USC men's basketball add one of the top players in the country to recruiting class

While the USC Trojans’ season ended in disappointment on the court, falling short of an NCAA Tournament bid, their momentum on the recruiting trail remains unstoppable. In a massive win for the program’s future, the Trojans have officially landed Christian Collins, a composite five-star small forward and the top-ranked player in California.

Collins, a force of nature out of St. John Bosco (Bellflower, CA), officially becomes the third McDonald’s All-American to commit to USC’s loaded 2026 haul.

By spurning blue bloods like Kentucky and Louisville, Collins has cemented the Trojans as a recruiting juggernaut. NBA scouts are already enamored with his ceiling, and he’s widely projected to head to the pros after just one season in Los Angeles.

Adam Finkelstein handles basketball recruiting for 247Sports and he wrote the following about Collins:

"Collins is one of the more talented long-term prospects in the national class. At 6-foot-8, he's long (7-foot-plus wingspan), mobile, and a very fluid mover. He covers the court extremely well, has an elastic body type, and is a good vertical athlete who can jump off either one or two feet, and then has a quick second bounce."

Ranked as a top-five prospect nationally, Collins’ commitment has vaulted USC’s 2026 recruiting class to No. 3 in the country. He joins an elite group that already includes four-star twins Adonis and Darius Ratliff, further solidifying the Trojans' future frontcourt. Collins is coming off a monster season at St. John Bosco, where he dominated the competition with a double-double average of 28.3 points and 12.5 rebounds per game.