Alex VanSumeren didn’t just show up at USC and blend in. Six months after arriving in January as a transfer from Michigan State, the redshirt senior defensive lineman was one of three Trojan player representatives at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago.
That kind of responsibility usually comes with trust, and VanSumeren has clearly earned plenty of it. USC brought in a massive 2026 recruiting class with 33 high school signees, which has left the roster heavy on youth. In VanSumeren’s position group alone, there are freshmen Jaimeon Winfield, Tomuhini Topui and Jake Johnson, along with sophomores Jahkeem Stewart and Floyd Boucard and redshirt freshman Cash Jacobsen.
VanSumeren has stepped into that mix as a steadying voice almost immediately, leaning into a leadership role he says he learned by watching older players before him.
“It's an honor to be in that position,” VanSumeren said at Big Ten Media Days. “I realize that there's a bunch of young guys on the team.
I had leaders in my past that helped me, so now I got to pay it forward to them. It goes along with being a good teammate.
I'm gonna give everything I got to this university and to my teammates and to the football program.”
That message fits the way he has built his career. VanSumeren started the last two seasons at Michigan State, so he knows the demands that come with battling in the Big Ten trenches. That background has made him a useful guide for a young USC defensive line still learning how to handle the details of the position.
“Everything from a technical standpoint, to how to go about your business inside the building and outside the building," VanSumeren said. "We got a lot of young guys that are very mature.
You wouldn't think a lot of these guys are freshmen. You'd think they've been around the game and been in a college program for two years.
“I would say a big thing that I can help these guys with is just technique-wise. What it's really like out there in the trenches in the Big Ten, and how to go against certain blocks and everything like that.”
For VanSumeren, that responsibility is part of the job now, not a side note. He said leadership has to be developed, and he understands what it means when teammates start looking to him for answers.
“lt's something that you grow into,” VanSumeren said. “As a freshman, you're not necessarily a leader. It's something you got to grow into, but it's an honor to have guys want to listen to what you got to say and take your advice.”
USC expects his value to show up on Saturdays too. VanSumeren is set to strengthen the interior of the Trojans’ defensive front, but the bigger imprint may come from the way he approaches everything around him.
“I care about these guys,” VanSumeren said. “I'm all in.
I'm not one foot in, one foot out. I'm all in with this.
I love football, I love the game, I love the competition of it. Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing.
That's my mindset on it.”
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The bigger picture, of course, is the road ahead. USCs 2026 schedule picked up a late addition in San Jose State, but the real weight still comes from a Big Ten slate that brings Oregon, Indiana and Ohio State into the mix. For a team trying to build consistency under Riley, camp is where the foundation gets laid, but the seasons toughest questions are already waiting on the other side. [Read more 🡒]