Notre Dame Target Thomas Graham Decommits From USC

Notre Dame has stolen recruits from USC before. Now the Irish have positioned themselves to do it once again.

Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) High Rivals100 cornerback Thomas Graham decommitted from the Trojans on Tuesday, just two and a half weeks after he visited South Bend for Notre Dame’s Junior Day.

“This wasn’t an easy decision, but after talking it over with my family and coaches I have decided to announce that I’m decommitting from the University of Southern California,” Graham wrote in a tweet.

Graham, who gave a verbal pledge to the Trojans last July, previously told Blue & Gold Illustrated in a video interview that he was impressed by Notre Dame because of the academics ($). He followed that up this past weekend with more strong words for the Irish in an interview with Rivals.com’s Adam Gorney.

“[Brian Kelly] said basically the difference between USC and Notre Dame is they need my help immediately and more at corner,” Graham said. “He showed me the graduation rates and they graduate all their players in three and a half years no matter if you come in early or not. He said the difference between them and everybody else is they don’t redshirt players and they don’t have a lot of seniors.

“He said I’d be playing with dudes in my own class and my own age. I wouldn’t be playing with anybody that’s extremely older than me or someone who’s been in the system so long they have an edge on me. They’ve been in the system a year or one and a half years before me.”

Graham is also considering Arizona, Utah and UCLA, among others. He has picked up offers in recent months from LSU and Louisville.

The 5-10, 173-pound rising senior is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 6 cornerback and No. 53 overall prospect in the country.