College Football

10 Biggest Signing Day Gets in USC Football History

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:35 a.m. ET

Fansided, Alicia de Artola/FanSided via Reign of Troy

Feb 4, 2015; Long Beach, CA, USA; Long Beach Poly High Jackrabbits cornerback Iman Marshall (left) poses wtih basketball player Jordan Dallas after announcing his decision to attend the University of Southern California at press conference at Long Beach Poly. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

USC football has scored some big prospects on the first Wednesday of February. Here are the Trojans’ 10 best Signing Day recruiting wins.

Since the advent of the ESPNU Signing Day Special in 2006, the drama surrounding the last day of recruiting has only been heightened.

But heightened drama means bigger emotion, and there’s nothing better than seeing the happy moments of a Signing Day commitment pay off with actual production on the field.

So here’s a look at USC’s best Signing Day additions of the last 10 years, specifically, the recruits who made fans cheer as much when they got on the field as they did when they put on the USC hat:

10. Iman Marshall | 2015

In 2014, USC nabbed the nation’s No. 1 cornerback in Adoree’ Jackson. In 2015, the Trojans looked to strike gold for a second time by closing the deal with Long Beach Poly cornerback Iman Marshall. Marshall was also the top cornerback in the class, along with being the top player in California and the 4th-best prospect in the country.

USC was always the favorite to land Marshall, but there was the drama of uncertainty leading into his commitment announcement. Marshall took official visits to Florida State, Michigan and LSU, while UCLA was also looking to bring him in.

On Signing Day, he dropped a music video from Bleacher Report to announce his commitment to the Trojans, making all that worry for naught.

Marshall has another year to make an even bigger impression, but his first two years as a Trojan have produced good results. He started a freshman and continued to grow as a sophomore.

With Jackson on his way to the NFL in 2017, Marshall’s value couldn’t be higher. His presence gives USC a leg to stand on at cornerback even without the Thorpe Award winner.

9. Nickell Robey | 2010

The surprise departure of Pete Carroll and subsequent hiring of Lane Kiffin at USC sent shock waves through the recruiting landscape as the Trojans tried to hold onto the 2010 recruiting class.

Though USC lost some recruits along the way, they also picked up some crucial pieces along the way, including four-year starter at linebacker Hayes Pullard, whose Signing Day Eve commitment excludes him from this list.

On Signing Day proper, however, the Trojans managed to flip a commit from out of SEC country thanks to the SEC ties of their new head coach.

Kiffin had been working on bringing four-star cornerback and Georgia commit Nickell Robey to Tennessee when he took the USC job. Despite the change in venue, Kiffin managed to seal the deal with Robey in Los Angeles.

The recruiting victory bore fruit straight away as Robey started every game during his true freshman season, leading the team in interceptions.

As a sophomore Robey managed even more accolades as a first team All-Pac-12 selection.

All told, he started 37 games in his career and tied Charles Phillips record with three career pick sixes.

8. Joe McKnight | 2007

Ten years ago, Joe McKnight provided USC with perhaps the first huge Signing Day announcement of the “Signing Day extravaganza” era.

As the No. 1 recruit in the nation and already tagged as the “next Reggie Bush,” McKnight’s decision was as big as they come, televised on ESPNU for a live national audience.

McKnight shocked everyone by spurning hometown LSU in favor of the Trojans, giving USC one of the top classes in the nation, including four of the Top 10 players in the class.

In the end, McKnight didn’t live up to the hype. He was not the second coming of Bush, but he was a productive running back in his own right.

His 2,213 career rushing yards rank 16th among USC’s all-time leading rushers and he tallied 14 games with more than 100 all-purpose yards.

As a junior in 2009, Mcknight led USC with 1,014 yards and eight touchdowns.

Most impressively, McKnight finished his career with a yards per carry average of 6.38, which is second all-time at USC behind only Bush.

7. Nick Perry | 2008

Nick Perry was the No. 1 player at his position and the No. 1 player in the state of Michigan coming out of high school in 2008.

The four-star defensive end had the opportunity to stay home and play for the Wolverines, fly south to join Miami, or head west to join Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans.

Perry chose option number three, joining a USC defensive line class which already boasted the commitments of Wes Horton, Armond Armstead, Jurrell Casey and Malik Jackson.

Though USC didn’t see his contributions right away — he redshirted during his first year — soon enough the Trojans found themselves a formidable pass rusher for the defense.

Coming off the bench in 2009, Perry garnered freshman All-American nods by leading the team with eight sacks.

Perry’s 2010 season didn’t quite live up to that level, but as a redshirt junior in 2011 the lineman emerged as one of USC’s most important players. He tallied 9.5 sacks, ranking 10th nationally, and made the All-Pac-12 first team.

6. Nelson Agholor | 2012

USC was the first school to offer Nelson Agholor a scholarship, but it wasn’t until Signing Day in 2012 that the Trojans were assured they had him in the bag.

In order to nab Agholor, who said he had an affinity for the Trojans to begin with, USC had to fend off the local rivals Florida State and Florida, in addition to Notre Dame and Oklahoma, who also made the receivers’ Top 5.

In the end, Agholor said his coach told him to go with his gut, and his gut was to pull out the cardinal and gold hat on Signing Day.

USC reaped the benefits of that decision, as Agholor went on to have a stellar career with the Trojans.

Though he started out third in the pecking order behind Marqise Lee and Robert Woods in 2012, Agholor broke out in 2013. With Lee hampered by a knee injury, the sophomore to took on a greater role, leading the Trojans in receiving and leading the Pac-12 in punt returns average — setting a USC record along the way.

