Kalolo Ta'aga commits to USC Trojans football; Lincoln Riley flips Riordan (California) offensive lineman

The 6-foot-7, 270-pound senior picks Trojans over 11 other schools after playing just one season of football

Onetime San Jose State commit Kalolo Ta'aga flipped to the University of Southern California on Sunday, confirmed his high school coach Adhir Ravipati of Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco. 

As first reported by Brandon Huffman, of 247Sports, the 6-foot-7, 270-pound senior offensive lineman was a second-team all-West Catholic Athletic League player for the 7-4 Crusaders, who had their first winning season since 2015.  

Ta'aga, playing on a line that including first-team All-WCAL players Losipini' Tupou (6-3, 280), Peter Langi (6-7, 350) Tommy Tofi (6-7, 330) and Mikatoa Scanlan (5-9, 275), picked the Trojans over 11 other schools that offered him including Arizona, Cal and Utah. Among those players, only Scanlan and Ta'aga are seniors. 

Considering 2023 was his first season of organized football, the dozen offers is an impressive list for Ta'aga.  

"Lolo is a really special kid," Ravipati texted SBLive Sports. "He's an honor roll student, great leader and teammate. He did something I've never seen before in picking up football in April and signing with USC in December. 

"Obviously he has elite physical traits, but he worked really hard to make himself into a football player in such a short time and earn this opportunity through his academic, person and athletic work. 

"He's got a really bright futre on and off the field." 

Ta'aga told Huffman he picked USC because of the educational level the school was at, which exceeded all the other schools that he visited. 

"As soon as I stepped into meetings with coaches and staff, I knew those people were going to push me to be the greatest version of myself," he said. 

With so many young prospects on Riordan, he likely won't be the last to commit to the Trojans. Other top prospects at Riordan are receiver-defensive back Chris Lawson, a 4-star junior, and Boise State-bound wide receiver Tyrone Jackson, a senior. 

The first early signing day for football is Wednesday. Most of Riordan's prospects are from the classes of 2025 and 2026. Ta'aga, Jackson and athlete Tobey Weydemuller (PWO to Cal) will be part of a Wednesday ceremony at Riordan.