USC's Recruiting Machine Gains Momentum at California Passing Tournament
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Mission Viejo — Football season is just around the corner, and 20 Southern California schools took part in the South County Classic passing tournament at Mission Viejo High School on Saturday.
A pair of USC commits in the 2027 class were in action, as well as several key prospects in the 2028 class. Here is the latest intel on local recruits.
2028 USC Recruiting Targets
USC remains the favorite for Mater Dei (Calif.) four-star safety Ace Leutele heading into his junior season. Leutele has been visiting Southern Cal for years, and several staff members are involved in his recruitment, including Coach Dogg (Aaron Amaama), the director of high school recruiting relations, who has been one of college football's premier recruiters and pivotal to the program's surge on the trail. Leutele wore a USC headband and gloves at the tournament.
Santa Margarita (Calif.) four-star cornerback Ca'ron "Prime" Williams had great visits to Ohio State, Oregon and LSU this summer, but the Trojans remain in a great position. Williams has been on campus at least seven times over the past couple of years and has built a great relationship with cornerback coach Trovon Reed. He also won a state championship with three USC freshmen and 2027 defensive lineman commit Isaia Vandermade last fall.
Southern Cal has some ground to make up with Mission Viejo (Calif.) four-star defensive back Jordan Hicks, who recently released his top eight. Oregon, Oklahoma, Miami and Texas A&M are notable schools in pursuit. Hicks has close relationships with several freshmen at Southern Cal and 2027 commits, including Damien (Calif.) 2027 four-star safety Gavin Williams.
The two have known each other since they were 12, from playing on the same youth football team.Hicks has locked in a gameday visit to the Coliseum this fall for Oct. 31 when the Trojans take on Ohio State.
An offer from USC last month immediately caught the attention of three-star running back Jaion "Deuce" Smith, who is very familiar with the program. His cousin is former Trojans All-Conference cornerback Jaylin Smith. Kansas and Minnesota are two other schools heavily involved early for the local product who will also play linebacker at Santa Margarita (Calif.) this fall. Smith is another recruit who had USC gear on over the weekend.
Miami and Michigan are among the schools ramping up their pursuit of Corona Centennial (Calif.) three-star running back Malaki Davis this summer, but USC is still the heavy favorite because of his relationship with running back coach Anthony Jones and the close proximity to home.Southern Cal is the only school Davis visited in the summer, and he plans on visiting the Coliseum for every home game this fall.
Santa Margarita 2030 linebacker Aydan Steen is another name to know. There is a belief that Santa Margarita may have upgraded at linebacker this fall because of Steen, despite him being a rising freshman. He already has an offer from the Trojans and rocked a pair of their gloves at the tournament.
2027 USC Commits
Corona Centennial four-star receiver Quentin Hale remains locked in with the Trojans. He officially shut down his recruitment in early June and spent an extended period of time on campus last month to continue getting acclimated to the program. He wore USC gloves and a sweatsuit at the tournament and has gotten to work on recruiting Davis and Tustin (Calif.) 2028 four-star receiver Hayden Koo.
Four-star cornerback commit Danny Lang is extending the Trojans pipeline with Mater Dei in the 2027 class. Lang also remains locked in with his pledge since shutting down his recruitment in May. Lang says he is actively recruiting Leutele, Hicks and Williams.Lang plans on making it out to every home game in the fall.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/usc as USC's Recruiting Machine Gains Momentum at California Passing Tournament .
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