USC Trailing Big Ten Rival for Mater Dei Recruit Isaiah Danns

The USC Trojans are in pursuit of class of 2029 recruit, cornerback Isaiah Danns. Danns recently spoke to Rivals about which team is on top early on in his recruitment.

USC Behind Oregon for Isaiah Danns

usc trojans lincoln riley commitment recruit cornerback isaiah danns mater dei recruiting class 2029 college football playoff — 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-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Isaiah Danns is a 6-0, 160 pound cornerback out of Anaheim, California. The Southern California product has revealed offers on his social media accounts from the California Golden Bears and North Carolina Tar Heels. There has also been interest from three other schools on the west coast: the USC Trojans, UCLA Bruins, and Oregon Ducks.

“Oregon is on top right now,” Danns said to Greg Biggins of Rivals. “I haven’t been to USC yet but that’s the hometown school and I’ve always like them…I definitely plan to visit and go to a game this fall. I’ve been talking to them and I like what they’re doing and they have a lot of Mater Dei guys on the team right now.”

USC may not be at the top of Dann’s list right now, but a visit could change things. Something that benefits USC is their close proximity to Dann’s high school, Mater Dei. USC and Mater Dei have a strong connection with each other that has been prominent in recent recruiting classes.

In USC’s 2026 recruiting class, they had numerous played that signed out of Mater Dei High School such as five-star tight end Mark Bowman, four-star wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, four-star defensive lineman Tomuhini Topui, and four-star edge rusher Shaun Scott.

USC’s 2026 class was ranked as the No. 1 class in the country.

As for USC’s 2027 class, they aren’t on pace to match that. The Trojans have received 14 commitments so far and are ranked by Rivals as having the No. 13 class in the country and the No. 4 class in the Big Ten. They are behind Oregon, Ohio State, and Michigan. There is one USC commit so far that is from Mater Dei: four-star wide receiver Danny Lang.

Will Danns eventually join this group of Mater Dei players to commit to USC? He’s still years away from making his final decision.

USC getting back to having a top ranked recruiting class in 2026 was a promising sight to see for Trojans fans as they try to return to the top of college football. USC is historically a premier brand with countless national championships, Heisman Trophy winners, and NFL draft picks. However, it’s been a long time since USC was at a championship level.

Since 2009, USC has won one conference championship and has zero appearances in a College Football Playoff or BCS bowl games. The playoff is now made up of 10 teams and the time is now for the Trojans to crash the party.

Coach Lincoln Riley is entering his fifth year with USC. He has accumulated an overall record of 35-18 in Los Angeles. That has not resulted in a playoff appearance. Will 2026 be the season?

Riley himself has even stated that “now it’s time to just do it.”

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