Oregon, USC in Recruiting Battle For Elite California Recruit

There appears to be another west coast recruiting battle in the works between the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans for class of 2029 recruit, athlete Kuika Moaalii.

Kuika Moaalii Favoring Oregon and USC

Oregon Ducks Recruiting USC Trojans Dan Lanning Lincoln Riley California Kuika Moaalii Athlete Class of 2029 Recruit Visit — Nov 11, 2023; Eugene, Oregon, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley, left, and Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning talk before a game at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Kuika Moaalii is a 6-3, 205 pound athlete out of Bellflower, California. He has already received offers from both Oregon and USC, among many others. Moaalii spoke to recruiting analyst Greg Biggins of Rivals about where he stands in his recruitment. Oregon and USC are right at the top of his list. He discussed what has drawn him to Oregon.

“Oregon was my dream school growing up. I loved watching them when I was younger. I like their style of play and my favorite color is green so I loved their uniforms,” Moaalii said.

Moaalii also talked about how he hasn’t yet been to Eugene, but is planning on changing that soon with a visit to check out the area, facilities, and campus.

Moaalii was high on USC, a place he just recently visited.

"I just visited USC a few weeks ago and loved it there,” Moaalii said. “I really liked the tempo they practice with, how organized everything was and I like the coaching staff a lot."

Oregon has not had much trouble recruiting in the Southern California area in recent times despite it being right in USC's backyard. However, this trend of Oregon getting the top recruits in this area over USC looks to be trending in the other direction with USC's surge in recruiting.

The Trojans failed to bring in a top 10 recruiting class in both 2024 and 2025 per On3's rankings. Oregon on the other hand was in the top three in the country during these years. Things changed in 2026. USC was able to secure the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the country. They were able to keep many of the best local recruits in the area and it benefited their class ranking heavily.

Oregon still ended up having the No. 4 ranked class, but this was the first time they had been behind USC in recruiting rankings for a class in quite some time. Looking ahead to the 2027 class, it looks like USC will be competing with Oregon once again at the top of the class rankings.

A big reason for this was the commitment flip of class of 2027 recruit, offensive tackle Drew Fielder. Fielder, a four-star recruit out of Anaheim, California had previously been committed to Oregon but ended up flipping to USC.

In more Southern California recruiting news, USC received the commitment of class of 2027 recruit, cornerback Danny Lang. The four-star recruit out of Santa Ana, California had Oregon and USC among his finalists. Lang picked the Trojans.

Oregon and USC will be taking on each other on the field this season at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Saturday, Sept. 26. The two teams played each other last season in Eugene, with Oregon winning 42-27.

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