BREAKING: Four-star linebacker Talanoa Ili Commits to USC

Less than six months ago, the USC Trojans weren’t really involved with recruiting elite four-star Kahuku (HI) linebacker Talanoa Ili. Despite that, the nation’s No. 97 overall prospect announced his commitment to USC on Sunday after he and his family took their official visit.

Until a February 1 junior day visit, Oregon appeared to be the school to beat. Ili returned to USC multiple times after that February visit and formed a tight bond with the USC coaches, key support staffer in Coach Dogg (Aaron Amaama) and GM Chad Bowden. He also has a longtime relationship with several of the commits like TomTom Topui, Simote Katoanga, Keenyi Pepe and others.

“Everything changed after Chad Bowden became GM and really shifted the narrative to keeping the California kids home,” Ili told On3. “When that narrative was created, the way they recruited me shifted and after my first visit this year, I saw USC in a different way. 

“Since then, things have been going well. Things have changed. The relationships are stronger, things have really grown between USC and me and I like the new vision a lot. Keeping the California kids home shows me a lot.”

What’s kept USC among the top options

Getting in a position to be considered a top choice is one thing, it’s another thing to maintain that position and even more challenging to move into the top spot, where many believe USC currently sits. 

“It’s definitely the coaching staff, coach (Rob) Ryan, Coach Dogg for sure and just constant communication,” Ili said. “Especially with Coach Dogg. I have a great relationship with him and we talk every day. He really gets on me about how important I am for USC.”

The vibe at USC

“It’s energy,” Ili said. “It’s the energy and that shark mentality there. Everybody’s a dog and everybody’s trying to eat. The main goal is to win a national championship.”

Rob Ryan’s impact 

USC has now flown to Hawaii twice to see Ili. Rob Ryan and Shaun Nua were with Ili and his family for an in-home visit three weeks ago and were back on Oahu Monday for a Kahuku practice. WeAreSC was also at that practice and we asked Ili how Coach Ryan helped USC’s chances?

“He’s got an outstanding resume, so I think, what he does as a coach just speaks volumes and, you know, speaks for itself. He’s got that that background, the personality, the charisma, and all that stuff makes you wanna play for a coach like that. He’s got a lot of knowledge and being in the home with him, you could tell he’s riding fast and you gotta keep up.”

Coach Dogg (Aaron Ama’ama)

There are several top 2026 USC targets the Trojans made significant moves with, because of Aaron Ama’ama aka Coach Dogg. Talanoa Ili is among them. 

“He’s the one that really started to chip away on our relationship,” Ili said. “Just really reaching out and doing the little things. He started off hitting me up at Twitter, just reaching out. Then slowly we started building that connection. The key factor on why I’m back in with the USC, is because he was the first one to hit me up when things got rolling.

“Coach Dogg and then coach Nua I’ve known since my freshman year when I first got my offer. He’s always there. And I really like Nua too.”

Ili’s first conversation with Chad Bowden 

USC general manager is in a unique position where he’s recruited several of USC’s top targets prior to his arrival in Los Angeles. We asked Ili if he recalled his first conversation with Chad Bowden?

My very first conversation with Chad Bowden was at Notre Dame,” said Ili. “So my first time seeing him was with Notre Dame. He came to the school and he just let me know what the importance of me going to Notre Dame was. A couple weeks later he made the move to USC and was telling me that he wanted to keep everybody home. And that’s when I saw the changes.”

Lincoln Riley

While we don’t talk often about Lincoln Riley’s impact on recruiting as much as others at USC, he still plays a big role in recruiting every top target.

“He’s really important,” Ili said. “He talks to me constantly, every week. Anytime he any chance he gets, he’s FaceTiming me, calling me and letting me know how important I am for the 2026 class and finishing it off.”

Significance of USC’s 2026 recruiting class

We obviously get a lot of feedback from 2026 and 2027 prospects talking about USC’s 2026 recruiting class and how much that matters….watching that class be assembled. The Trojans have the No. 1 or 2 ranked recruiting class and Talanoa Ili shared his thoughts.

“It matters a lot because that’s the class I’m in,” said Ili. “And if I were to go there, that’s the boys I’ll be starting off with. Those are gonna be the first guys I’m with and they want me to be the piece that finishes it off. So the 2026 class, they got a crazy class and I’m seeing all my childhood friends, childhood teammates commit.

“Tomu is one of those guys. I played with him and I played against him all the time. So we’re constantly seeing each other against. I played against him when he was at the OG Ducks and I was with the OC Buckeyes. Trent Mosley, we played on the same youth team our last two years for OC Buckeyes. Madden Riordan and I played on the same team with Trent. Shaun Scott, too.

“Just constantly seeing guys, familiar faces,” Ili said. “It’s gonna be easier to be in a room like that When you got guys that you’ve grown up with.”

2026 USC Commits 

USC’s No. 1 ranked 2026 recruiting class currently has 28 committed players from the 2026 recruiting class in Talanoa Ili, Peyton Dyer, Mark Bowman, Shaun Scott, Luc Weaver, Keenyi Pepe, 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, Brandon Lockhart, Braeden Jones, Madden Riordan, Joshua Holland, Shahn Alston, Andrew Williams and Ja’Myron “Tron” Baker.