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For quite some time it looked like Oregon would be the team to beat for Rivals100 athlete/wide receiver Ryan Pellum. The Ducks remained in the picture until the end, but when it came time to make a decision it was USC that won out.

Pellum announced his commitment to the Trojans at a ceremony at Millikan High School in Long Beach on Monday afternoon, picking the local school over its soon-to-be former conference mate and recruiting rival.

The No. 5-ranked prospect in the state and No. 56 overall national prospect is now USC's highest-rated commitment in the 2024 class.

That Pellum, who is expected to play receiver in college, committed to USC Monday is quite the turnaround from just six months ago. Back in December, the 5-foot-11 prospect put together a list of his then top-10 teams and the Trojans were nowhere to be found on that list.

In the months since that time, however, USC has made great strides in its relationship with Pellum and that changed how he viewed the program in his recruitment, including his official visit two weekends ago.

"They're family-oriented, so it's real conversations with me," he said about his talks with the USC staff.

Pellum is one of the top two-way players in the country, but his future is on the offensive side of the ball. As a receiver at USC, the four-star recruit sees the type of opportunity he will have playing for Lincoln Riley as being a big part of his decision.

"It's pretty intriguing, him bringing that offense from Oklahoma and him being who he is with an offense and 'SC has always been known for having receivers and being Wide Receiver U, so that's another perk," he said.

Pellum has been focused on primarily USC and Oregon heading into the summer, but there is a long list of programs that have been in pursuit of the playmaking receiver. Alabama, Michigan, LSU, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Penn State and UCLA are all programs that were once in the mix.

Instead, he will stay close to home and join a recruiting class that is now 13 members strong. So far, the Trojans have added 10 commitments this month.

One can note USC's struggles recruiting the top local offensive and defensive linemen, but the Trojans continue to reel in elite local skill position talent on both sides of the ball.

In adding Pellum -- the No. 4-ranked ATH and No. 56 overall national prospect -- to their 2024 class, the Trojans now have commitments from two of the top three wide receivers in the state (with Xavier "DJ" Jordan the other).

There is not a deeper position on the Trojans' roster, both in the present and for the future, after USC signed five-star WR Zachariah Branch, five-star TE/WR Duce Robinson, fellow Rivals100 WR Makai Lemon and high-upside WR Ja'Kobi Lane in the 2023 class. They're also a finalist for 2024 Rivals100 wideout Dre'lon Miller (Silsbee, Texas), who announces his college choice later this week.

Even when USC's veteran receivers -- Dorian Singer, Mario Williams, Brenden Rice, Tahj Washington, etc. -- move on, WR will still be one of the Trojans' deepest (if not deepest) position groups. And that should remain the case as long as Lincoln Riley is running the show.

On another note, it's another win over the pesky Oregon Ducks in what has been a back-and-forth recruiting rivalry in recent years.

TrojanSports.com: Ryan Pellum plays on both sides of the ball at Millikan, but how do you see him fitting in as a receiver at USC?