USC Trojans Predicted To Land Elite Recruit Vlad Dyakonov Over UCLA Bruins

The USC Trojans are fighting off their crosstown rivals UCLA for one of the rising prospects in the 2026 recruiting class. Three-star offensive tackle Vlad Dyakonov has been predicted to land with the Men of Troy, in what could be a big win for USC.

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

The USC Trojans are coming off one of the biggest recruiting weekends in recent memory. USC's Junior Day event on Saturday saw the Trojans host many top recruits, not only from the state, but from across the country.

USC made good strides in a lot of key recruitments, including with three-star offensive tackle Vlad Dyakonov. The 2026 recruit from Folsom is considered to be a priortiy recruit from the Trojans and they made sure he knew it over the weekend.

Folsom (Calif.) 2026 offensive lineman Vlad Dyakonov checked out USC and UCLA over the weekend https://t.co/7pa9qQD3u7 pic.twitter.com/HJZah2vxL2

— Brandon Huffman (@BrandonHuffman) February 3, 2025

Dyakonov spoke with Brandon Huffman of 247Sports and raved about his trip to USC.

"USC left an impression for sure, I liked it a lot there. USC was the first visit I planned on taking and it didn't disappoint. The coaches talked about their program in the beginning of the Junior Day. Later, we watched some film with coach (Zach) Hanson and he talked about his plan to get guys to the league and he's done it a ton before," said Dyakonov. 

The Trojans made such a good impression over the weekend that an expert predicition was made in favor of USC by Steve Wiltfong of On3. According to their Recruiting Prediction Machine, On3 has the Trojans as a 99.3 percent favorites of landing Dyakonov.

He currently ranks as the No. 25 offensive tackle in the class of 2026 and the No. 34 player in the state of California according to 247Sports. With a solid senior season, it would be no surprise at all to see Dyakonov rise to four-star status.

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The California native also visited UCLA the same weekend and spoke highly of the Bruins as well. However, USC has made it a point to pursue the three-star offensive lineman due to his six-foot-six, 250 pound frame and his connection to one of their highest priority recruits in the 2026 cycle in four-star quarterback Ryder Lyons.

Both players are teammates at Folsom High School in Northern California. Lyons and Dyakonov share a close relationship as shown in a tweet by Lyons on Jan. 13 where he jokes about committing with the offensive lineman to a school.

dual commitment coming !! 😂 come get at him https://t.co/QY1SAXIsLw

— Ryder Lyons (@ryderly0ns) January 14, 2025

Regardless of if Lyons follows suit, Dyakonov is still a promising prospect. USC has no offensive line recruits currently committed in their 2026 recruiting class.

Still, USC coach Lincoln Riley has recruited at an extremely high level this cycle, good enough for the No. 4 class currently. Although it's early in the process, the Trojans have eight commits, led by four-stars Xavier Griffin, Brandon Lockhart, and RJ Sermons, all top 100 players in the class according to 247Sports.

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