Skip to main content
USC

BREAKING: Five-Star LB Xavier Griffin Decommits from USC

Scott-Schraderby: Scott Schrader05/14/25SSchraderOn3
Xavier Griffin
Five-star LB Xavier Griffin

Although there weren’t any significant signs he was wavering with his USC commitment, five-star linebacker Xavier Griffin has decommitted from USC. Griffin verbally committed to the Trojans last summer on July 31 after a second visit.

“When we left the first time, I told my mom the only thing that was stopping me from going there was the distance,” Griffin said. “But after that second visit, I just felt I gotta take that risk and get out of my comfort zone.”

Griffin’s been back five times since his verbal pledge to the Trojans indicating an extremely solid commitment, but USC has adopted a policy of requiring all commits to shut down their commitments. Griffin also visited Tennessee, Georgia, Alabaman and Texas this winter and spring.

While most of the USC commits have shut down their recruitment and cancelled all official visits to other schools, Griffin intends on taking more visits this spring and summer. So, this was mutual parting of the ways between USC and the talented Gainesville (GA) athlete.

Since the arrival of general manager Chad Bowden, it’s been a huge priority to get top targets committed quickly. Another priority now is not having committed players visit other schools whether unofficially or officially.

In 2025, if a prospect commits to USC, the policy is you’re either ALL IN or ALL OUT. The Trojans have chosen not to mess around with committed players considering other schools. This is an approach Dabo Swinney at Clemson adopted many years ago. The Trojans don’t care if it’s a three-star of a five-star player, either. 

In the past months, there have been quite a few USC commits who’ve publicly announced they were shutting down their recruitment, with the latest being five-star IMG Academy offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe.

2026 USC Commits 

USC’s No. 1 ranked 2026 recruiting class currently has 27 committed players from the 2026 recruiting class in Taylor Johnson, Luc Weaver, Elbert Hill, Roderick Tezeno, Kannon Smith, Vlad Dyakonov, Deshonne Redeaux, Jake Johnson, TomTom Topui, Malik Brooks, Chase Deniz, Jaimeon Winfield, John Fifita, Esun Tafa, Trent Mosely, Simote Katonaga, Jonas Williams, Shaun Scott, RJ Sermons, Brandon Lockhart, Braeden Jones, Madden Riordan, Joshua Holland, Shahn Alston, Andrew Williams and Ja’Myron “Tron” Baker.

You may also like

Garry Paskwietz (1966-2019)

Garry Paskwietz was a pioneer in bringing team-specific sports coverage to the internet. He founded WeAreSC in 1998 and was an Emmy winner for his work with Fox Sports West. Always generous with his time, knowledge, and compassion, he touched the lives of countless USC and high school football fans.

Garry Paskwietz