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USA Today
5 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
USC makes another huge splash on recruiting trail, lands five-star tight end Mark Bowman
USC makes another huge splash on recruiting trail, lands five-star tight end Mark Bowman USC football recruiting tsunami isn't slowing down at all USC football just continues to load up on the recruiting trail. On Friday, the Trojans added to their already top-ranked 2026 recruiting class, landing one of the top players in the cycle: five-star tight end Mark Bowman. Bowman plays at longtime USC feeder program Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California. He reclassified from the class of 2027 to 2026 earlier this year. 247Sports Composite ranks him as the No. 16 overall player and the No. 1 tight end in his class. Following the news, the USC football social media account posted a video edit that featured Trojan alum Will Ferrell jumping into a pool in the movie Anchorman. The video was a seemingly subtle troll of Oregon head coach Dan Lanning. Lanning recently went viral on social media for jumping into a pool with a recruit following his pledge to the Ducks, only for him to decommit earlier this week. USC is firmly ahead of Oregon on the recruiting trail right now. Now, it falls on Lincoln Riley to turn those recruiting wins into victories on the field.
USA Today
7 hours ago
- Sport
- USA Today
USC football countdown to kickoff continues—Brandon Pili in focus
USC football countdown to kickoff continues—Brandon Pili in focus Brandon Pili comes from a family of athletes The countdown to USC's 2025 football season is officially on! The Trojans kick off their new campaign 91 days from today. You need something to help you while away the days and hours in the spring and summer. This is one way to do so. In this new series, countdown to kickoff, we will be counting down the days by highlighting a notable Trojan who wore each number. Today, we take another fairly recent look back at former USC defensive lineman Brandon Pili. Position: Defensive line Years played at USC: 2017-2022 Career highlights: Pili was USC's first ever football player from the state of Alaska. Between 2017 and 2022-he served as a key backup defensive lineman for the Trojans. His final season at USC was his best statistical one, when he recorded 25 tackles, one sack, and one pass defended. For two years, Pili shared the USC campus with his younger sister, Alissa, who played for the women's basketball team. The younger Pili later transferred to Utah, and currently plays for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. After USC: Pili signed with the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent following the 2023 NFL Draft. He made the team, becoming the first Alaskan to play in the league since 2014. He appeared in 12 games for Miami over two seasons, before being waved last November. Pili is currently a member of the Seattle Seahawks' practice squad.
a day ago
- Sport
Southern California thumps TCU 13-1 in Corvallis Regional opener
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- Adrian Lopez had three hits and three RBIs to back a stellar start by Caden Aoki and No. 3 seed Southern California breezed to a 13-1 victory over second-seeded TCU in the first game of the Corvallis Regional on Friday. The Trojans (36-21) await the winner of the nightcap between top-seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed Saint Mary's for a Saturday matchup. TCU (39-19) will play an elimination game against the loser earlier Saturday. Lopez had an RBI base hit in the sixth and a two-run single in the seventh as USC scored three runs in each inning. Aoki (6-4) gave up four hits in eight innings with six strikeouts and no walks. He allowed a solo homer to Sawyer Strosnider in the fourth. Sax Matson pitched a scoreless ninth. USC's Brayden Dowd and Richard Tejeda had three hits apiece and combined for three RBIs and four runs scored. Abbrie Covarrubias went 0 for 2 but drove in two runs and scored three. TCU starter Tommy LaPour (8-3) allowed three runs on six hits in three innings. Louis Rodriguez followed and was tagged for three runs in 2 1/3. USC has won the College World Series 12 times — most recently in 1998. The Trojans have made 21 appearances in the CWS but none since 2001. The Horned Frogs have made six CWS appearances — most recently in 2023 — and never won it.
Associated Press
a day ago
- General
- Associated Press
Southern California thumps TCU 13-1 in Corvallis Regional opener
CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Adrian Lopez had three hits and three RBIs to back a stellar start by Caden Aoki and No. 3 seed Southern California breezed to a 13-1 victory over second-seeded TCU in the first game of the Corvallis Regional on Friday. The Trojans (36-21) await the winner of the nightcap between top-seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed Saint Mary's for a Saturday matchup. TCU (39-19) will play an elimination game against the loser earlier Saturday. Lopez had an RBI base hit in the sixth and a two-run single in the seventh as USC scored three runs in each inning. Aoki (6-4) gave up four hits in eight innings with six strikeouts and no walks. He allowed a solo homer to Sawyer Strosnider in the fourth. Sax Matson pitched a scoreless ninth. USC's Brayden Dowd and Richard Tejeda had three hits apiece and combined for three RBIs and four runs scored. Abbrie Covarrubias went 0 for 2 but drove in two runs and scored three. TCU starter Tommy LaPour (8-3) allowed three runs on six hits in three innings. Louis Rodriguez followed and was tagged for three runs in 2 1/3. USC has won the College World Series 12 times — most recently in 1998. The Trojans have made 21 appearances in the CWS but none since 2001. The Horned Frogs have made six CWS appearances — most recently in 2023 — and never won it. ___ AP college sports:
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
USC flexing its muscle again after stealing TE Mark Bowman from UGA
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. Advertisement MORE: Bowman to USC CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State CLASS OF 2027 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Rivals Five-Star heading back to Indy | Rivals Five-Star roster | Schedule/info Nick Lucero/ 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? Advertisement 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 detriment. Advertisement Coach Kirby Smart bellyached this week at the SEC spring meetings that schools are paying current commits upward of $20,000 to stay committed. That's before their real NIL kicks in once they get to campus. He didn't name names, but he didn't really have to. The Bulldogs just lost out on five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell to Miami as the Nixa, Mo., standout hired super-agent Drew Rosenhaus to handle his NIL, rumored to be in the $2 million range. Last recruiting cycle, Georgia lost out to Texas late when the Longhorns paid handsomely for five-star defensive lineman Justus Terry, an in-state kid who at one point was committed to the Bulldogs and it looked like he was going to re-commit on signing day. The pitch from Georgia to Bowman was clear: We're bringing in four-star Lincoln Keyes, we're going after four-star Kaiden Prothro and we want you to be the centerpiece of it all on the offensive side. Advertisement Look at the track record: Georgia throws to its tight ends. Georgia puts tight ends into the NFL with seven on NFL rosters currently. But it was not enough as Bowman picked the Trojans. USC has the No. 1 class in the country by far. That will even out a little as other teams catch up since the Trojans also have 10 more commitments than any other team in the country. Bowman is a massive piece for USC, maybe its biggest piece yet. And beating Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and Oregon for him has the Trojans flexing big time. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH USC FANS AT
