USC scored a commitment from one of the most pursued players in the transfer portal Thursday with Kentucky defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver deciding to make Los Angeles his next home.

The 6-foot-4, 336-pound Rocky Mount, North Carolina native emerged as a priority target for USC and many others since entering the portal earlier this month.

He visited USC recently and narrowed his options down to the Trojans, Florida, Miami and Michigan.

In Silver, the USC defense adds the No. 37-ranked transfer prospect who shined during the 2024 season with the Wildcats. He collected a career-best 26 tackles this season to go along with his first sack.

Silver has played in 30 games during his college career, which began at North Carolina, with 23 starts over the last two years. The redshirt junior will have one season of remaining eligibility with the Trojans, who will be looking to improve their sack numbers after collecting 20 (90th in FBS) this season as a group.

Silver addresses one of USC’s (many) priority needs, as the departure of DT Bear Alexander early in the season followed by starters Nate Clifton and Gavin Meyer exhausting their eligibility leaves a glaring need in the middle of the defensive line.

In terms of experience, USC returns just Devan Thompkins (redshirt junior, 361 snaps), Kobe Pepe (redshirt senior, 241 snaps) and Jide Abasiri (sophomore, 72 snaps).

Silver played 313 snaps this season and had one of the top tackling grades for any FBS defensive lineman with an 80.9 rating (18th nationally) from PFF. He also graded out with a respectable pass rushing grade of 72.4.

The new USC defensive line addition was credited by PFF with 9 total pressures this season, including 7 hurries.

Silver is USC’s third transfer addition following CB DJ Harvey (San Jose State) and RB Eli Sanders (New Mexico), while the Trojans have lost 18 scholarship players to the portal, including several starters and key contributors.