USC Announces Six Transfer Portal Additions
USC announced the signing of 19 high school prospects on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period. On Thursday, USC officially welcomed six more additions, all via the transfer portal.
All six previously stated their commitments publicly. But Thursday’s announcements from USC make things a bit more official. Though, transfer portal players, even after signing scholarship papers, are not locked in until they are on campus and enrolled.
Four of the additions are on the defensive side of the ball — three in the front seven — one is the Pac-12’s leading receiver in 2022 and one is the conference’s best punter.
Wide receiver Dorian Singer led the Pac-12 with 1,105 receiving yards for the Arizona Wildcats in 2022. His 16.7 yards-per-catch average ranked No. 4 in the conference but was a top mark for receivers with at least 40 catches. He doesn’t bring the same accolades as Jordan Addison, who won the Biletnikoff Award before coming to USC from Pittsburgh. But Singer is a big-time receiver who will look to come in and grab a starting spot for the Trojans.
Singer isn’t the only player coming over from Arizona. Cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace and defensive tackle Kyon Barrs are new Trojans as well. Both bring extensive playing and starting experience from their time in Tucson. Roland-Wallace has a shot to grab the starting cornerback position left open by the impending departure of Mekhi Blackmon. Barrs could battle Stanley Ta’ufo’ou to start at nose tackle or provide much-needed depth on the defensive line.
Former Georgia State linebacker Jamil Muhammad is listed by USC as a defensive end. He’ll likely play rush end for the Trojans. The former high school quarterback made a quick transition to the defensive sideof the ball midway through his true freshman season in 2022. Muhammad can get after the quarterback off the edge. He led Georgia State with six sacks in 2021.
USC gets a tackling machine at inside linebacker in Mason Cobb, who comes over from Oklahoma State. The 6-foot, 230-pound linebacker recorded 96 tackles, two sacks and an interception in 2022. He is a big hitter.
And the Trojans added a key special teams contributor in former Arizona State punter Eddie Czaplicki. He was selected the First-Team All-Pac-12 punter in 2022, after averaging 46.1 yards per punt. He also handled kickoff for the Sun Devils and has a strong leg there as well.
USC’s Transfer Portal Plans
USC brought in 20 players via the transfer portal last offseason. Trojan fans shouldn’t expect Lincoln Riley and staff to hit that number again this offseason.
USC signed just seven high school players on the first day of the early signing period for the 2022 class. After inking 19 this year, Riley said he expects this to be a far more normal distribution.
“We want to build this program going forward where the majority of our scholarships are going to guys that are high school players,” Riley said. “The transfer portal, I think as long as rules don’t change, will always be a part of what we do. But certainly, I would say this cycle feels a little bit more normal and is probably a little more representative of how we would like to build this roster in the coming years.”
USC will continue to scour the transfer portal as players continue to add their names during this first window that runs until mid-January. A second window to enter the portal will open on May 1. And again, USC will be active with targets there.
The Trojans will target anybody they feel can help the team win and boost the overall talent level of the roster. But if there’s a specific spot to watch, it’s in the defensive front seven.
With three linemen and linebackers heading over to USC already, Riley said Wednesday the Trojans would have more to add to that haul in the coming weeks.
