With nation's No. 1 recruiting class, USC 'as powerful as any program in the country' in NIL era

Despite what many have considered a lackluster past two seasons at USC under Lincoln Riley, the Trojans’ football program has been scorching hot on the recruiting trail in 2026.

As June kicks off, SC’s class is almost entirely filled — with 27 prospects to be exact — and it ranks No. 1 not just in the Big Ten but nationally. That’s ahead of traditional powerhouses like Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, and LSU. Whether they’ll hold onto that lead through Signing Day depends on who else they land, and who their competitors bring in. But one thing is clear: Riley and his staff are recruiting at an elite level.

And according to On3 VP of Recruiting Steve Wiltfong, there is no program more equipped to handle recruiting in the name, image and likeness era than the Trojans.

“There’s a lot of excitement around this program,” he said Monday during On3’s Wiltfong Whiparound show. “And in the NIL era, USC is as powerful as any program in the country right now.”

The most recent example of that is five-star tight end Mark Bowman, who committed to USC late last month over offers from Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, and more. The Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei product has been compared to ex-UGA star Brock Bowers and is the country’s No. 1 tight end.

Trojans taking advantage of their momentum, increased NIL push

USC had been considered a top contender for him, but the ramped-up pursuit and NIL offering pushed them to the top and got Bowman to commit before he took any other official visits.

“We haven’t gotten confirmation from any USC source or from Mark Bowman, but we’re told the NIL opportunity at USC could provide Bowman an opportunity to earn $8-10 million by the time he leaves USC after three years,” WeAreSC.com publisher Scott Schrader wrote after the Trojans landed Bowman.

In addition to Bowman, they’ve landed commitments from borderline five-star Elbert Hill, top-60 prospect Keenyi Pepe and four other top-100 recruits in this class. And that doesn’t include five-star cornerback RJ Sermons, who was committed for the class of 2026 but recently reclassified up to 2025.

With their 27 current commitments, the Trojans have eclipsed — and nearly doubled — the number of blue-chip (four- and five-star) pledges that they had a year ago. And Riley and Co. are still in on some more top targets as they look to build a massive class.

What that looks like down the road in a year or two once they’ve made their way to campus will be determined then, but the Trojans are no doubt turning heads with the changes they’ve made.

“It is so different with USC now. It has changed a lot over the last year and since they made changes,” Bowman told On3’s Chad Simmons before he committed. “They have been recruiting much harder the last few months. It is every day with USC now, and that has changed things for me with them. I like what the staff is doing, their energy and they are close to home, too.”