freshman

When 32 freshman football players filed excitedly into the meeting room at John McKay Center in January for their first official meeting at USC, each new Trojan from the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class in 2026 was asked to stand up, share their name, number, position and an interesting fact about them.

This was pretty standard fare, as far as ice-breakers go. Albeit with one notable difference from past years.

“It was abnormally long [this year,] for sure,” senior offensive lineman Tobias Raymond said, with a laugh.

As USC opened spring practice on Tuesday, a cursory glance through its spring roster would tell you just how much the Trojans will need those freshmen to find their footing — and fast — in a season likely to be defined by their development. Nearly half of the players in attendance for Tuesday’s first day (46 of 103) were either freshmen or redshirt freshmen. That’s almost triple the current size of USC’s junior or senior classes (16).

If the Trojans have any hope of making the College Football Playoff for the first time in five tries under Lincoln Riley, an influx of 18- and 19-year-olds will play a major part.

“There’s a lot of new guys,” Riley said Tuesday. “Getting a look at these people, seeing where they’re at in terms of their development and where they’ve gotta go, I think the evaluation process is going to be really important.”

At no position will that be more critical than pass catcher, where USC must replace its top two wide receivers, Makai Lemon and Ja’Kobi Lane, and top two tight ends, Lake McRee and Walker Lyons. In their place steps a deep crop of young talented options, all hoping to emerge this spring.

There will certainly be no shortage of opportunity for USC’s four incoming freshmen receivers (Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, Trent Mosley, Luc Weaver and Tron Baker) and two incoming tight ends (freshman Mark Bowman and junior college transfer Josiah Jefferson) to make that impression. In addition to the void left by Lemon and Lane’s departures, the Trojans will also be without their top returning wideout this spring, as Tanook Hines will sit out the entire session following an offseason procedure.

Hines, who’s only a sophomore, could probably use the next five weeks of spring to develop, considering how much of the Trojans passing attack is likely to rest on his shoulders this fall. But Riley said he thought Hines’ absence could actually be “a blessing in disguise” for the rest of the room.

“All these guys, they’re going to get a ton of reps and they all need them,” Riley said. “What a phenomenal opportunity for all those other guys to develop and to take advantage of those reps. We’re going to need that.”

That directive has been clear enough to USC starting quarterback Jayden Maiava since the Trojans’ fleet of freshmen arrived on campus. Maiava has spent much of the past two months trying to build a connection with young players on both sides of the ball, taking them out to dinners, watching film with them, walking through the playbook and even conducting players-only sessions on the practice field.

“It’s a big impact for the guys I’m going out there with,” Maiava said Tuesday. “Just letting them know I care about them and I care about their success. I want the best for them, and I want them to know that.”

In his third season as starter, Maiava won’t have the benefit of one of college football’s best pass-catching pairs at his disposal. He’ll also enter 2026 on the shortlist for the Heisman Trophy — and all the pressure that comes with that.

Offensive coordinator Luke Huard said last month that Maiava has had “a tremendous sense of urgency” since the end of last season.

Raymond, who will snap to Maiava as a center this spring, said the quarterback’s communication has improved “exponentially.”

“Seeing when someone is down or seeing when someone has a good play and picking them up or congratulating them, but also getting on people when they do something wrong,” Raymond said. “If he sees something, he calls it out. If he sees something good, he calls it out.”

Receiver isn’t the only spot where freshmen will get a serious chance to compete next season. On the offensive line, five-star offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe — at 6-foot-7, 330 pounds — already looks quite capable of contributing on a Big Ten front. The same could be said of edge rusher Luke Wafle — 6-foot-6, 265 pounds — and defensive tackles Jameion Winfield — 6-foot-3, 325 pounds — all of whom were five-star prospects.

Still, it may take some time for that young talent to show through, with USC also breaking in both a new defense and special teams concepts. But for what the Trojans will likely lack in experience this spring, they’ll make up for, in some part, with depth.

“We’ve never had a spring practice, none of us in all of our years, that we’ve had this high of a percentage of your full roster already here for spring,” Riley said. “Which is a huge advantage.”

