Lincoln Riley gets first USC football 5-star commit in record time

USC football recruiting could not have gotten a bigger boost with the hiring of Lincoln Riley. He’s already landed a five-star QB.

Malachi Nelson committed to Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma.

Now he’s committed to Lincoln Riley at USC.

The five-star quarterback out of Los Alamitos announced his pledge to the Trojans and their new head coach on Tuesday, two days after decommitting from the Sooners in the wake of Riley’s departure.

USC football recruiting: Malachi Nelson commits to Lincoln Riley

Nelson is the No. 1 player in California for 2023, per the 247Sports composite. He ranks No. 2 nationally behind only Arch Manning.

To say that Nelson is a gigantic pickup for USC would be an understatement. Greg Biggins of 247Sprts compared the 6-foot-3, 180-pound passer to Justin Fields with “all the physical tools you could want in a next level signal caller.”

How soon could Malachi Nelson become the USC starting QB?

Nelson will come to USC and expect to compete right away for the starting job at quarterback but he may have to wait his turn.

The Trojans have a promising quarterback in Jaxson Dart and even if Kedon Slovis leaves in the transfer portal, there are rumors of Williams following Riley to Los Angeles as well. Dart and Williams will both be juniors in 2023 when Nelson is set to arrive.

Nelson’s commitment could be just the first domino to fall for USC recruiting. The Trojans are expected to compete to keep Mater Dei running back Raleek Brown home as well. Five-star athlete Makai Lemon, Nelson’s teammate at Los Alamitos, just decommitted from the Sooners and could be in play as well. The Trojans will target even more.

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