USC’s run at keeping a famous football name in cardinal and gold came up short Friday.
Paisios Polamalu, a 2027 athlete from St. Augustine High School in San Diego, announced he is headed to Stanford. The 5-10, 175-pound prospect made his decision after taking an official visit to Stanford the weekend of June 20, and he is expected to line up at safety in college.
The last name, of course, carries plenty of weight in Los Angeles. Paisios is the son of USC icon and Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu, whose resume at Troy is as loaded as they come.
From 1999-2002, Troy Polamalu earned two First-Team All-American nods, wore the captain’s armband twice, won team MVP honors and finished as a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award before going on to become a first-round NFL Draft pick. He later put together a Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
USC stayed involved throughout the process. Lincoln Riley and the Trojans brought Paisios and his father to spring practices, then got him back on campus for an official visit this summer. Arizona was also in the mix.
On the field, Polamalu has built a strong case as one of Southern California’s most productive two-way players, even though he remains unranked in the current recruiting rankings. In 2024, he piled up 140 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, eight interceptions, seven pass breakups and three forced fumbles while playing safety.
Then in 2025, he turned in a big offensive season, rushing for 1,412 yards and scoring 22 total touchdowns. That year included a school-record 316-yard rushing game against La Jolla, and he finished with 2,095 all-purpose yards as a running back and return specialist.
If he had chosen USC, Polamalu would have joined a long list of legacy Trojans. Instead, that chapter stays closed for now.
Among the program’s best-known father-son connections are Tim McDonald and T.J. McDonald, who became the first father-son duo in school history to both earn First-Team All-American honors and serve as team captains.
The Matthews family also left its mark, with Clay Matthews Jr. starring for USC before Clay Matthews III went from walk-on to All-American. The Jacksons, Grafs and Cashmans are also part of that legacy line.
Even with this miss, USC’s 2027 class remains in strong shape. According to 247Sports, the Trojans sit at No. 16 nationally with 14 verbal commitments. Eight of those 14 pledges are ranked in the Top 100 by 247Sports, which is second only to Texas A&M.
The class is led by five-star athlete Honor Fa'alave-Johnson of Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, the nation’s No. 1 athlete and No. 27 overall prospect. USC also holds a commitment from consensus five-star edge rusher Mekai Brown, a 6-6, 235-pound pass rusher from Connecticut who recently picked up five-star status in the latest rankings update.
So while Stanford won the battle for Polamalu, USC still has one of the deepest 2027 recruiting hauls in the country as Riley’s staff keeps pushing forward on the trail.