Elite 2025 SoCal WR Phillip Bell Talks About High Interest in USC

USC and head coach Lincoln Riley have been on a pretty significant run when it comes to wide receiver recruiting the last two years. The Trojans brought in the No. 1 transfer portal receiver last offseason in Jordan Addison.

USC landed the No. 1 receiver and tight end in the 2023 class in Zachariah Branch and Duce Robinson. We should note, Robinson came to USC to play receiver and has seen his playing time increase significantly in recent weeks.

Former Arizona receiver Dorian Singer was the No. 4 receiver and a top-10 overall player in this offseason’s On3 Transfer Portal Rankings. And USC’s 2024 class has a commitment from On3’s No. 1 wide receiver in the West, Xavier Jordan.

Phillip Bell

Now Riley and Trojans are working to keep that momentum in the 2025 class with the West’s best receiver, Phillip Bell.

USC was always going to have a shot with the 6-foot-1, 185-pound standout receiver. He claims USC as one of his “dream schools” growing up. But an offseason move from Sacramento Christian Brothers High School down to Mission Viejo HS has Bell right in the Trojans’ backyard. And he’s taking advantage of it, getting to USC as often as possible.

“It’s so close now, moving down to SoCal,” Bell told WeAreSC’s Scott Schrader at this week’s OT7 Finals. “I feel like, my mom loves the school so much, I love the school so much, I just want to get up there as much as I can.”

USC coaches are certainly only happy to host Bell as often as possible. He’s the nation’s No. 27 overall prospect in the 2025 On3 Industry Rankings and said the USC coaches have flat-out told him he’s a priority recruit for them. Last season, Bell caught 73 passes for 818 yards and 20 touchdowns.

Bell on USC’s Status

Despite some struggles in 2023, Bell shared what stands out about USC.

“ Everything,” he said. “USC is a great program. There has been some struggles, but I feel like I’m an offensive player and their offense is amazing. I just feel like on that team, everybody eats. And I feel like I’ve got good relationships with both receiver coaches and those are guys who can get me to the NFL.”

Bell said USC is one of the schools that has put on an eye-opening visit when he’s been there. He also included Oklahoma, Ohio State, Oregon and Washington as schools that did that. He believes Tennessee will be on that list as well.

He’s also a big fan of USC’s move to the Big Ten.

“I feel like that’s real big,” Bell said. “Going from the Pac to the Big Ten, I feel like a lot of kids are going to start going to USC and UCLA.”

The Favorite?

There have been a significant number of elite players California’s Central Valley who’ve gone to Oklahoma to play football. Bell tells us he’s had high interest in the Sooners for several years.

“When it all started with recruiting, Oklahoma was my favorite growing up,” said Bell. “Oklahoma was my favorite school really. And then Coach Riley actually ended up going to USC, so that is just built it for me and my mom. She already loved USC. So I feel like my mom loving USC is a big part of my recruitment.”

Bell told us he already knows USC will get an official visit next year. We should note Bell was at the Washington game Saturday.

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