USC Signing Day 2018: Trojans finish with Top 5 recruiting class

USC finished Signing Day with an exceptional collection of talent, ranking No. 4 in the 247Sports composite team recruiting rankings when the dust settled.

The Trojans entered the day on the outside of the Top 10, but it was only a matter of time before the climbed the ladder. And climb they did, all the way up to No. 4 in the nation.

Clay Helton and staff completed a near-perfect Signing Day, adding eight new signees to the class of 2018.

Those signees included new additions like five-star cornerback Olaijah Griffin, four-star linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu, four-star cornerback Isaac Taylor-Stuart and four-star wide receiver Devon Williams. All four of USC’s Signing Day commits ranked in the Top 100 of commits in the 247Sports composite rankings.

USC also locked in big-time commits like five-star quarterback JT Daniels and wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, along with four-star linebacker Elijah Winston and four-star defensive tackle Trevor Trout.

Put it all together and the Trojans secured a class with an average rating of 94.23, tied with Georgia for the best per-recruit average.

The Top 5 class is all the more impressive considering USC added five less recruits than any one else in that elite group. No. 5 Penn State finished with 23 signees, while No. 3 Texas had 27 and No. 2 Ohio State and No. 1 Georgia each had 26.

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The 2018 class marked the fifth consecutive Top 10 recruiting class for USC, and the second straight Top 5 finish for Helton and company.

The Trojans obviously thrived in separate team rankings as well. Rivals slotted USC at No. 3, with the best star-rating per signee in the nation at 4.28. They also featured at No. 4 in the non-composite 247Sports rankings.

ESPN’s team rankings have USC at No. 7, which isn’t an unusual deviation considering the publication’s tendency to undervalue west coast recruits.

Unsurprisingly, those top rankings also included the Trojans topping the Pac-12 standings.

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Suffice it to say, USC managed an impressive haul on Signing Day and during the Early Signing Period. The future looks bright.