The days of elite high school football players from Southern California thinking they need to leave the area to win big may be over.
Not long after he picked USC, the nation’s top high school safety trumpeted the Trojans’ ability to keep top prospects close to home.
“Best in Cali stay in Cali!” Honor Fa’alave-Johnson tweeted in May, the San Diego native adding a graphic showing that nine of USC’s 13 commitments in the Class of 2027 were from California — including six of the state’s top 15 players.
Reinforcing Johnson’s point, his post was quickly retweeted by four-star offensive tackle Drew Fielder, a big-time prospect from Anaheim’s Servite High who had picked the Trojans after flipping his commitment from Oregon.
It’s a similar story across town.
As part of his latest recruiting class, 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.
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.
“If you can keep the majority of the top players here and then go out of region and fill up the rest of your class with elite guys, then you’re going to win,” said Greg Biggins, a national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com.
The recent run of recruiting victories involving local players appears to signal that the high-profile defections of stars Bryce Young (Alabama), Khary Wilder (Ohio State) and Madden Faraimo (Notre Dame) are becoming less common.
They also reflect an increasing belief among Southern California prospects that USC and UCLA are about to succeed spectacularly, never mind that neither team has made the College Football Playoff in its decade of existence.
The Trojans have an elite defensive coordinator in Gary Patterson to pair with their high-scoring offense, and the Bruins feature a coach who’s won everywhere he’s been.
“We’re building the best class and putting the city back on top,” Johnson recently told the California Post. “We’re going to bring UCLA back, and I’m ready to ball out with my future brothers.”
The Bruins’ class is ranked No 17 nationally by On3.com, putting them on pace for their best finish since they were No. 13 in 2016 — back when coach Jim Mora was routinely landing local five-star players such as Josh Rosen, Darnay Holmes and Jaelen Phillips.
Mora was also the last coach to make UCLA relevant nationally, something that several recruits told The Post that they believe is on the verge of happening again.
“Honestly, the coaches told me they were building something special, so I just had to trust in them, and we’re doing that right now,” said Khalil Terry, a four-star safety from Tustin High who picked the Bruins over longtime football powers Oklahoma and Notre Dame.
What was it about UCLA’s recruiting pitch that Terry found attractive?
“Coach Chesney’s message,” Terry said, “was this is the best place to be, in general — you can stay near your family and it’s just the best spot — there’s nowhere better to be.”
There may be some debating that over at LA’s other Big Ten school.
USC’s Class of 2026 — universally ranked as the best in the nation — revealed the conviction that the Trojans are poised for a breakthrough under coach Lincoln Riley.
Among the local standouts were Mark Bowman, a five-star tight end from Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, and nine four-star prospects from Southern California. It certainly helped that the Trojans had plenty of cash to flash, helping them come from behind in multiple recruitments, including that of Mater Dei cornerback Danny Lang.
“If USC wanted a kid locally, they’re going to get him — they have that kind of NIL clout,” Biggins said. “Danny Lang was like a done deal with Oregon and USC flexed and said, ‘Hey, we want you, here’s how we’re going to get you,’ got him on campus three times in a week, put a great NIL deal on the table and that work was done.
“UCLA doesn’t have that same kind of NIL yet, but it’s a lot more competitive than it’s ever been. They’ve done a great job in being strategic in who they want to go after, and then they’ve been really aggressive and kind of flexing a little NIL against big-time schools — I mean, look at some of the schools they beat out for some of the recruits they’ve gotten. It kind of shows that this isn’t your mom and dad’s UCLA.”
USC’s Class of 2027, which now includes 14 players, is among the top 15 nationally.
At his commitment announcement in March, Lang picked up a USC hat lying on a table next to ones from Ohio State and Oregon before putting it on his head. Then he slipped on a jacket decorated with Trojans patches and gave a two-fingered Victory Salute as the crowd roared and the USC fight song blared.
Mater Dei players have made a habit of becoming Trojans in recent years, with five players from the Orange County school picking USC in the last two classes.
USC general manager Chad Bowden said cultivating a Southern California recruiting pipeline required building relationships and creating a pied-piper effect.
“That’s what I always heard, like, a kid would go to USC from a California school, and it was, like, you know, that next freshman would be, like, I want to go to USC just like he did,” Bowden said earlier this year. “And he loved it and he had a great time there, like, that’s what it takes.”
After years of watching too many top players go elsewhere, USC and UCLA are suddenly giving them a lot to like.
