USC's Lincoln Riley Provides Injury Update for Receiver Tanook Hines

The USC Trojans are underway in fall camp as they prepare for the start of the 2026 college football season. Saturday marked the first day USC coach Lincoln Riley spoke to the media at USC’s new facility, the Bloom Performance Center.

It was an exciting day of camp for USC, but there is some not-so-great news about wide receiver Tanook Hines.

Tanook Hines Battling Through Injury

usc trojans lincoln riley tanook hines injury update wide receiver nfl jayden maiava college football big ten makai lemon — Oct 18, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver Tanook Hines (16) runs the ball against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“From an availability standpoint…We got a few guys that are limited. Tanook Hines is probably one right now that is most limited, able to do the least,” Riley said to reporters. “Still working out. Still tracking and progressing well. Don’t except anything overly serious with that at all.

Riley was then asked if he believes that Hines will be ready for the start of the season. To that, he answered “I do.” He did not go into details about the injury.

USC No. 1 wideout Tanook Hines isn’t practicing at the start of fall camp, but Lincoln Riley said he expects Hines to be ready for the start of the season.
— Ryan Kartje (@RyanKartje) August 1, 2026

USC will kick off their 2026 season on Saturday, August. 29 against the San Jose State Spartans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Hines Entering Sophomore Season at USC

Tanook Hines signed with the USC Trojans as a member of their 2025 recruiting class. He was rated as a four star recruit. As a true freshman in 2025, Hines had 34 receptions for 561 yards and two touchdowns.

Hines was USC’s third leading receiver behind wide receivers Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane. Both Lemon and Lane were selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, clearing the way for Hines to be the Trojans’ No. 1 option through the air in 2026.

USC fans should be excited about what Hines can bring to the table this season once he’s ready to play because of how strong he ended 2025.

His two most productive games of the season came during USC’s final three games of the year.

Against the Oregon Ducks on Nov. 22, Hines had six receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown. At the time, these were his career game-highs in all of those three categories.

A few weeks later in USC’s Alamo Bowl matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs, Hines had six receptions for a career-high 163 yards. Lemon and Lane did not play in the Alamo Bowl as they were preparing for the upcoming NFL Draft. This was a preview of what USC’s offense could look like with Hines as the go-to pass catching target. He didn’t disappoint.

Hines will have the same starting quarterback that he did a year ago with Jayden Maiava retuning as USC’s signal caller. Maiava started all 13 games for USC last season, throwing for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns. Maiava was named Third-team All-Big Ten.

Lincoln Riley has a great track record with quarterbacks and also wide receivers. Not only was Makai Lemon USC’s No. 1 target last season, he also was name the Biletnikoff Award winner for being the most outstanding wideout in the country with 79 receptions for 1,156 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Will Hines be able to produce at an elite level consistently like Lemon?

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