Five-star offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe committed to USC on Thursday, landing with the Trojans as the top-ranked member in coach Lincoln Riley's 2026 recruiting class.
Pepe, who plays at Florida's IMG Academy, is ESPN's No. 3 offensive tackle and the 17th-ranked overall prospect in the cycle.
Originally from Long Beach, California, he picked USC over Florida, Georgia, Miami and Texas following an unofficial visit with the Trojans this past weekend. The 6-foot-7, 325-pound lineman is the younger brother of USC defensive tackle Kobe Pepe, a three-star recruit in the 2020 class who has appeared in 16 games over the past three seasons.
Pepe is USC's sixth ESPN 300 pledge since March 1 and marks the program's latest high-profile addition to an incoming recruiting class brimming with talent. The Trojans' 12 ESPN 300 pledges are more than any other program nationally in the 2026 cycle and include nine prospects ranked among the country's top 150 recruits in the class.
All told, USC enters late-spring with commitments from 24 prospects in the 2026 class. Prior to Pepe, three-star wide receiver Roderick Tezeno announced his pledge to the program on Wednesday.
Pepe has spent the past three seasons at IMG Academy, where he emerged as the program's starting left tackle during his junior campaign last fall. An imposing presence on the offensive line, he projects as a skilled pass blocker with physical traits that make Pepe an intriguing prospect at the next level. He joins four-star offensive guard Esun Tafa (No. 224 overall) and three-star linemen Vlad Dyakonov and John Fifita as the top prospect in the Trojans' incoming offensive line class.
Pepe is now the highest-ranked commit among the nation's top offensive lineman in the 2026 cycle as fellow five-star offensive tackles Jackson Cantwell (No. 3 overall), Immanuel Iheanacho (No. 12) and Felix Ojo (No. 20) continue their recruitments this spring. Cantwell is set to announce his commitment on May 13 following visits to Oregon and Georgia.