San Diego State Aztecs sign former four-star & USC defensive tackle Christian Heyward

Photo Credit: 247sports.com

San Diego,CA- The San Diego State Aztecs this morning have signed former four-star defensive tackle and USC defensive tackle Christian Heyward. Heyward will be eligible play this upcoming season according to AztecSportsReport.com.

Heyward, was the 6th ranked defensive tackle in the nation and 94th best prospect overall in the Rivals100 in 2011. Heyward was also an Under Armour All-American and the started alongside former South Carolina Gamecock and presumed number one overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft Defensive-End Jadaveon Clowney.

The 6-foot-3, 300-pound defensive lineman left USC last spring and has been taking classes at Grossmont College to finish his associates degree and is on track to enroll at San Diego State this summer.

San Diego State was one of Heyward’s final three schools coming out of Point Loma high school. Heyward top-three consisted of Oregon, San Diego State and USC heading into National Signing Day back in 2011. San Diego State the home town school was figured to be the favorite to land Heyward, until he picked the Trojans.

San Diego State Coach Rocky Long gave the following statement to GoAztecs.com on the signing of Heyward this morning.

"“We recruited (Heyward) out of high school; in fact, we thought we were going to get him out of high school and but he chose to go somewhere else. Christian is 6-foot-4, 300 pounds and everyone in this town knows how good he was. So now it’s up to us to develop him so he makes a huge difference in our program.”"

Heyward was one of the most coveted prospects in the nation coming out of high school as evidenced by his scouting report from Rivals.com

"“Heyward is a bull on the inside,” Rivals said of Heyward following one Under Armour practice. “He plays low to the ground, which allows him to get a good amount of leverage. He’s also relatively quick for his size. Those fast feet made the uncommitted four-star recruit incredibly difficult for interior linemen to neutralize in one-on-ones Monday. It’s not his strength or his quickness that caused the most problems. It was his combination of the two.”"

We will have a complete breakdown of the rest of the Aztecs class as the day progresses.