five-star

After switching out one five-star quarterback prospect for another in the class of 2025, Riley pointed to “tremendous” work from quarterbacks coach Luke Huard as why USC was able to manage the delicate dance it took to land Husan Longstreet after nearly two years focused on Julian Lewis.

“When you go to sleep, you no longer know whether you’re in a one-star or a five-star hotel. Big rooms and amenities are all sheer nonsense.”

With the media room at the Palacio de Deportes too small to accommodate the journalists wanting to speak to Nadal, hundreds of reporters and photographers were instead asked to go to the five-star Higueron Hotel in the hills overlooking the tourist resort.

So when Lewis committed in August 2023, it gave USC a certain stability in its upcoming class, a five-star centerpiece to build around, even as the class threatened, at various points, to come apart around him.

Then, on Saturday, Corona Centennial’s Husan Longstreet, another five-star quarterback committed to Texas A&M, was on the sideline for USC’s win over Nebraska.