Oklahoma 2023 Decommit 5-Star QB Malachi Nelson Commits to USC

Nelson decommitted from the Sooners on Sunday shortly after Lincoln Riley took the head coaching job with the Trojans.

Well, this was certainly expected.

Just two days after decommitting from Oklahoma in the wake of Lincoln Riley’s stunning departure to Los Angeles to take over at USC, 2023 5-star quarterback Malachi Nelson has committed to the Trojans.

Once Riley made the move to USC and Nelson decommitted, this always seemed like where things would wind up especially given Nelson’s hometown of Los Alamitos, CA being less than an hour from LA.

Nelson is rated both the No. 2 quarterback and No. 2 overall recruit in the 2023 recruiting class in 247Sports’ composite rankings, sitting only behind quarterback prodigy Arch Manning.

It was widely believed Nelson would simply assume the throne in two seasons once Caleb Williams’ time in Norman was done, but with Riley’s decision to leave Oklahoma those plans were understandably drastically altered.

Nelson also marks the first commitment for Riley under his USC tenure and surely won’t be last of the recent Sooners decommits to make this decision.