Trojans celebrate as Kilian O'Connor earns USC scholarship
It was all love in the McKay Center on Valentine’s Day as USC head coach Lincoln Riley awarded center Kilian O’Connor a scholarship, setting off a raucous celebration by his Trojan teammates.
“A couple years ago I got a call from a local high school coach, a guy that I know and have recruited his school for a long time,” Riley said to his gathered team. “[He] told me there was this cat here in town that was getting overlooked, that we needed to take a look at. He was exactly right, and that’s why today, Kilian O’Connor is going on scholarship.”
O’Connor’s teammates broke into celebration, with tight end Lake McRee and others wrapping him up.
O’Connor played sparingly throughout the season, appearing in three regular season games. But with USC starting center Jonah Monheim skipping the Trojans’ bowl game as he rehabbed from injury, O’Connor stepped in both at center and as a team captain for the Las Vegas Bowl against Texas A&M.
“I’m so thankful for this opportunity,” O’Connor said to his teammates. “My dad was a walk-on, my grandpa was a walk-on. This is something that’s really special for me. I just thank you guys every day for making it easy to show up. Love you guys.”
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O’Connor didn’t allow a sack in 74 snaps against the Aggies and helped the Trojans pile up 400 yards and 35 points in a comeback win.
He was a three-year starter at Santa Margarita Catholic High School before walking onto the USC team in 2022, the first year of Lincoln Riley’s tenure with the Trojans. He didn’t play during that 2022 season but got into seven games in 2023. Riley voiced his support of O’Connor as the backup center that year and continued to speak highly of him as the backup there this season.
O’Connor should have an opportunity to compete for the starting center spot this spring, though the Trojans did add former Syracuse starting center J’Onre Reed via the transfer portal. O’Connor has guard experience from high school and the Trojans have another vacancy at left guard with starter Emmanuel Pregnon now at Oregon.
