USC reels in big DL addition in former UW signee Ratumana Bulabalavu

Ratumana Bulabalavu didn't need to save any suspense for National Signing Day on Wednesday -- it had seemed pretty clear coming off his USC official visit over the weekend that the Trojans had won him over, and sure enough he announced his commitment Tuesday.

The three-star defensive lineman had signed with Washington and was already added to the Huskies official online roster, but with the unexpected coaching change there last month, he was released from his National Letter of Intent and focused in on USC and Utah as his two considerations.

Talking to TrojanSports.com on Sunday on the way back from his USC visit, it was clear which one had won out even if Bulabalavu still wanted to give it some final thought.

"Definitely a really, really positive trip," he said. "I learned more about myself too just seeing all this stuff at USC, seeing what I like and what I don't like. Which is pretty crazy because I already thought this late in the recruiting process I'd already known exactly what I want, but I guess you can always learn more. One thing I wasn't expecting was the team dynamic. I don't know, I just felt with LA and what not, it would be such a celebrity team, but it definitely is a lot more family-oriented than I was expecting. I really like that a lot."

The Trojans had made a late push to try to flip Bulabalavu, from the Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, prior to the early signing period, but he stuck with his decision at that time. Still, he had formed a strong connection with then-defensive line coach (now DEs coach) Shaun Nua.

"I was already in contact with Coach Nua and he rubbed off on me very, very well. I really love Coach Nua a lot,"Bulabalavu said. "But they didn't recruit me that heavily then. And then all of a sudden, a couple weeks before the signing date they really picked up their recruiting and I actually went to one of their games and I had started to talk a lot more with Coach Riley, Coach Nua. All of a sudden after [former defensive coordinator Alex] Grinch left the recruitment definitely picked up even a lot more. At the end of the day, I ended up just sticking out with Washington.

"When I put my name back out there, [USC was] actually one of the first schools to reach out, and that was really, really surprising to me. Even though I was hoping they would reach out, I had already told myself they weren't going to be reach back out because I thought they would have already been full for the Class of 2024. But when Coach Nua did reach out, I was really excited, happy that that opportunity was still on the table because I do feel a connection with all the coaches who I had talked with before I committed to Washington."

On the official visit last weekend, Bulabalavu built on his connection with Nua while also getting to know new defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn and new defensive line coach/co-DC Eric Henderson, who both left a strong impression on the defensive lineman and helped seal his decision.

"Man, Coach Henny, he's just a whole lot of real," Bulabalavu said. "He went a little more personal with me and talked to me about his motivation for coaching and where his drive and fire comes from, just the walk of life he comes from, from the South. ... It just meant a lot to me. And you can really feel the drive behind him when he talks about football and how into it he gets into accomplishing stuff. He talked a lot about the Rams, the whole draft process and how much experience he has with what NFL talent looks like. And also their Super Bowl run. I think he definitely has that wired mindset just to go get it, go make things happen."

With Lynn, the bonding started in the film room ...

"We had breakfast with him and I just really couldn't crack him, I just couldn't get a good feel of where he was. And all of a sudden we go back to the facility and I step into his room and he just starts pulling up different packages, different plays that he's run with past teams -- a lot of Baltimore Ravens film -- and just walked me through the progression, how he's calling it, the different phases of the play, just all the different little details and assignments of each player on the D-line and linebackers, the relationship that they're going to have and how that's going to pair up with DBs too. He showed me some of their blitz packages. It was so simple but at the same time it just meant everything to me -- I don't even know how to explain it," Bulabalavu said.

Head coach Lincoln Riley and Lynn have made it clear that among their top priorities is increasing the size, talent and depth on the defensive line, and Bulabalavu gives the Trojans four incoming freshmen added to the unit, along with four-star defensive end Kameryn Fountain, four-star versatile lineman Carlon Jones (who will likely end up working on the interior) and three-star DE Jide Abasiri.

Jones and Abasiri both committed (and signed) after Lynn was hired, and it's clear the new defensive staff has already had a tangible impact on the Trojans' recruiting efforts.

In terms of how the 6-foot-4, 245-pound prospect would fit into USC's defense, Bulabalavu said, "They definitely want to keep me athletic. It looked like 3-tech defensive tackle and maybe a little bit of edge. But I think if I do decide to go there it's going to be a lot of feeling out because just where I played high school ball at, they're definitely going to have to figure things out where they want to fit me."

Overall, Bulabalavu will be USC's 20th signee in this 2024 recruiting class when he makes it official Wednesday (while four-star CB Isaiah Rubin remains publicly committed but it's unclear if he will make it into the class officially).