There’s still the small matter of getting all those newcomers to gel. But on that note, Riley thinks talk of USC’s youth movement overlooks how many talented players are returning.

“We’ve kind of gotten painted on the outside as just this crazy young team,” Riley said. “Like, we do have some really good youth, and I know that class has gotten some attention in terms of how that recruiting process played out, but we’ve got a lot of guys that have played a lot of ball here. … You like the talent that we have, you like the returners. I love the guys we brought in. But like one of the best sports franchises of all time said, ‘You’re not collecting talent, you’re building a team.’

“We’ve got talent. Now we’ve got to build a team.”

Injury report

In addition to being down its No. 1 receiver, USC will be without two of its returning starters on the offensive line this spring. Center Kilian O’Connor and right tackle Justin Tauanuu will sit out while recovering from surgical procedures. Left tackle Elijah Paige didn’t practice on Day 1 of spring ball, either.

Cornerbacks Jontez Williams and Chasen Johnson and safety Christian Pierce won’t participate this spring, either, Riley said Tuesday.

Running back Waymond Jordan was limited to start spring ball, as was defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart.

Jared Grindlinger, considered one of the top high school baseball prospects from the class of 2027, is reclassifying and will graduate as part of this year’s class, making him eligible for the 2026 amateur draft, Huntington Beach coach Benji Medure confirmed on Thursday.

Grindlinger is a left-handed 16-year-old pitcher who throws 93 to 95 mph. His brother, Trent, is a freshman at Tennessee, so that option of joining his brother at the end of this season is also possible. He’s uncommitted, but his decision to graduate this spring will add another top pitching talent for pro scouts to evaluate.

Medure said he was already receiving numerous calls on Thursday after word became known, and increased scrutiny is something with which Grindlinger will have to deal.

“He understands the pressure about what’s about to happen,” Medure said.

Grindlinger made his season debut on Wednesday against Loyola, striking out four and giving up five hits and three runs in three innings.

Grindlinger began the process in the fall of perhaps graduating early taking online classes.

Welcome back to the Times of Troy newsletter, where I have emerged from my Hawaiian vacation and probably should be stopped before I buy a Maui timeshare. Please send help.

All jokes (and future debt) aside, we’re ready to roll after a weeklong break on the beach, just in time for the home stretch of the college basketball regular season. Both USC teams are still on the bubble midway through February, albeit one much more comfortably than the other.

The Trojan men’s March hopes are the more tenuous of the two. The sudden ascent to stardom of freshman Alijah Arenas has injected new hope into a hard-luck season. There’s still a ways to go: USC must face Illinois and Nebraska, not to mention UCLA twice, and could still use a couple more Quad 1 wins to bolster its resume. But the talent is there for USC to do some damage in the tournament … if it can make it to March.

The Trojan women are on much steadier ground, slotted at 22nd in the NCAA’s NET rankings. They’ve yet to lose a non-Quad 1 game this season and haven’t lost a game at all since Jan. 25. If the tournament started today, they’d be firmly in the field.

Lindsay Gottlieb has found a means to make it work over the last month, in spite of some shortcomings in a lineup that lost not just JuJu Watkins, but also all the other stars who might’ve lined up to play with her this season. Still, USC has weathered 25 games with a Watkins-sized hole in its lineup, a limited frontcourt and inconsistent play at point guard.

Gottlieb, as coach, deserves a lot of credit for that. As does Kara Dunn, the Trojans’ sharp-shooting grad transfer, who is shooting 51% and averaging 21 points, six rebounds and three assists over her past 11 games.

But USC could not have come this far this season if not for the best freshman in college basketball.

Jazzy Davidson has been every bit the difference-maker in her debut season that she was advertised to be as the top recruit in the 2025 class. She has been an elite defender, a dynamic and varied scorer, a poised and determined leader. She’s delivered in the clutch. She’s dragged USC out of deficits. She leads the Trojans in every statistical category: points (17.2), rebounds (6.3), assists (4.4), steals (1.9) and blocks (2.2).

