Kylie Fitts committed to USC last April and the 2013 California defensive end figured he was finished with the recruiting process until last week, when the Trojans informed him he would no longer be able to enroll early, just days before he was set to move in.
The 6-foot-4, 260-pounder from East Valley High (Redlands, Calif.) is revisiting the recruiting process now after withdrawing his USC pledge. He hasn’t eliminated the Trojans yet and is also considering Notre Dame, UCLA, Oregon and Alabama.
Fitts’ head coach Kurt Bruich said the talented defender is as impressive off the field as he is on it.
“As a young man, it doesn’t get any better,” Bruich said. “He’s just a great kid. He’s worked for everything he’s earned up to this point. Athletically, I’ve never seen anyone that big get off the ball so fast and he just dominates games on the high school level.”
Fitts’ maturity has helped deal with the late changes in his recruitment.
“Obviously his heart was kind of broke,” Bruich said. “Being out here in Southern California, that’s where you want to go, SC. He’s handled it a lot better than I would have, I’ll tell you that.
“He says all of the right things and does all of the right things. It’s basically a tribute to his parents. He’s had a great upbringing.”
Notre Dame West Coast recruiter Mike Denbrock is expected to drop in on Fitts at some point this week.
“I think the positive is it’s Notre Dame,” Bruich said. “It’s another storied program. If you look at the storied programs, out here on the West Coast, it’s USC, but everybody knows about Notre Dame football. Coach (Brian) Kelly has obviously done a great job bringing it back. That intrigues Kylie.
“The hard thing is he wants that family feel. He’s very close to his mom, so that’s going to be the tough part. He’s got to really feel like he’s got a family away from home.”
Fitts is still sorting through his visit schedule and South Bend could end up on the itinerary. He almost made the trip earlier in the process, but never did.
“He was supposed to visit and then he committed to SC,” his coach said. “I thought he was 100 percent done, to be honest with you, and I think he did too. He shut off his recruiting. He’s not a kid who wants any type of publicity. He’s not your typical 17 or 18-year-old who is enjoying all of this attention.”
