USC’s receiver room looks different this fall, but the clearest answer in it might already be the one the Trojans found a year ago.
Tanook Hines arrived on campus last summer as a freshman and wasted no time forcing his way into the picture. The former four-star recruit won a starting job out of fall camp and spent his first season turning flashes into something much bigger. By the time USC reached the end of the year, Hines had gone from promising newcomer to the guy Jayden Maiava trusted when the offense needed a play.
The early signs were there. Against Purdue in Week 3, Maiava dropped a pass into a 3rd-and-10 late in the first quarter, and Hines climbed over the defender for a 25-yard gain.
A week later against Michigan State, he grabbed his first career touchdown. From there, the production kept building.
His midseason stretch included five catches for 61 yards against Notre Dame in October, and then a breakthrough night against Oregon in late November, when he posted six receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown against a strong Ducks secondary. That momentum carried into USC’s bowl game against TCU, when Makai Lemon and Ja'Kobi Lane opted out to prepare for the NFL Draft and Hines slid into the WR1 role.
He delivered there, too. Hines caught six passes for 163 yards, and there was still more available after a couple of under thrown passes from Maiava and pass interference calls.
"He stepped up and made some really good plays. He was awesome and made some tough, competitive plays down the field," Riley said after the game. "I think he gained a lot of confidence after the Oregon game and kind of the show we put on in that game."
"It was fun to see him rise up in that moment and kind of assume that role. He was pretty unguardable tonight, to be honest.
The only times they really guarded him is when they tackled him. He did a great job.
He's going to be a hell of player here."
Hines closed the season with 335 receiving yards over the final three games. He finished second among Big Ten freshmen in receiving yards and first in yards per catch, a strong finish that made the sophomore no longer feel like a freshman by season’s end.
Now USC is asking him to carry even more. Hines missed all of spring practice after offseason surgery, but the connection with Maiava is already established, and that matters as he moves into the No. 1 receiver role on a permanent basis.
That pairing is central to what USC wants to do offensively. Hines brings real speed to the table, and it showed long before he ever got to campus.
In high school, he ran 10.45 in the 100 and 20.71 in the 200, and that track speed has translated into a dangerous vertical threat on the outside. He is also the only returning player who has caught more than three passes from Maiava in a live game.
He leads a rebuilt receiver group in 2026. NC State transfer Terrell Anderson is the only portal addition at the position.
Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Boobie Feaster headline the freshman outside receivers, while sophomore Corey Simms returns after playing in all 13 games last season as a major special teams contributor. Freshmen Tron Baker, Luc Weaver and Roderick Tezeno add depth.
There is also a battle in the slot. Zacharyus Williams was limited to five games last season after a significant upper body injury kept him out for two and a half months, and he is competing with freshman Trent Mosley for a starting job. Redshirt freshman Romero Ison, a four-star recruit in the 2025 class, is also in the mix.
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