Former five-star Raleek Brown to enter transfer portal

It's not even officially transfer portal season -- that will begin Dec. 4 for all non-graduate transfers.

But that doesn't mean decisions have to wait.

Former five-star Raleek Brown has already decided that he is entering the transfer portal and looking to leave USC for a new home, TrojanSports.com confirmed Monday.

Brown, who was the No. 1-ranked all-purpose back and No. 25 overall national prospect in the 2022 recruiting class out of local Mater Dei High School, had committed to Lincoln Riley initially at Oklahoma and then flipped to the Trojans soon after Riley was hired by USC.

And as a freshman, he started delivering on the immense expectations immediately, putting up 76 combined rushing/receiving yards and a touchdown in his collegiate debut last fall. Even with a high-ankle sprain limiting him for much of the season, he finished with 402 combined offensive yards and 6 touchdowns, teasing the potential of what was to come.

The diminutive Brown was moved from running back to full-time slot receiver in the spring. That ended up being a loaded position for USC with veterans Tahj Washington, Mario Williams and five-star freshman Zachariah Branch, and with coaches intimating there was a learning curve for Brown in his new position, he played just 17 snaps in the season-opener against San Jose State this year, catching 1 pass for 14 yards.

He then shut himself down to protect his redshirt and not use a year of eligibility if he wasn't going to have a major role on the offense. Brown continued practicing with the scout team throughout the season and did play in one other game -- Week 10 vs. Washington, when running back MarShawn Lloyd was a midweek scratch. Brown caught 2 short passes and rushed 3 times for 16 yards and a touchdown, but he didn't play again even though he could have played in four games and still redshirted.

The speedster remains an elite talent and should have a big market for his services.

It's a tough loss for USC. Though he and Branch had overlapping skill sets, the hope was always that Riley could leverage having two of the fastest players in the sport on the field at the same time together.