USC Football Faces Recruitment Challenges as Top Prospects Leave Program

In the space of nine days, USC football has lost three de-commits, raising concerns for the program. The latest player to leave was four-star safety Hylton Stubbs, who announced his decision on Thursday. Stubbs, a highly ranked player from Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida, is the No. 17 safety prospect in the country.

The trend of de-commits is somewhat expected for a program like USC, which recruits at a high level. All three players who left had strong offer lists and were desirable prospects for other programs as well. Despite the risk of losing players, USC under head coach Lincoln Riley is expected to win many of these recruiting battles in the future.

The three de-committed players from USC this month are Isaiah Gibson, a five-star defensive lineman from Georgia on June 18; Justus Terry, a five-star defensive lineman from Georgia on June 19; and Stubbs on June 27. All three were ranked among the top 100 players in the nation by 247Sports, highlighting the impact of their decisions on USC’s recruiting class.

Currently, USC has the No. 31 recruiting class in the nation with Julian Lewis as their top commit. Lewis is a five-star recruit and is ranked No. 16 in the country by 247Sports. Despite facing challenges like these de-commits, recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong believes that Lewis will likely stick with his commitment to USC and remain an important part of their recruiting class moving forward.

While it’s not uncommon for programs like USC to lose prospects who commit elsewhere before signing day, it’s important for them to stay focused on their goals and continue attracting top talent for future seasons. With Riley at the helm and other strong classes still ahead of them, there’s no doubt that USC will recover from this setback and remain one of the top football programs in college athletics today.