Skip to main content

USC football: Lincoln Riley offers elite 2026 high school quarterback

USC has officially entered the Julian Lewis sweepstakes

USC has officially entered the Julian Lewis sweepstakes.

Coming off of a dominant freshman season at Carrolton High School in Georgia, Lewis, the top-ranked 2026 quarterback in the nation, visited USC's campus last week and Lincoln Riley offered him a scholarship. 

“USC has a lot of football history of great quarterbacks,” Lewis told 247Sports.com's Steve Wiltfong. “Coach Riley is really cool. How he develops quarterbacks and what he’s done with the guys he’s coached is amazing."

In his first year of high school, Lewis led Carrolton to the 7A state championship game in Georgia. He threw for 4,118 yards and 48 touchdowns in 15 games. In addition to USC, Lewis has also been offered by the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas.

Since taking over as head coach at Oklahoma in 2017, Riley has coached three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield and Caleb Williams. As recent recruiting cycles show, Riley has almost exclusively targeted 5-star passers and Lewis certainly fits the bill. 

Earlier this month, USC welcomed another elite 2026 quarterback to campus in Newbury Park (Calif.) signal caller Brady Smigiel. Smigiel hasn't received a USC offer yet.

CLASS OF 2024

USC currently has two commits in the 2024 class in Oregon tight end Joey Olsen and California wide receiver Jason Robinson. Look for USC to add more recruits to the class over the next few weeks. The Trojans' coaching staff returned to the recruiting trail earlier this month and has been active all over the country.