USC’s receiver room has a new face at the front of the line, and it isn’t because of a flashy new arrival.
Tanook Hines is back on the practice field after missing the Trojans’ entire spring and the start of fall camp with an injury, and the sophomore is already drawing attention for a different reason: he looks bigger. When media got a closer look during Mock Game week, Hines had clearly added muscle, another sign of the work USC strength coach Trumain Carroll has put into reshaping the roster as the Trojans head into their third season in the Big Ten.
That return matters for USC in a room that leans young. Outside of Hines and NC State transfer Terrell Anderson, who also came back to practice last week after getting banged up in camp, there isn’t much proven experience. Hines now sits at the center of that group, and even while he was sidelined, he was still helping fill a leadership gap left by Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane.
That role comes naturally because Hines has already done a lot in a short time. He didn’t enroll until the summer, then beat out several veterans and won a starting job as a true freshman coming out of fall camp last season. The former four-star recruit in the 2025 class flashed early, made his presence felt as a blocker, and kept gaining confidence as he adjusted to the college game.
The breakthrough came in a late November game against Oregon, when he caught six passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. He kept rolling in the Alamo Bowl, stepping into the WR1 spot with Lemon and Lane opting out and finishing with six catches for 163 yards. Hines ended up third on the team in receptions and receiving yards in 2025, and the former track star led all Big Ten freshmen in yards per catch.
His rise fits the pattern in USC’s receiver room under Dennis Simmons, who has spent nearly two decades producing All-Americans, Biletnikoff Award winners and first-round picks.
Anderson has already leaned on Hines while learning the offense.
“Tanook helped me a lot, we study plays,” Anderson said. “If I don't know something, I call him and ask him.
Make sure I'm got my splits right, running the right stuff, blocking the right man. We help each other a lot, we never try to hold secrets from each other.“
Now Hines is leading a rebuilt group that also includes a wave of freshmen in Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, Trent Mosley, Boobie Feaster and Tron Baker. Corey Simms has put together a strong fall camp and is expected to be part of the rotation after playing only 22 offensive snaps in 2025, and Zacharyus Williams is back as well after being limited to five games last season.
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