The Hotline is delighted to provide college football fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on May 1 …
Fall of Troy: Premature
USC continues to recruit at an elite level in the 2025-26 cycle, and its class is only getting stronger.
The Trojans landed their best prospect to date on Thursday when Keenyi Pepe, the No. 9 overall player in the country and the third-rated offensive tackle, announced he would play for Lincoln Riley and Co.
While Pepe has spent the entirety of his prep career at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, make no mistake: He’s a Southern Californian, and USC’s mantra of “the best in California stay and play at USC” rings true.
Pepe’s older brother, Kobe Pepe, heads into his senior season as a defensive lineman for the Trojans, so their college careers won’t overlap. But landing the elder Pepe years ago paid huge dividends in landing a prospect coveted coast-to-coast.
Keenyi Pepe joins Georgia athlete Xavier Griffin, the No. 8 overall recruit, as the second top-10 player to pledge for the Trojans.
The development further cements USC’s position atop the 2026 recruiting rankings, well in front of No. 2 Clemson.
In addition, the Trojans also pulled in a receiver from Louisiana in three-star prospect Roderick Tezeno.
Major win for Wilcox
For all the losses that Cal’s roster, and coaching staff, have felt in 2025, there was finally some good news in Berkeley. And frankly, it was a bit of a shocker.
The Bears went down to Georgia and grabbed four-star edge rusher Cam Brooks.
Ranked as one of the top 200 players nationally, Brooks was supposed to visit Clemson, Ohio State and Florida State in the coming weeks.
But the Bears didn’t merely stop him from taking those visits; they secured his verbal commitment, as well. It has been years since Cal landed a defensive prospect as coveted as Brooks.
Now they just have to hold onto him for five months.
More Sun Devil momentum
As if the heat hasn’t been turning up enough in the desert, Arizona State’s recruiting in the 2026 class continues to sizzle. But let’s not completely close the book on 2025.
The Sun Devils got a huge boost to their incoming class when the No. 1 junior college player in California, edge rusher Joshua Shanklin, announced he would be heading to Arizona State.
The fifth-ranked junior college recruit overall, Shanklin was a full qualifier in high school but didn’t have any recruiting traction. He attended Foothill College in the Bay Area and became a coveted edge rusher.
Shanklin chose the Sun Devils over Mississippi, West Virginia, Missouri, Washington State and UCLA.
Looking ahead, the Sun Devils also pulled in a trio of commitments for their 2026 class: a top 20 running back in Cardae Mack, who’s from Texas, plus receiver Nalin Scott (Georgia) and linebacker Oscar Aguilar (California).
The Sun Devils have the No. 11 class nationally and the No. 2 class in the Big 12 at the beginning of May.
Buffs’ family ties
It was a big week for the son of a Colorado coach. Of course, that would be Ventura (California) College defensive lineman Dometo Peko Jr. (Who else could we have possibly been referring to?)
The son of Buffaloes assistant defensive line coach Dometo Peko, a longtime NFL player, Peko Jr. chose to join his father in Boulder.
Peko signed with Hawaii out of high school but bounced back to Ventura College and is now the No. 1 junior college edge rusher in the 2026 class.
The Buffs are hoping for some more coach-son magic in Folsom Field.
Big announcement in SoCal
Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana has arguably the best 1-2 punch of receivers in the country in 2026.
Chris Henry Jr. remains committed to Ohio State and shut down his recruitment entirely despite pushes from USC and Oregon.
Meanwhile, his teammate, Kayden Dixon-Wyatt, will make his decision on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. live on the 247Sports YouTube channel.
The Buckeyes are a finalist, along with USC, Oregon, Alabama and Texas. Each school has signed a player from Mater Dei in the last couple of years.
Dixon-Wyatt is the nation’s No. 59 overall prospect in the 2026 class and No. 6 receiver, per the 247Sports rankings.
He has a heavyweight list of schools battling for him and one will find out who gets to add him to their arsenal on Sunday.
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