For months Desmond Mamudi kept getting offers from colleges across the country: Bowling Green, Colorado State, Southern Mississippi and Western Kentucky.
But the mammoth defensive lineman wanted to remain in the area. His preferred destination: USF.
Once the Bulls offered, none of the 19 other offers mattered. On Wednesday, Mamudi made it official by announcing his commitment to USF on his Twitter page.
“I chose USF because it’s home,” Mamudi said. “I grew up playing here and this has always been my dream.”
First-year Bulls coach Jeff Scott, who made a name for himself as a recruiter at Clemson, wanted to focus on bringing in bay area talent to fortify the roster.
That has yet to result in a massive haul of local prospects. The 2020 class had just one area signee: Chamberlain offensive lineman Cesar Reyes. Two other locals arrived via the transfer portal: quarterback Noah Johnson (Armwood/Alcorn State) and defensive lineman Bo Peek (Stanford/Plant).
Mamudi’s commitment continues the trend of area reinforcements in the trenches. The 6-foot-3, 300 pound rising senior spent the past three seasons at Steinbrenner before transferring to Carrollwood Day this offseason. As a junior, Mamudi had 85 tackles and 5.5 sacks while helping the Warriors reach the state semifinals for the first time.
