Bear Alexander looks back on 'secret' commitment to Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma, why he flipped to Georgia

USC has been highly successful in the transfer portal, in part because of the connections Lincoln Riley has had to several top players, including former high-profile Georgia signee Bear Alexander.

Alexander transferred to USC this offseason, linking back up with Riley after some flirtation during the original recruiting process.

“I was actually secretly committed and I ended up going to Georgia,” Bear Alexander told reporters at USC’s media day on Thursday. “It was close.”

An elite recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, Alexander was a high four-star prospect who ranked as the No. 43 overall player in the class. He was the No. 7 defensive lineman in his cycle.

Riley, though, couldn’t close out the recruitment.

That honor went to Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who has been a monster on the recruiting trail since taking over with the Bulldogs. Alexander would sign and enroll at Georgia, spending the 2022 season there.

“They had had a thing for D-linemen at the time,” Bear Alexander said of his reasoning behind the Georgia pick. “Kind of Kirby had it on fire over there.”

Still, there was the relationship forged with Riley.

After all, Alexander had been pretty close to a public commitment at Oklahoma. Safety Billy Bowman, a high school teammate of Alexander’s, was also at Oklahoma.

“Super strong (relationship) because I had a player I went to high school with, Billy Bowman, he was at OU,” Bear Alexander explained.

Riley did the rest, charming his way toward the kind of relationship that made it a perfectly natural fit again when Alexander was looking for a second opportunity through the NCAA transfer portal.

“I mean his personality, it’s not fake, it’s not show,” Bear Alexander said. “I feel like it’s very genuine and just like a coach that will give it his best.”

Alexander will do his best to return the favor on the field for the Trojans this fall, with the team sporting College Football Playoff aspirations after getting to the verge of a berth a year ago.

As a true freshman, Bear Alexander appeared in 12 of 15 games for the Bulldogs in 2022. He recorded nine tackles, 3.0 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, two pass breakups and 13 quarterback hurries.