One of the top prospects in USC’s top-ranked 2026 recruiting class has decided not to wait another year to join the Trojans.
Rancho Cucamonga cornerback RJ Sermons, a four-star recruit, plans to reclassify to the 2025 class, leaving high school a year early to enroll this summer at USC.
Sermons, whose father Rodney played at USC, should give the Trojans another talented option in a defensive backfield that lost five starters from a season ago. How swiftly he’ll be able to claim a role in that rebuilt secondary remains to be seen.
USC already added two starting-caliber corners through the transfer portal in DJ Harvey and Chasen Johnson, while returners DeCarlos Nicholson, Marcelles Williams, Braylon Conley and Prophet Brown have experience in the Trojans’ scheme.