The numbers only really tell part of the story. When Davidson signed with USC, she expected to play her first season with Watkins. Instead, Watkins injured her knee. The rest of USC’s Elite Eight lineup left. And Davidson suddenly found herself the centerpiece of the team’s hopes. As a freshman.

Those expectations would have weighed heavily on most first-year players, even before considering Watkins’ shadow looming over all the proceedings. But in this case, they haven’t seemed to faze the star freshman in the slightest. She’s been a picture of poise through a season that asked her to be just that. It’s an impossible thing to ask of most 18-year-olds.

And yet, in Davidson’s case, it’s working.

“You talk about overdelivering, to be a freshman and carry the load for us,” Gottlieb said, “she’s just capable of doing almost anything on a basketball court. She’s unique. I know there are several good freshmen in the country. We know how good she is. We see it every day, and we think there’s no one better.”

Someone in SEC country will surely make the case that Vanderbilt point guard Aubrey Galvan has been the nation’s top freshman. Advanced metrics, for one, will tell you that Galvan is worth 3.3 win shares compared to 3.1 for Davidson. She’s certainly been special on the offensive end, pairing up with national player of the year candidate Mikayla Blakes to make the most lethal 1-2 punch in women’s college basketball.

But Galvan is the No. 2 in that attack. That’s the role Davidson was supposed to play as a freshman. Instead, Davidson has been the focal point of opposing team’s game plans from the start, and yet still managed to adjust to the college game on the fly. Her usage rate (28.8%), which measures how often a possession ends with the ball in one’s hands, is higher than any freshman in the country. And she’s only getting better with the ball in her hands.

USC’s hopes this March hinge on Davidson continuing that ascent. It wasn’t supposed to be that way. But here we are. And in some strange, roundabout way, the experience might wind up making USC and its star freshman much better in the long run.

Because next year, USC will welcome not only Watkins back from injury, but also the No. 1 recruit in the nation, Saniyah Hall, as well as 6-foot-4 Aussie forward Sitaya Fagan, who’s redshirting this season. That lineup might be the most talented in USC history.

How it fits together will be the story of next season. But in this one, Davidson has proven she can be whatever USC needs her to be.

Not only the best freshman in college basketball, but the glue that’s kept this Trojans season together.

Mater Dei wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt pulls in a long reception to score against St John Bosco.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

—One last thing about Jazzy. She could stand to be more efficient from the three-point line, where she has made just nine of her last 52 attempts (17%). USC, as a team, has really struggled from behind the arc, which is not something you want in March.

—Chad Baker-Mazara should be back this week. It’s not clear if he’ll be ready for Wednesday’s big matchup. When USC welcomes No. 8 Illinois to Galen Center, it will have been more than two weeks since Baker-Mazara sprained his medial collateral ligament against Indiana. A Grade I sprain usually requires sitting out a week or two, so the timeline is pretty normal. USC is going to need its full arsenal, Baker-Mazara included, to hold its own against the Illini. But if not Wednesday, the sixth-year senior will definitely be back by Saturday against Oregon.

—Chad Bowden wasn’t subtle about his expectations for next season. USC’s general manager told reporters that he was “on a warpath” heading into 2026. He made clear that success next season is “black and white. You’re either in the playoffs or you’re not,” he said. He added that fans “should be unhappy” with a nine-win season and that he was “sick to his stomach” about it. Strong words from someone whose opinion matters a lot within Heritage Hall. Chalk it up as more evidence that a Playoff appearance is the baseline of expectations for Lincoln Riley next season.

—Blue-chip pass-catching prospects Kayden Dixon-Wyatt and Mark Bowman both took less money to sign with USC. That’s a good sign. Bowden said USC hadn’t talked to Kayden Dixon-Wyatt in three or four months while the top-50 receiver recruit was committed to Ohio State. But Dixon-Wyatt decided out of the blue that he was coming to USC, to stay home and play in front of family, even if it meant taking less money than he would’ve gotten in Columbus. He wasn’t the only one. On signing day, Lane Kiffin and LSU swooped in to offer Dixon-Wyatt’s Mater Dei teammate, tight end Mark Bowman, “significantly more” than the deal he had with USC, Bowden said. Bowman made Bowden wait most of the day before reassuring he was always bound for USC. We might look back on that decision as a pretty consequential one, if Bowman lives up to his billing from Bowden as “one of the best players in the country.”

