Leading ILB in 2025 recruiting class commits to USC

• Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff WriterSep 8, 2024, 01:55 PM ET

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  Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He signed up with ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.Lincoln Riley and USC

landed another crucial defensive piece in the 2025 class Sunday afternoon with a commitment from four-star linebacker Ty Jackson, ESPN’s No. 1 inside linebacker in the cycle.Jackson, ranked 44th in the 2025 ESPN 300, made his dedication

following a see to the Trojans over the weekend, throughout which he saw USC’s defense blank Utah State in a 48-0 triumph Saturday night. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound defender is now the Trojans ‘highest-rated defensive promise and the program’s 8th ESPN 300 dedicate in the 2025 class.He just recently told ESPN that he planned to take his commitment deep into the fall, maybe as late as the start of the early finalizing duration on Dec. 4. Rather, ESPN’s fourth-highest-rated remaining uncommitted defender in the 2025 class gave his pledge just two weeks into the regular season, swayed by the brand of defense emerging with the Trojans under first-year organizer D’Anton Lynn.Editor’s Picks 2 Related Jackson, a star protector from Loxahatchee, Florida, chose USC over a long list of SEC and Big 10 finalists that included Florida, Georgia, Alabama

and Penn State.

His pledge comes as the current positive recruiting advancement for USC’s defense in a summer season that began sour.The Trojans’2025 class suffered a pair of blows in mid-June when top-30 defenders Justus Terry and Isaiah Gibson pulled their promises in a span of 24 hr, leaving USC

without the core of its incoming protective class. The Trojans’rebound began with summer season flips of Georgia outside linebacker promise Jadon Perlotte (No. 84 in the ESPN 300 )and UCF safety devote Kendarius Reddick(No. 89 ). Jackson now stands as the leading prospect on a defensive class including 6 ESPN 300 promises, completed by outside linebacker Matai Tagoa’i( No. 146 in the ESPN 300 ), cornerback Trestin Castro (No. 247)

and defensive end Hayden Lowe( No. 252). Jackson registered 135 total deals with in his junior season at Seminole(Florida)High School last fall. He had formerly verified fall campus trips to Alabama and Penn State, and it is not clear whether Jackson intends to continue taking sees in the coming months following his commitment.USC(2-0 )is off in Week 3 before hosting Michigan on Sept. 21.