With the surprising news Sunday that Lincoln Riley is leaving Oklahoma to take the USC job, here is a look at five prospects he could flip from the Sooners to the Trojans especially with so many West recruits in Oklahoma’s recruiting classes:
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There might be an “it’s only a matter of time” element here as Brown has the best relationships with Riley and Dennis Simmons at Oklahoma. The old USC coaching staff was trying to flip Brown since the day he committed to the Sooners and never backed off the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei five-star all-purpose back. There might not be a decommitment right this minute but Brown is going to take a very serious look at USC and then make his decisions from there. Georgia has also already reached out and others will as well because Brown is that dynamic with the ball in his hands.
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The four-star receiver from Los Alamitos, Calif., committed to Oklahoma less than a month after his quarterback and classmate Malachi Nelson picked the Sooners. That’s not a coincidence. The two are like kindred spirits on the football field, have a great connection in the offense and playing together in college is definitely a priority. Riley is going to pursue Lemon, Nelson and others very hard to stay home and play up the road at USC. It’s something that could definitely happen pretty easily.
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USC, Oregon, Alabama and Florida State were the four other finalists in Moore’s recruitment when he picked Oklahoma in September. He played his sophomore season at Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines before going to Los Alamitos to join forces with Lemon and Nelson in that impressive offensive attack. There is plenty of reason to believe staying closer to home makes sense for Moore especially if his Los Al teammates feel like that’s their best move, too.
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This is the big fish and the one everyone will be coming after across the country again. This could be a simple move that Lincoln Riley found his 2023 quarterback and Nelson follows him to USC. Or it could be that Nelson really enjoys Oklahoma and Norman and a future competing in the SEC and sees who is hired to replace Riley. Every national power will be making a run at Nelson because he’s that talented but the guess right now is that he wants to play for Riley right up the road.
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USC needs depth, power and toughness along the offensive line and the four-star from Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman has all those attributes. He committed to Oklahoma over Alabama and Notre Dame so it might be a tad more difficult for Riley to swing him to the Trojans but certainly not out of the question. Especially with the need along the offensive line, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that Taylor takes a much-closer look at the Trojans again.
