USC lands former top-150 prospect Xavion Alford in transfer
What was talked about on the Trojan Talk board this week as a strong likelihood has indeed become a reality.
Xavion Alford, who was ranked the No. 8 safety and No. 139 overall prospect in the 2020 recruiting class, announced Friday morning that he's transferring from Texas to USC.
Alford entered the NCAA transfer portal just a few days ago, and USC seemed like a logical fit from the start.
First, Alford is familiar with the Trojans, having been strongly recruited by the program before he committed to Texas and visiting campus with his FAST Houston 7-on-7 team that year. Also, USC safeties coach Craig Naivar was part of the staff that landed Alford at Texas.
It didn't take long after the highly-regarded safety hit the portal for he and Naivar to reconnect and lay the groundwork for his move to USC.
RELATED: In-depth interview with Xavion Alford on his decision to transfer to USC
This is the second major transfer the Trojans have landed in the last few weeks, following defensive tackle Ishmael Sopsher -- a former top-100 prospect in the 2019 class -- from Alabama.
USC presently has the No. 12-ranked 2021 recruiting class, but add in those two high-profile transfers and the likelihood that the Trojans are far from done this cycle, and it's been an overwhelming success in that department for the program.
Alford had talked to TrojanSports.com back in March of 2019 as he was working his way through the recruiting process initially, and he shared then the pitch he was receiving from USC.
"They want me to be another key piece out of Houston to come up there and help them get on track and everything and come in there and make an impact immediately," he said.
That rings even more true now, as USC signed 4-star RB Brandon Campbell and 3-star wide receiver Joseph Manjack out of the Houston area this cycle (plus 3-star CB Dorian Hewett in 2019 and 3-star OT Casey Collier in the 2020 class).
Campbell also comes from that FAST Houston 7-on-7 program and had pushed for Alford to join him at USC on Twitter.
As for what kind of a player USC is getting, Alford described his game this way in our previous conversation with him:
"I'm a ballhawk and hard hitter. I'm really versatile," he said. "... I'm very vocal and I'm a playmaker."
Alford played just 16 defensive snaps as a freshman at Texas, according to PFF (14 against UTEP and 2 against Kansas State), and also played on the kick coverage and punt return units. He walks into an intriguing opportunity in Los Angeles, however.
USC will have a changing of the guard at safety sooner than later. Newly-minted Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Talanoa Hufanga has an NFL decision to make in the next month, and fellow starting safety Isaiah Pola-Mao is a redshirt junior (and will be again next year thanks to the NCAA not counting this season toward any player's eligibility clock.)
The Trojans also signed three big-time safety prospects last week in Rivals250 standouts Calen Bullock and Xamarion Gordon and fellow local 4-star Anthony Beavers.
Needless to say, Naivar and Co. have built a nice foundation for the future at that spot.
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