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Family means as much as anything in the life of Ryan Pellum. USC's newest commit used his son to help him announce his decision Monday afternoon holding the infant up to show off a "Fight On" onesie making it clear where the four-star prospect would be playing in 2024.

"It feels good to stay close to home," he said. "It feels good to bring this to an end. It's been a long journey, and I'm ready to wrap it up and go to a new program that's gonna treat me the way I need to be treated."

The Trojans were not always at the top of the list for the Rivals100 prospect. In fact, in December the local program was nowhere to be found on his list of top contenders.

USC did not make Pellum's previous top 10, but in the six months since that list was released, head coach Lincoln Riley and his staff have worked to make it clear to the 5-foot-11 prospect that home is where he needed to stay.

It worked, and Monday the Trojans beat out one-time favorite Oregon for Pellum's commitment.

"It went how a relationship would usually go," he said. "It gradually picked up until it was tight. ... I was doing a lot of research on Lincoln Riley and on the team. I see what they can do. I see what their educational program does as well as their football program with Lincoln Riley, so that was a big factor."