Elite Santa Margarita Recruits Visiting USC Trojans, Lincoln Riley

The recruiting landscape has changed dramatically over the past several years. It used to be when a middle school athlete received an offer from a high-profile program, it made national headlines.

Nowadays, it’s become fairly common as programs are recruiting underclassman at a higher rate than ever before. Freshman receiver Boobie Feaster and San Diego (Calif.) Cathedral Catholic 2027 five-star athlete and USC commit Honor Fa’alave-Johnson both received offers from the Trojans in the eighth grade.

USC Trojans Recruiting Class Santa Margarita Carson Palmer Unofficial Summer Visits KJ Herndon Aydan Steen Boobie Feaster — Nov 2, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley stands on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Washington Huskies at Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Recruits are on college radars early, and the Trojans will welcome two 2030 prospects to campus on Thursday, Santa Margarita (Calif.) edge KJ Herndon and receiver Aydan Steen. Both of them received offers in May and will workout with the coaching staff.

Herndon is a rising freshman and is already listed at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds. The local product has five-star potential written all over him with 10-plus scholarship offers already, which includes schools such as USC, Texas A&M, Miami and Oregon.

Steen is listed at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds. Schools such as USC, Miami, Cal, UCLA and SMU have joined the mix early for the talented pass-catcher.

Santa Margarita to USC Pipeline

Herndon and Steen will suit up for former USC Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Carson Palmer, who is fresh off leading his alma mater to an Open Division state championship, this fall.

The Trojans have signed a recruit from Santa Margarita each of the last two cycles, in redshirt freshman offensive tackle Elijah Vaikona in 2025 and freshmen receiver Trent Mosley, defensive end Simote Katoanga and cornerback Jayden Crowder in 2026.

They also hold a commitment from 2027 three-star defensive lineman Isaia Vandermade, the son of former USC offensive lineman Lenny Vandermade.

In the 2028 class, the Trojans are in full pursuit of four-star linebacker Allen “Cinco” Kennett V, who has been on campus three times this year and four-star cornerback Ca’ron “Prime” Williams, who has been a frequent visitor on campus the past couple of years, including twice this spring.

Redshirt senior center Kilian O'Connor, who has appeared in 23 career games, including seven starts, also comes from the Trinity League power.

Rising Underclassman on Campus

USC is welcoming an impressive group of 2028 recruits to campus this week, but they are also getting a head start of future classes by hosting multiple rising underclassmen.

Victor Valley (Calif.) 2029 running back Makai Buchanan is on campus Wednesday, June 10. It marks at least the sixth time Buchanan has been at Southern Cal since last summer. He is coveted across the country and a high priority target for the Trojans in the 2029 class.

Los Angeles (Calif.) Hamilton 2029 quarterback Thaddeus Breaux returned to USC on Tuesday and worked out with offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Luke Huard. Breaux was on campus a few times in the spring. The Trojans have always been diligent when it comes to offering quarterbacks, they only offered one in the 2027 class and have not offered one in the 2028 class, but Breaux is one to keep an eye on moving forward.

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