USC's Updated Recruiting Class Ranking After Gavin Williams Commitment

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The USC Trojans have landed the commitment from class of 2027 recruit, safety Gavin Williams. Williams told Hayes Fawcett of Rivals he would be committing to USC on Sunday.

The USC Trojans added another recruit to their 2027 recruiting class with Gavin Williams.
"All glory to god, the journey just getting started," Williams said Rivals.
BREAKING: Four-Star Safety Gavin Williams has Committed to USC, he tells me for @Rivals
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 17, 2026
The 6’1 190 S from La Verne, CA chose the Trojans over Notre Dame, Washington, and UCLA
“All glory to God, the journey just getting started✌🏽” https://t.co/EcE9t0PrQd pic.twitter.com/iJ3AMjcj4l
Gavin Williams is a 6-0, 185 pound safety out of La Verne, California. He is rated as a four-star recruit and ranked as the No. 6 safety in the class of 2027 per 247Sports. As a junior for Damien High School in 2025-26, Williams had 63 total tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, eight passes defended, and one fumble recovery.
Williams also played on offense and had 23 receptions for 401 yards and four touchdowns.
After his commitment, USC has the No. 4 ranked 2027 recruiting class per Rivals. Here is their full top five.
1. Texas A&M Aggies
2. Texas Tech Red Raiders
3. Oklahoma Sooners
4. USC Trojans
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish

USC's is on a hot streak when it comes to recruiting. The Trojans landed the No. 1 ranked class in 2026 and look poised to land a top five class again in 2027. With the commitment from Williams, USC now has 14 commitments in the 2027 class. This class is headlined by five-star recruit, athlete Honor Fa'alave Johnson.
USC will try to turn this recruiting success into success on the field. The Trojans are entering their fifth season under coach Lincoln Riley in 2026. There have been some mixed results. Riley was hired after a 4-8 2021 season and led the Trojans to 11 wins in his first season.
After an 11-1 regular season in 2022, USC was in the Pac-12 Championship game with a chance to make the College Football Playoff. The Trojans lost this game to the Utah Utes and then lost their bowl game to the Tulane Green Wave a few weeks later. The Trojans have not played in a game with this high of stakes since.

During the next two regular seasons, USC went 7-5 in 2023 and 6-6 in 2024. They had a nice bounce back in 2025, going 9-3. but it still wasn't enough to make the program's first playoff. With the playoff now at 12 teams, it is expected that a team with the pedigree like USC will be able to make it in at some point.
The Trojans have countless national titles, conferences titles, Heisman Trophy award winners, and players to be selected in the NFL Draft. They should be able to earn playoff spots. USC chances of finally making a playoff got bigger with the return of quarterback Jayden Maiava for the 2026 season. Maiava started all 13 games for USC last season, throwing for 3,711 yards and 24 touchdowns.
He had the option to enter the 2026 NFL Draft, but opted to return to USC for one more season before taking the next step in his football careeer,
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Cory Pappas is sports writer for USC Trojans On SI and Oregon Ducks On SI. Since starting in March of 2024, he has been writing breaking news stories, game previews, game recaps, and more across College Sports, the NFL, MLB, NBA, and Olympics for Total Apex Sports. In addition to writing, Cory is also a sports data scout for Sportradar. He covers live sporting events ranging from college athletics to semi-pro and professional. Before joining the industry, Cory graduated from the University of Oregon in 2022. He ran track for Oregon's club Track and Field team. Before Oregon, he played varsity basketball and track and field in high school in Walnut Creek, CA. Cory is using his lifelong passion for sports and writing together.
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