm Beach-Palm Beach Lakes, Fla.

Mountain West:
Defensive lineman Sagan Atuatasi of Los Alamitos, Calif./Cypress College, Calif., is set to transfer from USC to San Diego State (three verbals). Atuatasi signed with the Trojans in 1999, but did not qualify. He attended Cypress last year, but did not play and resigned with USC this spring. Offensive/defensive lineman Daniel Negrate Corona-Centennial, Calif., has also committed to SDSU.

WAC:
TCU (six verbals) gained offensive lineman Stephen Culp of Tyler-Lee, Tex.

***Class 2001 Top 100 Men's Basketball Prospects

Football Class 2001:
National Signing Period: Feb. 7, 2000-Apr. 1.
JC transfer signing period: Dec. 15, 2000-Jan. 15, 2001.

Basketball Class 2000-2001:
Early Signing Period: Nov. 8-15, 2000.
Late Signing Period: Apr. 11-May 15, 2001.

Bill Hodge is the executive editor and director of recruiting coverage at FANSonly.com. For daily columns on prospects, commitments and signings, plus databases, go to FANSonly.com's Recruiting Page.