AP
USC is feeling pretty good these days.
How could the Trojans not?
On Thursday, pictures surfaced on social media of five-star freshman defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart working out with Hall of Famer Aaron Donald. On Friday, the Trojans flexed again in a big way by beating Georgia and many others for arguably the best tight end in the 2026 class in Mark Bowman.
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Minutes before Bowman’s commitment to USC was announced, the USC Football X page put out a meme of Ron Burgundy from “Anchorman” jumping in the pool. Was that a tip of the hat to Oregon coach Dan Lanning cannon-balling with five-star DE Richard Wesley during a visit only to see Wesley decommit 17 days later since his pledge wasn’t cleared with his family? A low-key flex by the Trojans?
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Two weeks ago at the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei Showcase, Bowman made no secret of where his recruitment stood: Georgia was the team to beat.
The four-star tight end had a great relationship with position coach Todd Hartley. He had total respect for how Georgia has dominated college football and it reminded him of the situation he’s in at Mater Dei.
The Brock Bowers comparisons did not hurt.
But USC never gave up. Never gave up recruiting him, never gave up selling him on potentially being the next Mark Andrews in Lincoln Riley’s offense and never gave up putting together a lucrative NIL package.
Georgia’s NIL strategy in recruiting is different than a lot of other programs, often to its…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/usc-flexing-muscle-again-stealing-222758264.html
Author : Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
Publish date : 2025-05-30 22:27:00
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