Five-star linebacker is considering USC, Texas, Texas A&M and Ohio State

Let’s see if USC can pull a surprise here. Texas leads in this recruitment.

Five-star McKinney (Texas) linebacker Riley Pettijohn is announcing his commitment on July 6. His final schools are USC, Texas, Texas A&M and Ohio State.

As it stands right now, Pettijohn is seen as a Texas lean, with a 93.2 percent confidence rating per the On3 Recruiting Prediciton Machine, which includes RPM picks in favor of the Longhorns from On3 recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong.

Pettijohn is rated as a five-star recruit and ranked as the No. 31 overall player in the country, the No. 9 player in Texas, and the No. 4 linebacker in the nation, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder took visits to USC and Ohio State, and they made notable impressions on Pettijohn. However, it doesn’t sound like either school made up enough ground to really challenge Texas’ spot as the leader in this recruitment. USC isn’t going to win every recruiting battle out there, but the Trojans could really change the narrative surrounding their program if they can pull a surprise or two from time to time, particularly on defense. Let’s see what happens.

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