USC might have been struggling in the field for the past few years. But in the recruiting class? They’re a full-fledged juggernaut. Chad Bowden has turned things around with the Trojans’ front office, pursuing one five-star prospect after the other. Lincoln Riley has a gala with highly rated and talented recruits such as Husan Longstreet. Nobody is charging at recruiting classes like USC, as Riley looks close to landing another 5-star talent.
Riley currently sits at the 15th position in the recruiting class of 2025. Their only 5-star enrollee is Longstreet, who seems like a strong backup option for Jayden Maiava. However, when it comes to the 2026 class, the Trojans are leading the pack with the No. 1 recruiting class in the country. All thanks to the recruitment of five-star Xavier Griffin. In addition, they have recruited twelve 4-star and nine 3-star players.
The ranking will only get strengthened as the Trojans are extremely close to landing one more 5-star for their 2026 class. Lincoln Riley’s team had a huge weekend earlier. They wrapped their spring ball on Saturday. Visiting them was Keenyi Pepe, the 5-star recruit hotly pursued by Riley. And word is, he’s close to becoming a Trojan soon.
In an April 27 video of USCJ LOST IN THA SAUCE PODCAST, the host explained the current situation with Pepe. He visited USC to witness practice, and it seemed like he was impressed. USCJ showed a photo of 275-lb Pepe on the sideline with O-line coach Zach Hanson, which also had a glimpse of Riley toward the back. Right after that, USCJ put up a tweet about Pepe that read, “I’m feeling really good about him. Don’t forget where you saw this at.” USCJ then said, “30 minutes later, you got a big-time crystal ball from a guy, from On3.” It currently predicts a 92.5% chance of Pepe heading to USC.
I am feeling really good about him . Don’t forget where you saw this pic.twitter.com/N5KKCpgCYq
— USC J (@USCJ32) April 26, 2025
USCJ explained more about this discussion. He figures Chad Bowden might’ve also been one of the guys in the picture. “They were all together right there on the sideline. And when everything happened, you could see everybody start hugging Pepe. Everybody starts shaking his hand. Chad Bowden, they said he was jumping around on the sideline, extremely excited when things were taking place yesterday.” Based on his account, it looks like Riley will soon have a 5-star addition to his O-line. “I’m expecting that, yeah, look, it can happen today, as far as the announcement,” USCJ claimed.
Pepe comes from IMG Academy. His stats are unavailable, but he has a slew of accolades to his name. Pepe was part of the Under Armour All-American Game and the Polynesian Bowl this year. Also, if he commits to USC, he will join his brother, DT Kobe Pepe, who is currently in his senior year. This way, Riley and Chad Bowden have a huge advantage over programs like Miami, Ohio State, and Michigan, which are also keen on recruiting Pepe.
But as happy as he would be having Pepe on board, the HC is troubled by a small but important problem in his current roster. And it seems like it can grow into a bigger threat down the line.
Lincoln Riley loses one more player to injury
Riley is having a tough time with player injuries. He had to “shut down” TE Lake McRee towards the end of spring ball, allowing him to take things easy and not overdo it. There was some relief with leading WR Makai Lemon coming back from his injury, and taking charge of the WR room. Soon afterward, Riley lost safety Christian Pierce. He had a “[small] little injury thing,” Riley said, acknowledging Pierce’s absence in the last practice. “Nothing serious, but won’t do anything else the rest of spring,” Riley declared.
Pierce hasn’t been on the field much during his time at USC. He was 3rd in the safeties depth chart last season, and has a total of 15 tackles in 2 seasons. However, losing him to injury does make things tricky for Riley. Save for Kamari Ramsey and transfer recruit Bishop Fitzgerald. There are no more reliable talents in the safety room. Should either of the two go down, Pierce would be the go-to guy Riley would use as a replacement. Ramsey said about Pierce, “It’s been great to see him grow from last spring to this spring. Just the confidence in him being more comfortable in the system and just taking over.”
Pierce’s absence didn’t seem to be much of a cause of concern for Riley. But if he doesn’t return soon, there might be one.
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