Once-promising USC Football Linebacker heads to Idaho via transfer portal

Ex-three-star USC Football Linebacker recruit Juliano Falaniko (all recruiting ratings and rankings in article are as of 247Sports) has officially transferred to the University of Idaho. He announced this on Wednesday.

Falaniko was an athletic kid who signed with USC back in 2017. Due to a redshirt year as well as the COVID-19 pandemic giving college football players an extra year of eligibility, he is still eligible to play ball in 2022.

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The FCS program likely is interested in Falaniko due to his intriguing upside as the No. 1 Samoan recruit in the 2017 class that he was. At 6'4", 230 lbs, he's not undersized and his Power 5 experience will certainly be important for Idaho. Falaniko has won a Pac-12 Championship with the Trojans before.

Injuries prevented Juliano Falaniko from realizing his full potential with the USC football program.

Juliano Falaniko was injured for much of his USC football career, even forcing him to sit out the entire 2020 season. When he was on the field, he recorded 21 tackles in 14 games to go along with a tackle and a half for loss, half a sack, and a fumble recovery.

Those are of course very modest numbers, but it's important to remember how little he was able to experience continuity in his preparation throughout his career due to the consistent injuries he ended up having to battle.

Falaniko dealt with an unfortunate situation regarding his health in Los Angeles, and SC fans will wish him the best in Idaho, hoping he'll stay healthy. After all, nobody loses talent. He was a recruit that many fans were eager to see out of American Samoa. If he can stay healthy, he truly may have a high ceiling on the football field that USC knew he had when they had him put pen to paper five years ago.