Hamilton's Roye Oliver III will graduate early to join USC football

Chandler Hamilton wide receiver Roye Oliver III, The Arizona Republic's Offensive Player of the Year last season, announced on Instagram that he has reclassified from the class of 2028 to 2027.

Reclassifying up a grade involves accelerating course credits, taking summer school and increasing course loads to graduate in three years, instead of four. Doing so will allow him to begin his college football career sooner.

Oliver, 5-foot-11, 170 pounds, who is running on the track team this spring, committed earlier this spring to USC. He was ranked No. 1 in The Republic's Top 100 2028 football class by The Republic.

By reclassifying, he will only have one more season of high school football this fall, after catching 92 passes for 1,839 yards and 29 touchdowns during his sophomore season in 2025.

Oliver and his dad, R.J. Oliver, did not immediately return messages. A message was also left with coach Travis Dixon.

Hamilton Athletic Director Brett Palmer confirmed that Oliver is taking the academic steps to be part of the 2027 graduation class.

"He's got it all lined up with his credits," Palmer said. "He's excited. The parents are excited. Obviously, we'll miss him, but we're excited for him and happy for him."

A USC assistant coach was at Hamilton's spring football practice last week to see Roye and his brother, Roman, another electric wide receiver who is part of the 2029 class, along with other players..

Dixon said last week that Roye Oliver III wanted to commit early to USC to "quiet the noise."

"USC has done a great job, (assistant) coach (Chad) Savage has done a great job with the recruiting process," Dixon said. "They have that relationship. That's the fit for him and where he's going to be successful at."

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. Please sign up for Azcentral Preps Now newsletter. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Roye Oliver III will graduate early to join USC football