USC’s impending hiring of Lincoln Riley will make a huge difference for the program. Riley had legitimate success at Oklahoma, going 12-2 in three straight seasons, while coaching an explosive offense. Not only should he be able to bring his successful offense/passing game to the Pac-12, but there is another big benefit to hiring him.
Even though he was at Oklahoma, Riley was already recruiting the talent-rich Southern California area well. As Inside USC’s Scott Wolf noted, Riley had the No. 1 recruiting class for 2023 at Oklahoma. Much of that was centered around three top players from Los Alamitos, a successful high school located about 30 miles south of USC.
https://twitter.com/InsideUSC/status/1465087637438353410
Wolf wondered how long it would be before Los Alamitos quarterback Malachi Nelson follows Riley to USC.
https://twitter.com/InsideUSC/status/1465081979028873224
If Nelson switches, it stands to reason that his high school wide receiver teammates would switch too. Riley might be able to flip the entire package.
Nelson is just behind Arch Manning when it comes to 2023 quarterback rankings. He seemed to enjoy being committed to Oklahoma, but he could still change his mind and follow Riley.
https://twitter.com/MalachiNelson9/status/1463226164466520068
Any player from SoCal who committed to Riley at Oklahoma might find it even more enticing to stay home in Los Angeles.
