USC announced the signing of 19 prospects Wednesday on Early Signing Day, and Lincoln Riley emphasized the direction the program is moving in regard to its general talent level, with this recruiting haul a step forward.
"I think when we look back at the team this year, kind of how it will be remembered and defined, certainly in my mind we're going to have more talented teams going forward. In reality, I think when we look back 10 years from now this will probably be in some ways maybe one of the less talented teams that we'll have. But in terms of chemistry, the locker room being right, just kind of the vibe and culture around our team, these guys have been outstanding."
If an 11-2 team is the just the foundation for the talent Riley aims to bring into the program, well, that should excite USC fans.
Riley also noted that after signing just 7 high school prospects a year ago, after taking the job in late November and having a short window to rally the recruiting class, this 2023 haul is a better balance for program building moving forward.
"It certainly feels a lot different than this day 12 months ago when we signed 7 high school players a year ago at this time and were constructing a roster in a pretty unique way. ... Certainly a little bit more traditional in the way that we want to build this program moving forward in that a majority of our scholarships are going to guys that are high school players that we get the opportunity to potentially develop them for multiple years and to have those relationships from the beginning. The transfer portal, I think, as long as rules don't change will always be a part of what we do, but certainly I would say this cycle feels a little bit normal and is probably more representative of how we would like to build this roster in the coming years."
Watch Riley's full 25-minute press conference here and scroll down for a full list of the Trojans' recruiting haul as it stands so far -- with time still to add before the February signing period and, of course, not factoring in USC's continued transfer portal pursuits.
Early enrollees: Branch, Crawford, Curtis, Greene, Joyner, Lemon, Nelson, Paige, Peterson and Pierce will enroll at USC in January.