—USC is putting a lot of faith in its linebacker room for 2026. Bowden says he thinks the room will “take the biggest leap” of any position next season, but for the moment, that would require quite a bit of projection. Riley pointed to the progress from Desman Stephens down the stretch of last season, as well as the late emergence of Jadyn Walker, as reasons why USC didn’t feel the need to add more in the transfer portal. USC did add Deven Bryant, who the front office viewed as a quality run defender, and welcomes a freshman in Talanoa Ili who could be involved right away.

—The Big Ten is still pushing the 24-team Playoff – *shakes head* – but its plan isn’t all bad. I am not a fan in the slightest of doubling the size of the Playoff. That would significantly devalue the regular season, while lining the coffers of college football’s ruling class. The Big Ten has dominated the last three years of the 12-team Playoff, and yet it wants to open the field up more? It doesn’t make sense. What does sound logical to me, amid an otherwise insane plan, is the elimination of the conference championship games. Not only would that cut a full week out of the calendar, which needs to happen, it would do away with any questions about whether teams can hurt their resume just by playing another game. Go to 16 teams, do away with conference championship games and please — I beg you — stop tweaking the system.

—USC baseball’s season opened with a combined no-hitter. After beating Pepperdine in its season opener, the Trojans went one step further in their Saturday matchup, serving up the school’s first no-hitter in eight years. Sophomore right-hander Grant Govel went seven innings and struck out 10 batters while walking just one, and freshman Cameron Fausset closed the door with another hitless inning before Andrew Lamb hit a two-run homer to invoke the 10-run rule. Hard to imagine a better start to USC’s first season back on campus.

Olympic sports spotlight

After winning its first indoor NCAA title in 53 years last season, the future of USC men’s track has looked strong this indoor season.

Jack Stadlman, a Temecula native, set the indoor 400-meter freshman record at USC, finishing in second with a 45.51 on Day 1 of the Don Kirby Elite Invite on Friday. Stadlman actually didn’t start running track until his junior year at Temecula Valley High and didn’t start running the 400 until last spring. Now already he’s run the fastest indoor time ever for a freshman at USC and the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA in the event this season. That should set Stadlman up nicely for next month’s NCAA indoor championships.

Freshman Cordial Vann also made a strong impression, tying the indoor freshman record at USC with a 6.60 in the 60-meter sprint. The NCAA best so far this year is a 6.49.

In case you missed it

USC coach Lincoln Riley completes staff featuring new defensive blood, continuity

‘She’s unique.’ Jazzy Davidson helps USC climb out of early hole and win fifth in a row

USC men come up a bit short against Ohio State

What I’m watching this week

Timothée Chalamet in “Marty Supreme.”

I finally had the chance this past weekend to watch “Marty Supreme,” the best picture nominee starring Timothée Chalamet and directed by Josh Safdie. And boy was it worth the wait.

Let me start by saying that I generally dislike sports movies. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. But as someone who spends a lot of time thinking about the beauty and romance and drama inherent to sports, I am a documented hater of the genre.

“Marty Supreme,” though, was no ordinary sports movie. This was a propulsive, anxiety-inducing roller coaster ride as we follow Marty Mauser, played by Chalamet, as he tries to become the face of the emerging sport of table tennis in a post-World War II America. Those plans, as you might imagine, unravel along the way, and in the process, Chalamet gives one of the best performances of the year.

I’m still partial to “One Battle After Another” if we’re talking best picture in next month’s Academy Awards, but “Marty Supreme” is no doubt one of the best movies of the last year.

Until next time …

That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email me at ryan.kartje@latimes.com, and follow me on X at @Ryan_Kartje. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.