USC lands in top 10 for four-star linebacker Elijah Barnes

Texas leads USC and the rest of the pack in this recruitment.

One of the USC Trojans’ top defensive targets in the 2025 class has narrowed down his recruitment. Four-star Texas native and linebacker Elijah Barnes released a top 10 on Friday consisting of USC, LSU, Florida State, Texas A&M, SMU, Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State Nebraska and Texas.

The Skyline (Dallas) product currently ranks as the No. 107 player nationally, the No. 12 linebacker, and the No. 19 player in the state of Texas per the On3 industry ranking.

On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine has Barnes listed as a Texas lean by 89.6 percent.

USC’s Matt Entz offers a great situation for any high school prospect who wants to become a linebacker with the Trojans. Entz has a teaching style tailored to the athlete, as opposed to a top-down method in which a system is pre-imposed on the player without any wiggle room or flexibility. USC’s defensive coaches are preaching the importance of communicating in ways the player will be receptive to, tailorin their system to the player instead of demanding that the player fit what they want to do and how they do it.

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