LOS ANGELES — It’s strange to call this an exodus, when the majority of those exiting have clear and oft-speculated reasons for leaving.
But make no mistake: justifiable or not, what’s happening at USC is an exodus en masse.
Former Corona Centennial High defensive lineman Korey Foreman intends to enter the transfer portal, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the Southern California News Group after reports of his decision broke on Tuesday afternoon. Foreman is the fourth former high-profile recruit who has headed for the portal since Sunday night – with quarterback Malachi Nelson, linebacker Tackett Curtis, and cornerback Domani Jackson all set to leave USC.
All were considered foundational pieces of USC’s future upon their recruitment and entry into the program; Foreman, for one, was one of the most-hyped recruits in recent Trojans memory, with former head coach Clay Helton calling him “one of the best players in the world,” as reported by the SCNG’s Adam Grosbard in 2021.
His potential never quite materialized through three years at USC, though, as injuries marred his tenure and Foreman struggled to carve out a consistent role on the defense. He showed flashes during his freshman and sophomore seasons, including a game-sealing interception in a victory over UCLA in 2022 that seemed to set the stage for a potential breakout as a junior – but Foreman was sidelined for much of training camp last summer and never found a role, eventually electing to redshirt.
“Occasionally, if a guy maybe is not going to have a huge role in a game, you might hold him back right now and then if an opportunity presents itself to have a bigger role, you can obviously revisit that down the line,” head coach Lincoln Riley said in early October. “And I would put Korey in that category.”
That opportunity was never revisited, however, and Foreman is entering the portal because he “wants a consistent role and position to play,” the source told the Southern California News Group.
It’s undeniably true that there’s a simple justification for each transfer: Curtis and Jackson are leaving amid changes with the position coaches that recruited them, Nelson and Foreman are leaving after rough and injury-plagued seasons. But it’s undeniably true, too, that they were all revered recruits upon entering USC – and such a widespread wave of talent heading for other shores should indicate apparent flaws in either the program’s ability to develop and/or evaluate talent.
“We’re kind of caught in this period where transfer portal and NIL have even gone up a level in terms of kind of the craziness, and the impact on it more than ever before, so it’s just going to be part of it when you have the changes that we’ve had,” Riley said Monday of USC’s transfers.
