USC Signing Day 2017 Tracker, Live Blog and Open Thread

It’s USC Signing Day 2017! The Trojans finished the 2016 season on a tear and are hoping to replicate results in recruiting by finishing strong.

USC enters Signing Day with 19 total commits already in the bag, the eighth-ranked class in the country and a number of big time recruits who can lift the Trojans up the national rankings even further.

Five Trojan commits are already enrolled, including Washington flip Marlon Tuipulotu and San Clemente quarterback Jack Sears, while the 14 remaining pledges are all expected to sign their national letters of intent without delay.

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Among them, five-star running back Stephen Carr, four-star safeties Bubba Bolden and Isaiah Pola-Mao, four-star linemen Alijah Vera-Tucker and Brett Neilon, as well as four-star rush end Hunter Echols headline the class.

And that haul should only get better with the Trojans entering the day as favorites to sign uncommitted prospects like five-star wide receiver Joseph Lewis, four-star athlete Greg Johnson and four-star offensive tackle Austin Jackson, among others.

The 2016 class finished with a flourish as the Trojans flipped Jamel Cook and Vavae Malepeai while landing the likes of Connor Murphy, Keyshawn “Pie” Young and Jack Jones.

RELATED: USC’s 10 Biggest Signing Day Gets of the Last 10 Years

Can USC replicate those results by nailing down key targets on the Big Board this year as well? We’re about to find out.

We’ll have full coverage of Signing Day here at Reign of Troy, as we track all of the Trojans’ signings and live blog all the happenings from the day.

So prepare yourself with plenty of caffeine. Signing Day 2017 is a go for launch.

STAY UP TO DATE ON SIGNING DAY: Download our app in Apple’s App Store and Google Play on Android devices.

Live Blog

1:37 pm: The NLIs of Joseph Lewis and Greg Johnson are in, giving the Trojans a completely full class of 23: 18 Signing Day signeees and five early enrollees. The only player remaining to be heard from is three-star defensive end Terrance Lang out of Marantha High School in Pasadena.

Are the Trojans out of room for Lang? Will he flip to Colorado? Is one of the 23 early enrollees actually a walk-on and not on scholarship? Could Lang grayshirt? The questions remain.

1:24 pm: And boom goes the dynamite. USC caps off the 2017 class with a double announcement at Hawkins High School, bagging five-star receiver Joseph Lewis and four-star athlete Greg Johnson to prompt support staffer Alex Rios to drop the tweet of the year.

12:55 pm: All but one USC commit for 2017 has their LOI officially in, though the Trojans will be hoping to add a couple more to that number in a few minutes.

Josh Falo’s signature has been verified while Carr’s LOI has been announced. Read profile>>

12:43 pm: It’s (unofficially) official, Carr has confirmed he is signing for USC. The only thing left on the Carr front is to wait until the Trojans announce his LOI.

12:33 pm: After Stephen Carr took an official visit to UCLA, there was speculation that he might be in danger of flipping to the Bruins. His Signing Day ceremony would suggest otherwise, with cardinal and gold banners proclaiming him a USC commit.

11:55 am: Just before the stroke of noon, four-star tight end added to USC’s riches, declaring for the Trojans over Oregon. Read more>>

11:35 am: Tufele committed earlier today and now he’s officially been named as a signee for USC in 2017.

The Trojans are still waiting on Carr and Lang to sign.

10:30 am: There were rumors swirling about linebacker Juliano Falaniko flipping his commitment, but those can be put to bed now. USC announced the three-star prospect has signed his LOI. Read profile>>

10:06 am: And then there were four — unsigned commitments. Four-star offensive tackle Austin Jackson faxed in letter of intent, as announced by USC.

9:48 am: With a lull in the action, the focus for USC now turns to numbers. The Trojans have 22 recruits either signed or committed, out of a maximum 24 rides when accounting for Jalen McKenzie’s blueshirt.

With those two free spots, USC has four targets remaining: WR Joseph Lewis, ATH Greg Johnson, TE Josh Falo and DB Elijah Blades. How do the Trojans finish? Three of those four will decide at 1:00 p.m. PT.

