This is a 21st-century story. More precisely, it’s a story only social media could create. When he was at the University of Oklahoma, Lincoln Riley would tweet a pair of eyes to mark an occasion when the Sooners had secured a commitment from a recruit. At USC, Riley’s “bat signal” is a Fight On! emoji, with two fingers raised in a victory gesture.
USC fans and everyone who chronicles the unfolding events within Trojan football is keeping track of the number of emojis Riley and USC staffers tweet.
The Trojans had secured — and announced — several commitments in a 48-hour span from Saturday night through Monday afternoon. Then came another emoji tweet from Riley on Monday evening. That tweet and the recruitment it was supposed to represent were finally fulfilled on Friday with the announcement of the commitment of Elijah Newby, a linebacker from Connecticut.
That’s not the last emoji Riley tweeted this past week. He put out another emoji midway through the week, and other USC staffers did as well. Therefore, there is still one emoji which is “unaccounted for.” Every USC fan is waiting for the number of announced commitments and the number of coach-tweeted emojis to line up perfectly.
It’s a sign of the times at USC and in the college football recruiting world in the 2020s.
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