After years of the best players in Southern California heading elsewhere for their college football careers, with the rise of the NIL era, the USC Trojans and UCLA Bruins are back to retaining the top talent in the area.
USC has been an elite recruiting program since new head coach Lincoln Riley took over in 2021. That timespan also saw NIL rise to prominence, with players taking full advantage of the transfer portal to capitalize on their earning potential.
Los Angeles Post writer Ben Bolch detailed about the shift in Southern California, with both programs landing marquee Southern California recruits for the 2027 class. While the Trojans have landed multiple elite recruiting classes in a row, now the Bruins are joining the party.
“UCLA coach
Bob Chesney has landed five-star safety JuJu Johnson of Long Beach Poly and five four-star players who either grew up in Southern California or went to school here. The Bruins have snagged 13 of the top 100 players from California, according to the On3.com rankings,” Bolch wrote. “Why is that important? California ranks behind only Georgia, Florida and Texas in terms of producing NFL players, meaning there’s plenty of talent to mine locally.”
The Trojans are knocking on the door of their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance while UCLA is a bit farther out, they hope to be on the same trajectory with Chesney at the helm in Westwood.
Both programs hope to maintain this level of keeping California recruits in California, with the Big Ten Conference emerging as more than just a worthy competitor for the SEC.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: USC and UCLA are back to keeping elite recruits in the Golden State
