High School Sports
Lincoln High 4-star defensive back Julien Simon commits to USC
Most years on Mother’s Day, Julien Simon, his brothers and dad go the safe route, bringing his mom, LaShonte, breakfast in bed, along with some flowers and a card.
It’ll be tough to top this year’s Mother’s Day gift.
On Sunday afternoon, Simon, rated a four-star defensive back from Lincoln High School, made a verbal commitment to play college football at USC on an Instagram Live video, surrounded by family in their Tacoma home.
“I just wanted to make (my mom’s) day really special,” said Simon, who is going into his senior year at Lincoln this fall.
His mom, all smiles, surely appreciated the gesture. For Simon, it’s been a long time coming. USC was his first offer, way back in the spring of his freshman year. While USC had kept tabs on Simon during that time, their recruitment didn’t heat up until recently, once Simon announced his top eight schools on Twitter on April 1.
“Just maintaining that relationship (with the coaching staff) throughout these couple months,” Simon said. “I felt like I had no better bond with a coaching staff other than them. … I was just kind of letting everything go by. When I released my top 8, is really when I got into the real relationship with USC. I would say, that relationship, it was so fast.”
Simon said he was happy to get his decision finalized ahead of his senior season.
“I feel like it was just the best decision for me,” he said. “I can’t be happy enough for myself and for my family. They don’t have to pay for my education. As I take that next step in life, I’m just blessed.”
Simon was the top player on a Lincoln team that advanced to the Class 3A state tournament semifinals in 2019, becoming the first team in school history to advance past the quarterfinals. A first-team selection to The News Tribune’s 2019 All-Area team, Simon had 55 tackles, five tackles for losses, two sacks, three quarterback hurries, four interceptions (two returned for touchdowns) and a fumble recovery.
On offense, Simon caught 83 passes for 1,033 yards and 21 touchdowns. He had 1,474 all-purpose yards. The 3A PCL first-team receiver and defensive back was also the league’s defensive player of the year.
Simon has played a little bit of everything for the Abes, on both sides of the ball. Defensively, he sees himself as a versatile piece of the Trojans’ plans going forward, with the strength to defend in the run game and the speed to drop back into coverage.
“I definitely think (my future at USC is in) the rover position,” Simon said. “A cover back who’s still involved in the run game. I’m going to be able to show my versatility on defense. And not only that, they’re going to allow me to have my shot on offense, as a running back.”
Simon’s older brother, Jayden, plays for Colorado as a lineman. The brothers are looking forward to meeting each other on the field again, this time as opponents.
“There’s going to be a lot of fighting,” Simon said, smiling.
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