USC beats out two others for three-star OL Elijah Vaikona

Elijah Vaikona has seen his recruitment take off in recent months as the massive offensive lineman has gotten more exposure at camps and other events.

After landing offers mainly from top schools across the West, the three-star from Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Margarita Catholic narrowed his choices to three: USC, UCLA and Washington.

The offer from the Trojans was a dream and so on Tuesday when Vaikona was ready to make his decision it was USC that beat out the Bruins and the Huskies.

“It’s a dream come true with them,” Vaikona said. “I was in shock when I first heard the news so I didn’t really talk a whole lot the next 12 hours or so while I was thinking.”

The 6-foot-8, 365-pound three-star prospect who has tremendous upside took his official visit to USC in mid-June.

From there he looked sold on the Trojans especially as he got to know coach Lincoln Riley and position coach Josh Henson more.

“Getting to know the staff more, especially coach Riley and coach Henson, they’re genuine, they really care about the players and they’re both players’ coaches first,” Vaikona said.

Even though USC was going to be tough to beat once the Trojans offered, it was still a tough call for the Santa Margarita standout.

He knew Washington position coach Brennan Carroll the longest since Carroll was recruiting him at Arizona and Vaikona also loves what new UCLA coach DeShaun Foster is trying to build in Westwood.