SANTA ANA, Calif. — Mark Bowman did not grow up in Southern California, so the push by USC to keep homegrown talent in the area does not have the same impact on the elite Santa Ana-Mater Dei as it does some of his peers.

Still, the Trojans are continuing to make a push for the Colorado native who now calls Huntington Beach his home. The 30th-ranked recruit in the 2026 class, who reclassified up a year previously, is now down to seven schools with a busy schedule of official visits playing out in the coming weeks.

USC is among that group with an official visit set up for June 17, but the road will begin this weekend with a visit to Ole Miss. Texas, Georgia and Oregon are also on that visit list while Miami could also get a visit before the end of June as well.

Ohio State rounds out the top seven that he released Thursday.

"I've been to all these schools, so just kind of really get the feel for the relationship with the coaches and players and just kind of keep seeing the schools," Bowman said about his upcoming visits.

Georgia has gained some of the recent attention in his recruitment while Texas has also been one of the schools considered to be a top contender, but USC has continued to make steady headway with the No. 2-rated tight end in the class.

Over the weekend, Bowman watched another one of his teammates make the call for the Trojans when four-star edge rusher Shaun Scott committed to USC on Sunday.

The Mater Dei-to-USC pipeline is gaining momentum again, and Bowman has kept an eye on what Lincoln Riley and the program has going this spring.