NOTES: Grimble still ‘firmly’ committed to Trojans

Bishop Gorman senior tight end Xavier Grimble is excited about Southern California’s hire of Lane Kiffin as its football coach and remains “firmly” committed to USC, his father, Bill Grimble, said Wednesday.

Xavier Grimble originally gave an oral commitment to USC in April. He never pulled his commitment, but he said Monday after Pete Carroll’s departure from USC to the Seattle Seahawks that he had a “backup plan” of visiting UCLA this weekend.

Bill Grimble said that visit could still take place because Xavier plays with Gorman’s basketball team in the Martin Luther King Classic in Riverside, Calif., on Monday. But their priority is meeting Kiffin.

“I’m sure we’ll be talking to him (today),” Bill Grimble said of Kiffin, who was introduced at USC on Wednesday. “We’ll definitely be there Saturday.”

Xavier Grimble could not be reached for comment Wednesday but wrote in a text message Tuesday: “I’ve always been committed so now (I’m) just excited to talk to Lane Kiffin and Norm Chow.”

Bill Grimble cited Kiffin’s familiarity with USC as a positive.

“He’s a USC guy,” he said. “He’s a Pete Carroll disciple. He knows a lot of the coaches still there.”

Rivals.com ranks the 6-foot-6-inch, 245-pound Grimble as the nation’s No. 1 tight end in the class of 2010. Commitments don’t become binding until signing day Feb. 3.

RECENT DECISIONS — Girls soccer players to make recent commitments include Palo Verde junior Alyssa Kleiner (Santa Clara), Boulder City junior Indiana Mead (UC Santa Barbara) and Gorman senior Megan Wasiak (Stephen F. Austin).

Shadow Ridge senior cross country runners Michelle Schenck and Elaina Vlassopoulos committed to UNR.

Senior baseball players to make recent commitments include Green Valley’s Casey Hicks (Gallaudet University), Gorman’s Neil Lawhorn (Western Nevada College), Palo Verde’s Dillon Meyer and Matt Turner (Salt Lake College) and Legacy’s Tyler Thurston (Colorado Northwestern College).

GORMAN RANKINGS — Gorman’s boys basketball team made its debut in the USA Today national rankings this week at No. 12.

The Gaels are ranked third in the West by USA Today.

Gorman is No. 21 in the National Prep Poll, No. 22 by MaxPreps.com and No. 29 according to ESPN/RISE.