BELLFLOWER, California — Like so many recruits across the country, elite edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei made several visits during the month of June. His travels took him all over the country as the four-star prospect made stops at USC, Ohio State and Oregon in recent weeks as he continued to work through the recruiting process by taking some official visits.

The Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco star is one of the most sought after recruits out west in the 2023 class, so visiting schools has become the norm for Uiagalelei – especially after seeing his brother DJ go through the same process a few years ago.

Because of that, his recent string of official visits didn’t feel all that different from what he’s become accustomed to during the process. The trips did give him the opportunity to get a better feel for all three programs allowing him to gain some more insight into each school.

The evaluation process continues for the 31st-ranked prospect in the Rivals rankings, but he came away from his recent visits feeling positive about the experiences.

“It’s not that much different, it’s just more time hanging with the players and coaches there,” he said. “It just helps you get a better perspective, and it helps you kind of really see what the program is like.”

USC, Ohio State and Oregon are not the only schools Uiagalelei is focused on at this stage in his recruitment, but those programs have been consistently part of the picture leading to his decision to take official visits to all three schools.

He says at this stage he is still unsure if he will use all five of his official visits, but Uiagalelei is thinking about using one of his two remaining official trips on a visit to Alabama in the fall.

Other than that, he is not in a rush to jump to any decision. The high-ranking four-star prospect says he is content to wait out the process until close to the end of the cycle.

Still, being one of the three official visits for Uiagalelei is a positive sign for USC. The Trojans have hosted him for several unofficial visits since Lincoln Riley took over the program as head coach, and the relationship between Uiagalelei and USC has continued to grow strong.

To give us total clarity on where things stand with the Trojans after his official visit, we took some time to speak with Uiagalelei about the trip and much more in this Q&A with the 2023 defensive end.