Bear Alexander on choosing USC: 'It's Lincoln Riley, I'm excited to play for that guy'
On Sunday, USC landed a major addition when former Georgia defensive lineman Bear Alexander committed to the Trojans program.
The Athletic ranked Alexander as the No. 1 rated player in the transfer portal a few months after the former five-star prospect made nine tackles, with three coming for loss as a true freshman for the Bulldogs. Alexander also recorded two sacks, two pass breakups and 13 quarterback hurries. One of the sacks came against TCU in Georgia's dominating national title game victory.
In an interview with ESPN's Tom VanHaaren, Alexander explained why he chose USC when he had offers from programs all across the country.
"I mean, it's Lincoln Riley," he said "Just watching their production from last year, they lost two games, barely lost to Utah ... if Caleb [Williams] wasn't hurt, they would have definitely been in that. It's Lincoln Riley, and I'm excited to go play for that guy."
Alexander also explained what led him to leave Georgia.
"I feel as if there wasn't a significant amount of snaps [at Georgia]," he said. "I was more of a pass-rush specialist in year one, so coming into the spring, I wanted to be in a position where I could show my versatility as a player. I felt like I wasn't able to do that at Georgia. I was a third-down specialist, and I'm more of a first and second-down player. I can play every down."
USC has completely overhauled the middle of its defensive line in the offseason.
During the Trojans spring game last weekend, Purdue transfer Jack Sullivan and Arizona transfer Kyon Barrs started at defensive tackle and nose tackle. The addition of Alexander gives USC another key piece on the inside. He'll likely start in the fall.
