Earlier this month, USC Trojans five-star freshman quarterback Malaki Nelson entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal. This move came as a shock to many college football fans, and it sounds like it even surprised head coach Lincoln Riley.
During a recent press conference, Lincoln Riley admitted that losing Malaki Nelson to the transfer portal was “a little unexpected.”
“Obviously, you know the Malachi piece was a little unexpected,” Riley said in his press conference according to On3. “I know something came out, I got asked the question the other day, Malachi was fantastic here. He’s a great kid and I will root for him forever and ever. He’s gonna go make somebody a heck of a player. I’m a Malachi Nelson fan forever. He and his family are tremendous.”
Nelson was a five-star prospect coming out of high school where he was rated as the No. 5 quarterback and the No. 13 overall player in the 2023 high school recruiting class. Though he was not expected to play this season with USC returning star quarterback Caleb Williams, most expected that he would compete for the team’s starting quarterback job next season.
Now, it looks like he’ll be competing for a starting spot elsewhere.
[On3]
