USC Football Recruiting 2021: Top Commitments Landed, Recruit Predictions

USC has only four commits in its 2022 recruiting class, which is ranked 105th in the nation and last in the Pac-12, per the 247Sports composite team rankings. Of course, a lot has changed for the Trojans over the past few weeks.

Lincoln Riley became USC's new head coach on Nov. 28, opting to leave Oklahoma after spending five strong seasons with the Sooners. Now, he'll hope to lead the Trojans back to success, which includes adding to their lackluster 2022 recruiting class.

The early signing period begins Wednesday, and for 72 hours, high school football recruits will have an opportunity to send in their national letters of intent and make their commitments to college programs official. For some, it's also an opportunity to announce a college decision at a signing ceremony.

With Riley at the helm, USC should start to fare better on the recruiting trail. And the results of that could start to be seen this week.

Here's a look at the 2022 recruits the Trojans have landed so far, followed by some predictions heading into the early signing period.

5-star RB Raleek Brown (Mater Dei High School, Santa Ana, Calif.)

4-star CB Fabian Ross (Bishop Gorman High School, Las Vegas, Nev.)

3-star DE Devan Thompkins (Edison High School, Stockton, Calif.)

2-star P Atticus Bertrams (ProKick Australia)

Domani Jackson became the top recruit in USC's 2022 class when he committed to the Trojans on Jan. 23. But with former head coach Clay Helton getting fired and the team struggling, Jackson opted to decommit on Nov. 14 and explore all his options.

However, Jackson, a 5-star cornerback who currently attends Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., may end up staying close to home after all. He's considering only two schools heading into his signing ceremony on Friday (USC and Alabama), and there seems to be a good chance he'll pick the Trojans.

The 247Sports Crystal Ball currently has USC as the heavy favorite to land Jackson, who is the No. 7 overall recruit in the 2022 class, per the 247Sports composite rankings. So it appears Riley has done a good job of getting Jackson to regain his interest in the Trojans' program.

Expect Jackson to provide a much-needed boost to USC's class when he recommits and signs with the Trojans this week.

While USC has been pushing hard to land some uncommitted recruits, it's also been trying to flip top players who are committed to other schools. Perhaps none of those players are more talented than Tetairoa McMillan, a 4-star wide receiver who is committed to play at Oregon.

McMillan attends Servite High School in Anaheim, so it's unsurprising the Trojans have tried to sway him their way during this recruiting cycle. However, he committed to the Ducks on Aug. 16, and he hasn't wavered despite head coach Mario Cristobal leaving for Miami and being replaced by Dan Lanning.

According to Andrew Nemec of The Oregonian, there have been "rumblings" that McMillan will wait until February to sign and that he "could possibly even flip to USC or Arizona." So don't expect to hear an announcement from McMillan this week.

Because of that, USC will stay in the running to potentially land McMillan, who is the No. 46 overall recruit in the 2022 class, per the 247Sports composite rankings. If Riley can then get McMillan to flip, it would be a huge success for the Trojans.

With USC entering the early signing period with only four commits, it would have to put in a ton of work to end up with 25-30 recruits in its 2022 class, like some programs have. And Trojans fans shouldn't expect that to happen, considering the circumstances.

According to The Athletic's Antonio Morales, USC had an expectation that it would sign 20-25 players in the 2022 class. However, that's no longer the case.

"That has since changed. Riley and his staff will be deliberate and won't just load up on bodies," Morales wrote.

Riley has the ability to attract stronger players to the program, so it makes sense that the Trojans would rather try to bring in the best recruits possible, rather than sign a large number of lower-ranked players. So that should give an idea of what their strategy is heading into the early signing period.

Don't be surprised if USC isn't signing recruits left and right, but rather pushing to try to bring in some strong players. Those types of moves may end up getting the Trojans back to being a competitive program sooner rather than later.