USC announces two transfer portal additions
Two of USC’s five commitments from transfer portal players were officially announced on Friday.
Linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold and long snapper Hank Pepper and are officially Trojans.
Mascarenas-Arnold was incredibly productive for a good Oregon State defense in 2023. He finished second in the Pac-12 with 107 tackles, and had four sacks and three interceptions over three years with the Beavers.
Mascarenas-Arnold is coming back to Southern California, where he was a three-star prospect out of Mission Viejo High School in the 2021 class. He’ll have an opportunity to make an immediate impact for the Trojans in what could be a very experienced inside linebacker room in 2024. Shane Lee is out of eligibility and both Chris Thompson Jr. and Tackett Curtis entered the transfer portal. But the Trojans could bring back Mason Cobb, Eric Gentry and Raesjon Davis there. That’s a group that will need to show some marked improvement in 2024 as the Trojans’ schedule features five teams that finished among the top 41 rushing offenses in 2023.
Pepper won’t be discussed to the same degree as many of USC’s other transfer portal additions. But he’ll have a chance to step in right away as a key member of the Trojans’ special teams. USC long snapper Jac Casasante is out of eligibility and it’s clear the Trojans’ coaches see Pepper as a valuable portal addition.
He was a Day One starter at Michigan State and a key part of the Spartans’ special teams until an injury cut his 2022 season short. This season, he served as the long snapper for the first four games before electing to sit out the rest of the season and use his redshirt year. Pepper has NFL potential as a long snapper and was a prized special teams recruit out of Chandler (Ariz.) High School.
USC holds commitments from six other transfer portal players to this point and those will likely be announced in the coming days. Defensive end Nate Clifton (Vanderbilt), safety Akili Arnold (Oregon State), cornerback John Humphrey (UCLA), safety Kamari Ramsey (UCLA), cornerback DeCarlos Nicholson (Mississippi State) and running back Jo’Quavious “Woody” Marks (Mississippi State) have all announced public commits to USC so far.
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