USC Trojans Recruiting: USC Latest Program To Offer 2025 Edge Tobi Haastrup

One of the most intriguing prospects in the country has picked up an offer from the Trojans after just three career high school football games.
2025 defensive lineman Tobi Haastrup
2025 defensive lineman Tobi Haastrup / Tobi Haastrup via Twitter/X

On Saturday morning, four-star Mayde Creek (TX) edge rusher Tobi Haastrup announced that he had received a scholarship offer from the USC Trojans.

The offer is the latest of many for Haastrup, who made his debut on the gridiron less than one month ago in the Rams 18-14 win over Fort Bend Travis (TX). In just three weeks, the former track star has picked up 20 offers from schools around the country, including Florida State, LSU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and many others.

Despite being so new to the game, Haastrup is rated the No. 276 overall prospect and No. 21 edge rusher in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Listed at 6-4, 235 pounds, Haastrup runs a 10.71 in the 100-meter dash and threw the shot put over 52 feet. Standing out on the track, he never played football until his senior year of high school. Since picking up the sport, however, the London, England, product has quickly found success.

"I grew up in London, and our football is a little different," Haastrup told 247Sports. "Our football is soccer in America. I always grew up playing soccer and running track. It's always been my passion to follow what my heart wanted. I wanted to fulfill my passion, so going into high school, track was my focus. I left soccer in middle school and focused on track. Going into my sophomore year, I started getting bigger and everyone started asking about football.

"I thought about depending on how things went, I might give football a shot my senior year. I wasn't planning on playing, but one of my track coaches is my defensive end coach now. He told me to believe in him and trust in them. He told me that God blessed me with the size, speed, intelligence and power. I just thank God for all of that, and here I am now after my first game. I just give it all to God. It's by His glory each and every day that I do what I do."

In his first three games playing for Mayde Creek, Haastrup has recorded nine sacks and eight tackles for loss.

With remarkable speed, size and length, Haastrup has the intangible skills to develop into a solid edge defender. While he will likely need some time to learn the game before excelling at the collegiate level, there are few prospects in the nation with the same athletic tools that the Houston-area star boasts.

"This kid's athleticism is unreal," Greg Powers of Dave's Campbell's Texas Football said. "College scouts are taking notice. In just one week, (Haastrup) picked up 16 offers."

Lincoln Riley and company already have a solid group in the 2025 recruiting class, but could be in the mix for another talented defender before the early signing period if defensive line coach Eric Henderson can make a good impression with Haastrup.

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Randall Sweet

RANDALL SWEET

Randall Sweet is a Staff Writer for Sports Illustrated covering the Oklahoma Sooners, Oklahoma State Cowboys, USC Trojans, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. Since graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2022 with a bachelor's degree in journalism, Randall has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports across the country as a credentialed media member. While in college, Randall wrote for the OU Daily and logged bylines in The Norman Transcript in addition to working with Sooner Sports Pad and OU Nightly. Following his time at OU, Randall served as the Communications Coordinator at Visit Oklahoma City before leaving to join the team at Sports Illustrated.