9:15 am: Wow, what a huge couple of minutes. Back-to-back huge pick ups for the Trojans. Four-star defensive tackle Jay Tufele picks up the USC hat and spurns home-state favorite Utah to come to Los Angeles. Read profile>>

9:10 am: Austin Jackson is a Trojan! The four-star tackle picks USC over ASU. Read profile>>

8:48 am: The next LOI confirmed is another safety. Isaiah-Pola Mao has officially signed. Read profile>>

That leaves just three remaining unsigned USC commits — RB Stephen Carr, LB Juliano Falaniko and DT Terrance Lang. Carr isn’t expected to sign until the afternoon at Summit High School’s Siging Day ceremony.

8:43 am: USC is running out of LOIs to announce. The latest is four-star safety Bubba Bolden. Read profile>>

8:38 am: And here’s two more LOIs confirmed. Three-star defensive tackle Brandon Pili out of Alaska has signed on. Read profile>>

Pili was followed by three-star athlete Randal Grimes. Read profile>>

8:30 am: USC is wasting no time announcing these LOIs now. Three-star cornerback and former Cal commit Je’Quari Godfrey came first. Read profile>>

Following right after, the Trojans announced the signing of four-star tackle Alijah Vera-Tucker. Read profile>>

8:18 am: LOIs are coming in droves now. Three-star tight end Erik Krommenhoek is the latest to lock in. Read profile>>

8:10 am: Echols is quickly followed by four-star center Brett Neilon as the fourth LOI confirmed. Read profile>>

7:57 am: Four-star defensive Hunter Echols is USC’s third confirmed LOI on the board. Read profile>>

7:35 am: Four-star tight end Josh Falo has set an announcement time. He’ll be picking between USC, Oregon and Colorado during his lunch break.

7:30 am: Five-star defensive tackle Aubrey Solomon picks Michigan over USC and Alabama. That’s not a big surprise even though the Trojans got closer than expected. Read more>>

USC can make up for that loss with the next man on deck, Jay Tufele the four-star DT out of Utah.

7:13 am: As expected, four-star junior college defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw has announced his decision to stay home and attend South Carolina. He had also considered USC. Read more>>

7:07 am: Levi Jones has made it official with USC announcing the receipt of his LOI, the second of the day for the Trojans.

6:22 am: The first LOI has arrived at the McKay Center. Three-star defensive end Jacob Lichtenstein of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. officially signed with the Trojans. He’s a big, strong kid who gives USC depth up front behind the likes of Rasheem Green and Christian Rector. Read profile >>

6:10 am: USC got its first victory of the day, as four-star linebacker Levi Jones picked the Trojans over Florida and Florida State. The fun part? He did it as a full-on troll, taking off Florida and FSU T-shirts before revealing a USC shirt underneath. Jones, the No. 6 outside linebacker in 247Sports Composite and could be an early contributor due to a lack of depth on the roster.

4:45 am: Good morning Trojan fans! It’s officially Signing Day, as teams on the east coast are already beginning to announce their signings. USC’s first NSD announcement will come shortly, as Levi Jones, a four-star linebacker out of Austin is set to decide on ESPNU at 5:55 a.m PT.

First things first, be sure to check out the announcement schedule for uncommitted USC targets by clicking here.

The Big Board:

4-star CB Elijah Blades

Choices: USC, Nebraska, FloridaAnnouncement: Picked Nebraska

4-star TE Josh Falo

Choices: USC, Oregon, ColoradoAnnouncement: Picked USC

4-star OT Austin Jackson

Choices: USC, ASU, WashingtonAnnouncement: Picked USC

4-star ATH Greg Johnson

Choices: USC, Oregon, NebraskaAnnouncement: Picked USC

4-star LB Levi Jones

Choices: USC, Florida State, FloridaAnnouncement: Picked USC

4-star DT Javon Kinlaw

Choices: USC, South CarolinaAnnouncement: Picked South Carolina

5-star WR Joseph Lewis

Choices: USC, NebraskaAnnouncement: Picked USC

5-star DT Aubrey Solomon

Choices: USC, Alabama, MichiganAnnouncement: Picked Michigan

4-star DT Jay Tufele

Choices: USC, Utah, Ohio StateAnnouncement: Picked USC

Letters of Intent Received (18):

Unsigned Commits (1):

Early Enrollees (5):

Expected Blueshirts (1):