Agholor capped his time at USC with his best season yet as a junior. Amassing 104 receptions, 1,313 yards and 12 touchdowns, along with two punt return touchdowns, Agholor was named an All-American in 2014.

5. JuJu Smith-Schuster | 2014

The 2014 class featured a so-called “Big 3” of highly-rated recruits whose decisions came down to Signing Day, including St. John Bosco’s Damien Mama, Serra’s Adoree’ Jackson and Long Beach Poly’s John “JuJu” Smith.

The five-star athlete, whose legal name would become JuJu Smith-Schuster, was the last of those three dominoes to fall and appeared to be the tightest race to call.

Smith-Schuster named a final four of USC, UCLA, Oregon and Notre Dame. In fact, after he did a hand fake and picked up the USC hat during his Signing Day commitment ceremony, the player said that he had decided to commit to the Ducks, but changed his mind just a couple of days before the announcement.

Oregon’s loss was USC’s immense gain as Smith-Schuster went on to have an outstanding career for the Trojans.

Earning a starting place right away, Smith-Schuster started things off with a bang, hauling in four catches for 123 yards in his debut.

With a solid freshman season in the books playing beside Nelson Agholor, the Trojan receiver took to the No. 1 receiver role like a fish to water as a sophomore. He was a finalist for the Polynesian Player of the Year Award and an All-Pac-12 first teamer with 89 catches for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns. And he did all that while playing the last half of USC’s season with a broken bone in his hand.

Injury limited Smith-Schuster’s production in 2016, but he still finished the season as the Trojans’ leading receiver and solidified his legacy as one of the top USC receivers of the modern era.

4. Buck Allen | 2011

USC’s 2011 recruiting class featured 15 players rated at four- or five-stars. Javorius “Buck” Allen was not one of them. And of the remaining three-star additions in the class, he was one of just two hailing from outside the state of California.

And of those two — Allen and defensive back Isiah Wiley — it wasn’t hard to find which out-of-state recruit traveled the furthest to come play for the Trojans. Wiley came from Yuma, Arizona. Allen came from Tallahassee, Florida.

Even so, USC had a couple advantages trying to convince Allen it would be worth the distance to become a Trojan. Fellow Lincoln High School products T.J. Bryant and Jawanza Starling were already on campus.

So Allen took the plunge and announced his commitment to the Trojans on Signing Day over Auburn and Tennessee.

However, Allen and USC had to wait to see his career actually take off. After redshirting in 2011, the running back landed in Lane Kiffin’s doghouse. He had six carries in all of 2012 and 28 carries in the first half of the 2013 season.

It all changed for Allen on Nov. 11, 2013, with injuries decimating the Trojan backfield, Allen got his opportunity and ran with it, literally. He finished the year with 774 yards and 14 touchdowns and was named the team MVP for the spark he provided USC’s offense.

Coming back as a redshirt junior in 2014, he rose to the occasion and rushed for 1,489 yards en route to All-Pac-12 first team recognition.

3. Marqise Lee | 2011

Marqise Lee wasn’t the biggest recruit USC signed from out of Serra in 2011 — five-star receiver George Farmer headlined the class — but Lee became the most important.

As a four-star athlete, Lee was rated as the No. 45 prospect in the country, the No. 5 player in California and the No. 4 player at his position.

In addition to USC, Lee seriously considered Oregon, Miami, Florida and Cal, who filled in his Top 5. There was a good chance that he would leave the state, and the question of whether or not USC wanted to bring him in as a safety or a receiver hovered over his recruitment.

Still, USC managed to snag Lee, who latched onto the chance to play with Farmer and Robert Woods.

Lee didn’t have to wait long to pair with Woods. He earned a starting job during spring camp and slowly but surely grew into his role at receiver alongside the fellow Serra-grad. With a strong surge to end his freshman season, Lee’s 11 touchdowns were the most among freshmen.

He upped the ante in 2012 outdoing Woods’ production to become the Trojans leading receiver, winning the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s top receiver along with unanimous All-American honors.

Despite a junior season hampered by injury, Lee still left USC owning or sharing 24 Trojan records, including career receiving yards.

2. Adoree’ Jackson | 2014

When a once-in-a-generation player comes around, you’ve got to snatch him up, especially when he happens to play locally.

Adoree’ Jackson was that player coming out of high school, and though he wasn’t born and raised in southern California, the fact that he played football at Serra made him a huge target.

Down the home stretch the Trojans competed with UCLA to land Jackon’s signature, a battle they ultimately won though there was a slight, and worrying, delay in getting his letter of intent delivered.

When he arrived on campus, Jackson lived up to his No. 7 ranking as a recruit nationally almost instantly. He caught a touchdown in his debut. He won a starting job at cornerback by the second game of his freshman season. And he returned a kickoff for a touchdown by October.

As a sophomore he started full-time at cornerback while also finishing as USC’s second-leading receiver.

Capping it all off, Jackson was named a consensus All-American as a junior and became just the second Trojan to ever win the Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back and was a finalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy and the Paul Hornung Award.

1. Leonard Williams | 2012

It’s one thing to pull the top players from your backyard and benefit from their success. It’s another to reach across the country and pull a two-time All-American away from the likes of Florida, Florida State and Miami.

But that’s what USC did when they landed Leonard Williams from Daytona Beach, Florida.

Williams was a four-star defensive line prospect, rated as the No. 3 strongside defensive end in the class and the No. 10 player in Florida, per the 247Sports composite ranking.