Recruiting Process for Talanoa Ili Far From Over for UCLA

Talanoa Ili had his eyes set on playing close to home, and that's exactly what he got.

The 79th-ranked recruit and fourth-ranked linebacker in the country decided on where he was going to play football in college, and he had USC and UCLA as his finalists.

Ultimately, the SoCal-born linebacker went with the Trojans, and UCLA missed out on one of its prized recruits.

Luckily, the Bruins didn’t put all their eggs in one basket. The need to fill the gap left by Carson Schwesinger is significant, so Ili would've been the ideal fit.

Regardless, they brought on linebacker Isaiah Chisom — the transfer from Oregon State for 2025 — and already have a commitment from 2026 linebacker Ramzak Fruean.

There’s no doubt the Trojans have the history on the gridiron, while UCLA has historically been a basketball school, but the Bruins have been active in growing their program.

USC has historically gained commitments from several highly-touted prospects. The problem has been keeping them.

Ili was head over heels for what Coach Lincoln Riley and General Manager Chad Bowden told him, and it gave him a sense of purpose in carrying the Trojan legacy.

"Everything changed after Chad Bowden became GM and really shifted the narrative to keeping the California kids home,” Ili told On3. “When that narrative was created, the way they recruited me shifted, and after my first visit this year, I saw USC in a different way."

For the Bruins, it's complicated.

Losing out on a premium in-state linebacker is always a disappointment. You never want to accept moral victories, but the Bruins being a finalist for someone like Ili is significant for a program that consistently lost out on recruits.

In this modern age of recruiting, depending on the person, the door is never closed. With NIL, the portal, and tempting promises, the recruiting process doesn’t end until pen hits paper.

So don’t count UCLA out.

Because USC has a lot of work to do. Emphasis on a lot.

In Riley’s first three recruiting cycles, he’s signed six five-star recruits, with only one still in the program.

Domani Jackson left. Malachi Nelson left. Duce Robinson left. Zachariah Branch left. Raleek Brown, who has made it known he isn’t a fan of USC, left.

Recently, they also lost five-star commitments in Juju Lewis, Justus Terry, and Isaiah Gibson.

Landing the talent isn’t the problem. Keeping it is. And it’s starting to get to the point where the Trojans are gaining a reputation among recruits.

UCLA is trending up, and while it's not landing the typical five-star superstars, it’s landing strong and effective players. Four-star offensive linemen Micah Smith and Johnnie Jones recently committed to DeShaun Foster’s squad for 2026, as well as four-star wide receivers Jonah Smith and Jaron Pula.

Ili picked USC for now. But based on history, this recruiting process is far from over.