USC’s #1 Rated Future QB, Julian Lewis, Takes Note of the Recent Buzz Surrounding the Trojans’ Recruiting Successes

Julian Lewis Bio and Stats

247Sports describes Lewis as “[a] de facto point guard on the gridiron [who] can distribute the football like few others.” He is “a crafty mover both in and outside of the pocket and … extend[s] plays like a true escape artist.”

Lewis received “offers from every powerhouse program from coast to coast[,]” but chose USC.

ESPN characterizes Lewis as “the rare high school recruit who has built a strong national reputation outside of recruiting circles,” noting that “he already has 131,000 Instagram followers.”

Lewis currently plays for the Carrollton High School football team, which, like USC, is nicknamed the Trojans. His high school coach, Joey King (who now coaches at Coastal Carolina), also coached Trevor Lawrence.

In two seasons of high school football, Lewis threw for a total of 7,212 yards, at a completion rate of 66%. He threw 96 touchdown passes. In his second high school season, he threw 48 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.

USC’s Recent Success on the Recruiting Trail

Based on recruiting commitments made in March 2024, USC currently has the third best recruiting class in the country for 2025 according to On3.

Significantly USC’s 2025 recruiting class includes three of the top six prospects from the State of Georgia.

As 247Sports reported: “the Trojans have quickly become the hottest team in the country on the recruiting trail.” In particular, March 24, 2024 was a “Hot Sunday” for the Trojans. On that day they landed a bevy of extremely talented recruits, including:

• Justus Terry — five-star recruit from Georgia
• Isaiah Gibson — No. 1 edge rusher in the nation, from Georgia
• Hylton Stubbs — No. 6 safety in the nation, from Jacksonville, FL (close to Georgia)
• Gus Cordova — three-star edge rusher from Austin, Texas

All of these recruits are defenders. And as anyone who follows USC football knows, the Trojans defense has been a relative weak spot in the last couple years.

As depicted below, March 24, 2024 truly was a remarkable recruiting day for the University of Southern California:

Georgia tweeted about its loss of Terry to the Trojans.

The Trojans announced the commitment of Gibson, shortly after flipping Terry.

Then, the announcements continued, with the news of two additional commitments from highly regarded defensive recruits, Stubbs and Cordova.

Terry, who is from Manchester, Georgia flipped his commitment from the University of Georgia to USC. Terry is rated by Rivals as the No. 1 defensive lineman in the nation.

New Trojan defensive line coach Eric Henderson was the principal recruiter for Terry, and he impressed Terry’s family with his background as a Super Bowl champion coach with the Los Angeles Rams, where he coached Aaron Donald. Henderson was on the Rams’ coaching staff from 2019 through 2023, before being hired by the Trojans.

ABC reported:

“USC took a big step toward improving its defense on Sunday when five-star defensive tackle Justus Terry flipped his commitment from Georgia to the Trojans.

“Terry, the No. 7 [overall] prospect in the 2025 class, is a 6-foot-5, 270-pound recruit out of Manchester (Georgia) High School. He had been committed to the Bulldogs since January 2023 before flipping his commitment.”

As reported by The Los Angeles Daily News on March 24, 2024:

“Suddenly, USC has three true blue-chip recruits from Georgia — Terry, Gibson and crown-jewel quarterback Julian Lewis — verbally committed in the class of 2025, a top three as bright as any program’s in the country.

“All signs for the surge point back to Henderson, who recruited both Terry and Gibson and hosted them out at USC this weekend in a big-time recruiting push. On Saturday, none other than the recently-retired Aaron Donald was out at USC’s third spring practice, the former Rams defensive lineman out in support of his former coach Henderson.

“‘As long as this D-line got Coach Henny, man, they gon’ be great,’ Donald said in a video on USC Football’s Twitter account.”

Jeff McKay, co-founder of Conquest NIL, offered an illuminating perspective on the Trojans’ recent recruiting success:

Of course, in the MLB offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers landed megastar Shohei Ohtani, as well as RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, LF Teoscar Hernández, RHP Tyler Glasnow, plus others. And, they made arrangements to bring back legendary and beloved Clayton Kershaw for his 17th season with the team.

As Bleacher Report put it, the Dodgers won the 2023-2024 MLB offseason:

“To say that the Dodgers have won the 2023-24 offseason is like saying that The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie. It’s technically an opinion, but it’s so obviously true that it might as well be a statement of fact.”

Lewis Notes that “Guys Want to Play” for New Members of the Trojan Coaching Staff.

Julian Lewis took notice of the Trojans’ recent recruiting success. On March 29, 2024, he commented:

” [Head] Coach [Lincoln] Riley made a crazy D-line coach hire and now all the guys want to play for him. So it’s exciting to see for sure, because that’s kind of what everyone talks about is SC can’t play defense. So if they can get national recruits on both sides of the ball, it can change that narrative.”

The “crazy D-Line coach hire” to which Lewis is referring is Eric Henderson, whose recruiting exploits are quickly bearing fruit for the Trojans.

Gridiron Heroics will continue to monitor and report on the USC Trojans and the team’s recruiting activities.

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