Lincoln Riley, USC steal elite Louisiana athlete from LSU

The USC Trojans tend to clean up on the recruiting trail on the West Coast. That just comes with the territory, and it makes sense.

With that said, head coach Lincoln Riley and his staff have pulled an intriguing athlete from deep in the heart of southwest Louisiana.

That athlete would be Javon Vital, a three-star recruit from Lake Charles, Louisiana (Hamilton Christian Academy). Vital had an opportunity to go to LSU and stay in-state, and with Houston being just a two-hour drive west, the Houston Cougars had a chance to snag him as well.

Kentucky and Ole Miss were also in the running, so Vital very well could have been an SEC recruit. He took a visit to Los Angeles on a recruiting day at USC earlier this year, though, and that visit stuck.

More than anything, USC won over the person who matters most to him.

“They checked all the boxes,” Vital told 247Sports. “First, they had to recruit my momma.”

Mom liked the visit, and the weather, and the rest is history for Vital and the Trojans.