Four-star safety Hylton Stubbs backs off USC commitment
Hylton Stubbs remained committed to USC for just over three months. Thursday, the four-star safety from Jacksonville, Florida announce that had made the decision to back off his previous pledge to the Trojans becoming the latest member of USC's 2025 class to open his recruitment.
"This decision was not made lightly, and it comes after thoughtful discussions with my family and mentors," Stubbs wrote in a message posted to social media. "I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Coach Riley, Coach Lynn, Coach Belk, Coach Mayes [sic], Coach Baw and the entire USC staff for their unwavering support and for offering me the incredible opportunity to join the Trojan family. I am truly grateful for the kindness and belief you have shown in me."
Stubbs committed to play for the Trojans back on March 24, but he continued to entertain other options throughout the spring. Eventually, the 6-foot-2 recruit from Mandarin High School opted to take official visits to Florida and Miami this month after visiting USC late in May.
"I still talk to the coaches a lot, but it's definitely gotten crazy with the visits," Stubbs said this week at Rivals Five-Star when asked about the impact of his visits on his relationship with the staff at USC. "The visits have been crazy. I've had a great time on all the other visits, so yeah it's gotten a little crazy."
The decision by Stubbs, who is currently rated as the No. 3 safety in the class and the 27th-rated prospect in the class, means the Trojans now sit at No. 25 in the Rivals team recruiting rankings for 2025 after previously reaching as high as No. 3 on the list.
It has been a challenging stretch for the Trojans in recent weeks with Stubbs being just the latest high-profile departure for the program. Earlier this month, five-star defensive tackle Justus Terry and Rivals250 defensive end Isaiah Gibson decided to back away from their commitments to USC on consecutive days.
Gibson has since decided to commit to his home state program, Georgia.
The decommitments from the pair of Georgia-based recruits prompted defensive end coach Shaun Nua to take to social media to address the departures from the class. Because 2025 recruits have not yet been able to sign, Nua was not able to address them by name but alluded to their departures in a post made to X.
Though the negativity has outweighed the positive for USC on the recruiting front, the Trojans did add a key commitment from four-star cornerback Shamar Arnoux on Wednesday.
The Carrollton, Georgia standout recruit has similar size as Stubbs, and had a lengthy list of options as well.
The Trojans now have 11 commitments overall in the 2025 class but have several as of yet unannounced additions.