Xavier Prep volleyball star Khalia Lanier chooses USC over Texas, Stanford

Phoenix Xavier Prep volleyball phenomena Khalia Lanier went with "a gut feeling," and gave the University of Southern California a commitment Sunday morning.

Stanford was among her finalists, but the 6-foot-2 junior outside hitter, daughter of former Detroit Piston center and NBA Hall of Famer Bob Lanier, said it was between USC and Texas in the end.

"It's hard to go wrong picking any of those schools," Lanier said. "I'm a lucky girl."

Lanier was selected by azcentral sports as the Big Schools Player of the Year last season, after leading Xavier Prep to the Division I state championship. She was chosen the National Sophomore of the Year by prepvolleyball.com.

Lanier had 28 kills in a semifinal upset of top-ranked and nationally ranked Phoenix Horizon.

She followed that with 28 kills and 24 digs in the state final against second-seeded Chandler Hamilton.

Lanier is one of the more coveted players in the nation.

"It was just a gut feeling," she said about waking up Sunday and committing to USC. "All of the schools I was deciding between were so amazing, so it was hard to really differentiate what I wanted."