The most heralded athletic prospect to ever come out of Proviso West High School might become a Northwestern Wildcat after all.

Kyle Prater, a wide receiver who was a five-star recruit his senior year at West, is leaving USC and wants to transfer to either Northwestern, Illinois or Wisconsin.

The 6-5 Prater had been hampered by injuries when he was a Trojan. He redshirted his freshman year with injuries to his thumb and hand, and this season had only one catch while battling hip and hamstring issues.

The more interesting aspect of Prater's football life came during his junior and senior years at West. He was the only football recruit in the school's history to get an offer from every Big Ten school (hello, Northwestern) and from Stanford. For a high school known for its basketball talent, Prater's offers and his talent put the Hillside school on the map.

He announced his decision to attend USC at a press conference in the school's Little Theater in September 2009, Prater's senior year. It seemed more like a pep rally than a news conference, with then-principal Alexis Wallace making an inspiring speech and the Panthers cheerleaders and band performing. Prater doned a USC cap to make his decision public, chosing the Trojans over Notre Dame, Illinois (the alma mater of Proviso West football coach Famous Hulbert), Oklahoma and Tennessee.

But a week or so later, Prater changed his mind and said he was giving the Trojans a "soft" commitment and said he was going to take at least three other official visits. Then he backpedaled again in December and said he was 100 percent sure on USC.

The Kyle-Prater-to-USC saga changed again in January 2010 when he announced on NBC during the U.S. Army All-Amercian Bowl that he was reopening his recruitment, since head coach Pete Carroll was going to leave USC to coach the Seattle Seahawks. Prater graduated from West early, in January, so he had to hurry up and find another school.

But, again, he went back to the Trojans.

And Monday we found out he wants to leave Los Angeles.

So here we find ourselves again -- waiting for Kyle to decide where he's going.