USC is trying to keep one of California’s top 2028 defensive backs close to home, and it has an assist from one of its own.
Mission Viejo four-star Jordan Hicks has USC in his top eight, and the Trojans are leaning on a familiar face to help sell the vision. Damien (Calif.) four-star safety and top 100 recruit Gavin Williams, already a headliner in USC’s 2027 class, has been one of the loudest voices in Hicks’ ear.
Williams and Hicks go way back, having started playing youth football together when they were 12. That relationship has made the USC pitch feel personal.
“That's my guy, I grew up with him,” Hicks said. “He is talking to me the most about USC and what we could do there.”
The message from Williams has been simple and direct, and it’s the kind of line that has resonated with plenty of local recruits in recent cycles.
“The best in Cali, stay in Cali, and to really run it up, and that they're gonna do something special,” Hicks said.
USC is also getting help from another commitment in its 2027 class. Mater Dei cornerback Danny Lang has been pushing Hicks toward Los Angeles as well.
Hicks gives USC a lot to work with on the field. At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, he has the size and versatility to end up at cornerback or safety in college. He picked off five passes as a sophomore at one of Southern California’s premier programs, though he has mostly lined up at safety over the last two passing tournaments.
Even so, USC wants him at cornerback. That’s the spot he worked at during his visit to campus last month, and cornerbacks coach Trovon Reed is his primary recruiter.
Hicks’ top eight, released Friday, includes USC, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Miami, UCLA, Oregon, Ole Miss and Alabama.
Oregon has made a strong impression, too, and this looks like it could turn into another West Coast battle. Hicks has already been to Eugene three times, most recently in June, and he came away feeling comfortable with the Ducks.
“I would say they're welcoming,” Hicks said. “I feel like it's a lot of familiar faces there, a lot of people that I know.
It's a lot of people that I feel I could get comfortable with. Guys that I grew up with knowing, the coaching staff, Coach [Rashad] Wadood is from California, so of course that helps.
It's a good place where I feel like I can develop. They have corners with the same body type.”
Hicks also had strong visits to Oklahoma and Texas A&M in the spring, along with Miami in the summer. His fall schedule already has a few key stops lined up: Ole Miss for its Sept. 19 game against LSU, then Alabama the following week when the Crimson Tide host South Carolina. He also has a visit set with USC for Oct. 31, when the Trojans face Ohio State at the Coliseum.
In Other News...
Kyle Field Just Became A Question Aggies Never Wanted Asked
Kyle Field has spent more than a century growing from a modest home field into one of college footballs most recognizable venues, and its place in Texas A&M lore has only deepened with each expansion and renovation. Named for E.J. Kyle, the stadium has long been treated as more than a building in College Station, a historic landmark that has carried the Aggies through generations of football and tradition.
That is why any conversation about its future tends to land with extra weight, especially after the massive redevelopment that reshaped the stadium ahead of the 2015 season and made it the SECs largest. Even with its modern scale and packed Saturdays, Kyle Field still sits at the center of the same question that has followed it through every era: how much change can a place absorb before it stops feeling like Kyle Field? [Read more 🡒]
Jimbo Fisher Just Reopened An Uncomfortable Texas A&M Conversation
Mike Elko has already given Texas A&M a cleaner football story to tell since taking over after Jimbo Fishers dismissal, and the numbers back it up. In less than two full seasons, Elko has guided the Aggies to a 19-7 record, capped by an 11-2 campaign and a College Football Playoff appearance, which has helped move the program past the turbulence that followed Fishers six-year run in College Station.
Still, Fisher has a way of pulling that old conversation back into the room. Now working as an ACC Network analyst, the coach who was fired by Texas A&M is again talking publicly about his future, and any hint that he could want back into the profession naturally reopens the question of what his next chapter might look like. For Aggies fans, it is less about nostalgia than about whether the program is finally settled or whether Fishers name will keep lingering around the edges of the post-Jimbo era. [Read more 🡒]
Texas A&M Commit Is Suddenly Closing In On Five-Star Status
Texas A&Ms 2027 recruiting class already looks like a heavyweight, sitting No. 1 overall and packed with six five-star prospects, with offensive tackle Mark Matthews headlining the group. But the buzz around the class has only grown because edge prospect Frederick Ards III is pushing his way toward that same elite tier, giving the Aggies another potential centerpiece in a cycle that has already drawn plenty of national attention.
Ards has the kind of production that keeps evaluators coming back, and his ranking now has him sitting just outside five-star territory in the Rivals300. He also figures to keep trending upward once he gets into Texas A&Ms development pipeline under strength and conditioning coach Tommy Moffitt, which is part of why the Aggies are trying to hold firm as other blue-blood programs circle before Early Signing Day. [Read more 🡒]