The USC Trojans continue to stack their 2026 recruiting class, and Coach Rob Ryan has done a fantastic job adding to his linebacker room just this week.
4-star EDGE/LB Shaun Scott committed to the Trojans on Mother’s Day, and underrated 3-star LB Taylor Johnson committed shortly after.
The next domino to keep an eye on is elite blue-chip LB Talanoa Ili.
Ili made a name for himself at Orange Lutheran in Orange County, but has since moved to Hawaii to finish out his senior season.
Ili received a commitment prediction to choose the Trojans from On3’s Steve Wiltfong and Scott Schrader back on April 18. Now, 247 Sports lead expert, Tom Loy, has joined in on submitting a crystal ball for Ili to sign with the USC Trojans.
USC Trojans Receive Another Crystal Ball For Talanoa Ili
247 Sports recruiting analysts Greg Biggins and Blair Angulo submitted crystal balls for Ili and the Trojans back in April as well, but Loy’s crystal ball carries a bit more weight.
Ili is the 3rd-ranked linebacker by 247 and the 4th-ranked on the 247 Composite, combining all industry recruiting rankings. USC commit, Xavier Griffin, is the top-rated linebacker in the country.
Also Read: USC Trojans Are Currently The Top School “Without A Question” For 5-Star Recruit
Just last week, both Coach Shaun Nua and Coach Rob Ryan flew out to Hawaii to visit Ili and his family. By all accounts, the visit went very well and clearly carried a lot of weight.
Ili did, however, just have his official visit to UCLA this past weekend.
💙💛UCLA💙💛 OV video 🎬@talanoaili pic.twitter.com/lbYVrC8Bnw
— Glen Ili (@Glenili_) May 13, 2025
His cousins, Nico and Madden Iamaleava, just transferred to the Bruins, so UCLA is still very much in play to land his commitment. It was also the first of many official visits that Ili still has planned.
- May 27 – BYU
- June 6 – Oklahoma
- June 10 – Notre Dame
- June 13 – Texas
- June 17 – USC
- June 22 – Oregon
The USC Trojans are the clear leader, but it will be interesting to see how all of these official visits go, as a commitment will likely come afterwards in July sometime.