The party was held rooftop at a swank, downtown San Diego hotel. It was a catered affair, with enough sushi and chicken wings to feed an NFL training table. A DJ spun hip-hop tunes.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Sean Doyle, Cathedral Cathlolic’s football coach for 30 seasons.
The occasion Saturday afternoon was a commitment announcement bash for Dons star running back/defensive back Honor Faalave-Johnson, broadcast live by the streaming service CBS Sports HQ.
Every table featured a centerpiece picture of Faalave-Johnson, some in action, others with a lei around his neck at a TV awards ceremony last fall.
When it came time for the reveal, Faalave-Johnson, a junior, pulled off the typical tease.
“It was a hard decision,” Faalave-Johnson said, “but my mom always wanted me to stay as close as I can.”
Sitting on a platform above a crowd of about 125, with hats from his six finalists on display, Faalave-Johnson picked up a green Oregon Ducks hat … and tossed it to the concrete floor. Then he turned around, pulled a sword from a bag, held the sword aloft with his left hand and capped the announcement by putting a USC hat atop his head.
The crowd burst out into a wild celebration. When Faalave-Johnson slipped on a USC sweatshirt, a fan yelled, “You look good in it, Honor.”
By then, the DJ was playing the USC fight song, “Fight On!”
Faalave-Johnson narrowed his final schools to USC, Oregon, Miami, Texas, LSU and Notre Dame. USC was considered the favorite and there was a rumor that he attended a Trojans spring practice last week.
Not true, said Faalave-Johnson.
“I didn’t want to spoil the commitment party,” he said. “Now that I’ve committed, I’ll go every day next week.”
Faalave-Johnson, last year’s CIF San Diego Section Offensive Player of the Year, said he picked USC in large part because of his relationship with the coaching staff.
“The relationship I have with (head coach) Lincoln Riley, he’s a big fan of mine,” Faalave-Johnson said after the announcement. “I’m just excited to get out there.”
Faalave-Johnson still has his senior season at Cathedral Catholic to play. While he made headlines as a running back last fall, his primary position at USC, he said, will be safety.
He said the USC coaching staff has told him it will allow him to play some on offense.
Of the two-way duty, faalave-Johnson said, “I can do it. If I put my mind to it, I can do anything I want.”
Cathedral Catholic defensive coordinator John Montali said he thinks it’s wise for the Trojans to devise offensive packages for the Dons’ star.
“He’s a heck of a defender,” said Montali. “But he’s as electrifying as any offensive player I’ve ever seen. … He’s a durable guy. He could easily play100% of snaps on defense and carry the ball five to eight times. He’s a strong kid.”
Doyle thinks USC is the perfect fit for Faalave-Johnson and his family.
“Everything he talked about over time was about his family and being close to home,” Doyle said. “He’s a pretty centered kid. Family is important to him.”
Before announcing he would be off to USC, Faalave-Johnson thanked multiple members of his family.
“Some of the hardest workers I know,” he said.
He thanked his father.
“Waking me up when I didn’t want to wake up, taking me to practices, doing trainings I didn’t want to do.”
He thanked his mother.
“I dedicate this to her the most,” he said. “Her keeping me grounded, showing me the right way, showing me wrong from right. And how to be a good young man, how to carry myself.”
And he thanked his siblings, drawing laughter at the end.
“They’re definitely my biggest lovers, my biggest critics,” he said. “Sometimes it felt like they were my biggest haters. They kept me grounded.”
Cathedral Catholic finished 11-3 last season, advancing to the Division 1-AA state championship game, which it lost to Folsom 42-28. Because the Dons routed so many opponents in the first half of the season, Faalave-Johnson carried the ball seven or fewer in the first seven games he played.
But in his last five games, Faalave-Johnson dominated. In a 42-33 win against Lincoln he carried 24 times for 186 yards and scored five touchdowns. In a 42-35 Open Division semifinal win against Mission Hills he carried 18 times for 255 yards and scored five TDs. In the loss to Folsom, he carried 22 times for 267 yards and scored twice.
On the season he gained 1,265 yards rushing and averaged 9.9 yards per carry. He scored a touchdown once every 5.8 times he touched the ball.
And he scored from long distance, including touchdown runs of 80, 36, 72, 32, 55, 37, 33, 57, 47, 57, 43 and 74 yards.
While Faalave-Johnson’s primary football role in college will be policing the USC secondary, Doyle promised that his senior season as a Don will include more than a few carries.
Said Doyle amidst Saturday’s celebration, “He’ll get the ball handed to him a few times.”