Narbonne’s Jake Garcia, one of the top 2021 quarterback recruits, commits to USC

A day after losing the commitment of one of the top quarterbacks in the 2020 class, USC picked up a commitment from one of the top quarterbacks in the 2021 class.

Harbor City Narbonne five-star junior Jake Garcia announced his commitment Monday to the Trojans, choosing USC over a top-10 list of schools from all over the the country, including five from the Southeastern Conference. Garcia is the No. 14 overall prospect in the 2021 class and the No. 3 quarterback, per the 247Sports composite rankings.

The 6-foot-1 1/2, 188-pound pocket passer can push the ball down the field and knows how to get the ball out quickly, running a similar style offense at Narbonne (4-1) to USC’s version of the Air Raid under Graham Harrell.

Garcia has completed 71.6% of his passes this season while throwing for nearly 1,300 yards and 14 touchdowns through the first five games. He also has run for a touchdown. Garcia sat out the first five games last year because of CIF transfer rules before taking over a 2-3 Gauchos squad and leading them to eight consecutive wins before falling to San Diego Cathedral Catholic in the CIF state Division 1-AA Southern California Regional Bowl.

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Sept. 22, 2019

“It’s a really good feeling just to really get in a rhythm from the start of the season because I came in last year where I got kind of thrown into the mix,” Garcia said earlier this year. “I mean I was practicing the whole time like getting ready with mental reps and everything like that, just preparing to start playing. But having to sit out really just kind of threw things and it made it kind of a funk. But it feels really good to get it going for the season from the jump this year.”

Garcia had planned to wait until after his junior year to make a commitment, but added the caveat that if he found “a home and it feels 100% like home and I’m 100% bought in, then I’ll commit.”

USC now has four commits for its 2021 class. Garcia joins Bellflower St. John Bosco four-star linebacker Ma’a Gaoteote, Simi Valley Grace Brethren four-star lineman Jay Toia and Fresno Edison three-star receiver Velltray Jefferson. While the Trojans’ class for the current recruiting cycle is ranked No. 62, their junior class is ranked inside the top 10.