USC beat Penn State and Wisconsin to the commitment of four-star 2026 running back Shahn Alston II, the No. 81 overall prospect in the ESPN Junior 300.
Alston, ESPN's No. 8 running back prospect, announced his pledge to the Trojans during the Navy All-American Bowl in San Antonio on Saturday afternoon. The 5-foot-10 rusher from Painesville, Ohio, is now the fourth top 100 prospect committed to USC coach Lincoln Riley's 2026 class following the program's 7-6 finish to the 2024 season.
"There's a tradition with USC football," Alston told ESPN. "You can't talk about the history of college football without the tradition of USC. It's getting back to being that place. I believe in Lincoln Riley and I believe in that coaching staff. They're moving it in the right direction."
Alston logged 131 carries for 1,104 yards and 16 rushing touchdowns as a junior at Thomas W. Harvey (Ohio) High School in the fall, and he will enter his senior season with more than 2,800 yards and 46 touchdowns in his high school career.
He follows fellow 2026 rushers Tradarian Bell (No. 76 ESPN Junior 300, Oregon) and Demarius Yayes (No. 92, Mississippi State) as the third commit among ESPN's top 10 running backs for the cycle.
Four-star in-state cornerback Brandon Lockhart (No. 66) became USC's first top 300 pledge in 2026 when he committed in October 2023. No. 2 cornerback R.J. Sermons (No. 22) and No. 3 outside linebacker Xavier Griffin (No. 23) followed with pledges to Riley and the Trojans in the back half of 2024. Altogether, USC holds seven pledges in the upcoming cycle.
The Trojans' 2025 recruiting class sits 13th in ESPN's team rankings for the cycle, led by five-star defensive end signee Jahkeem Stewart. But USC has lost a total of 14 commitments over the course of the 2025 cycle, including 10 from inside the ESPN 300 with five-star quarterback Julian Lewis' November flip to Colorado the most prominent defection.
While the Trojans are off to another strong start on the recruiting trail in 2026, Riley & Co. will have to prove they can hang on to their top talent from now to the early signing period. Alston, with his pledge, said he hopes to play a role in recruiting a strong class around him at USC.
"I want to be able to help recruit a class," he told ESPN. "I want to be a guy that's been in the class a long time, so I'm familiar with it all. That's what led me to this decision today."