USC football recruiting is creating something USC fans haven’t felt since the strong 2022 season: optimism. Trojan fans have gone through a rough two-year period, but they are beginning to feel better about their football program now that Chad Bowden is running the recruiting shop. The Bowden era continues to build momentum with the latest recruiting win, the pickup of four-star 2026 defensive lineman Simote Katoanga. The recruitment is huge on several obvious levels.
First, Katoanga is a defensive lineman, a central position of need for a program which needs depth up front. USC had good defensive linemen in 2024, but they got injured, and the depth pieces weren’t enough to contain the damage in the second half of the season. USC needs to build a deep rotation of quality defensive linemen, and this fits the bill.
Second, Katoanga is a local prospect. USC is now beginning to keep more of these players home. It’s central to improving the overall condition and stature of the program. It can have a snowball effect which leads other SoCal recruits to stay home and build something in Los Angeles.
Third, the recruiting win gives USC football the No. 1-ranked recruiting class in 2026. Dan Lanning and Oregon aren’t ranked higher than USC. That’s progress.
USC football recruiting is getting its act together. The only word of caution to insert here — dampening the mood, perhaps, but offering a necessary balance to this story — is that this is for 2026. USC has to worry about 2025, where its recruiting track record isn’t nearly as good as 2026. USC will need to make some pickups in the spring transfer portal to augment its roster for this upcoming 2025 season.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC football recruiting lands a local 4-star defensive end for 2026
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/usc-lands-four-star-defensive-161855335.html
Author : Trojans Wire
Publish date : 2025-02-24 16:18:00
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