Julian Lewis Commits to Lincoln Riley, USC; No. 1 QB Recruit in Class of 2026

USC head coach Lincoln Riley's 2026 recruiting class is off to a fantastic start after landing star quarterback Julian Lewis.

Lewis gave the Trojans a verbal commitment on Tuesday.

Julian's father, TC Lewis, told ESPN's Pete Thamel his son made four visits to USC since Riley took over as head coach in November 2021.

Lewis is a 4-star prospect and No. 1 overall recruit in the 2026 class, per 247Sports.

"You've seen what Lincoln Riley has done with quarterbacks," Lewis recently told 247Sports' Steve Wiltfong before committing to the Trojans.

Lewis is currently a sophomore at Carrollton High School in Georgia. He threw for 4,118 yards and 48 touchdowns as a freshman to help the Trojans advance to the Georgia 7-A championship game.

Despite Carollton's 70-35 loss to Mill Creek in the title game, Lewis set a state finals record with 531 passing yards and five touchdowns.

Riley is racking up an impressive list of quarterbacks who have played for him. The 39-year-old coached back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners at Oklahoma (Baker Mayfield in 2017 and Kyler Murray in 2018).

Jalen Hurts finished second in Heisman voting in his lone season with Riley in 2019. Caleb Williams, who is the early favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, won the award last year in his first season at USC.

"Coach Riley being the quarterback coach and OC makes USC different than a lot of programs," Lewis told Wiltfong. "He's proven, all he does is turn his quarterbacks into to the best players in college football."

Lewis had offers from many of the nation's top programs, including Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas, before committing to USC.

Expectations are likely to remain very high for the Trojans as long as Riley is their head coach. They won 11 games last season for the first time since 2017 and are ranked sixth in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll.