TrojanSports - Edge rusher Anthony Lucas one of the stars of spring for the Trojans
Transfer DE Anthony Lucas has been one of the biggest additions for the Trojans this spring.
USC.rivals.com
In the transfer portal era of college football, no recruitment is ever truly over.
Take the case of Anthony Lucas, for instance.
USC had aggressively pursued the highly-rated four-star defensive end from Scottsdale, Arizona, in the 2022 recruiting class, but Lucas committed to Texas A&M before the Trojans had their new coaching staff or any clarity on their future direction.
Meanwhile, Shaun Nua had built a strong relationship with Lucas while coaching at Michigan, but he too would miss out on the elite prospect the first time around.
Now, Lucas is a Trojan being coached by Nua as he's gone through his first spring camp at USC after transferring in this January.
"That relationship paid off. I didn't win the first time, but we got him the second time," Nua said proudly.
Lucas, meanwhile, has expounded a couple times on his roundabout path to USC.
"I didn't know who the head coach was going to be [coming out of high school]. They had Donte [Williams] in as the interim head coach, so they got switched out for UCLA in my top 5," he said. "[This winter] they had somebody like Nua who I already had a great relationship my first time around when he was at Michigan with Aidan Hutchinson. And then he came over here to USC for a year and I saw what he did with the D-linemen, so why not?"
Lucas added that Nua had been "probably one of my favorite coaches" through his initial recruitment and that the experience of working together this spring has been everything he expected.
Meanwhile, Lucas has been everything the Trojans could have hoped for as well.
Coaches and teammates alike have lauded his performance over these last six weeks as it's become clear he's been one of the true stars of the spring for USC.
Veteran linebacker Shane Lee was asked Thursday which defensive player he thinks of first with regard to the term "freak athlete." He didn't hesitate in his response.
"I'm going to say Anthony Lucas. I've seen him do some crazy stuff. I'm excited to watch him play football. He's a freak athlete for real. Hands down him," Lee said.
"I've seen him beat people off the edge, I've seen him drop in coverage and just flip his hips. I don't think you're supposed to be that big and be able to do that. I'm happy he's on my team."
That's been a recurring sentiment.
Quarterback Caleb Williams said the same while highlighting a play Lucas made in the team's first spring scrimmage.
"I handed the ball off, I changed the play and honestly the way it looked and was it should have been a touchdown, but he came screaming down the line," Williams recalled. "It was when we had a live period -- he came screaming down the line and just kind of, he blew it all up. It was a goal line [play] and we did not end up scoring. It was a special play and exciting.
"At the moment, you're kind of [frustrated], but when you go back and you're in the film room you can't do nothing about it and you remember that they're on your team and you're not going against them. It's very exciting."
At 6-foot-5, 275 pounds, Lucas was ranked the No. 57 overall national prospect in that 2022 recruiting class.
He played 143 defensive snaps over the first six games last season for Texas A&M, totaling 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, but he played in only one other game the rest of the way (and only on special teams).
Per Aggies Wire and other reports, he was suspended indefinitely along with fellow freshman teammates P.J. Williams, Denver Harris and Chris Marshall for an incident in the locker room following the Aggies loss to South Carolina.
Lucas said this spring he felt he was "obviously not wanted" at Texas A&M after that.
"Just the situation that went down over there, I didn't feel like I fit in the culture over there. Having things go down that I didn't feel like I was in the wrong for or being a part of, so I just chose to remove myself from the situation," he said.
USC head coach Lincoln Riley was asked how the Trojans went about vetting Lucas before bringing him aboard.
"Pretty similar to everybody else. It moves quickly in this day and age, but you've got to be thorough," Riley said. "I think luckily for us we obviously have some staff members that have been there, which was helpful. We have some guys on our staff that we're involved in recruiting him, know obviously a lot of people in that area. So there were a lot of different connections. So we felt good early on about the kind of guy that we were bringing in, the kind of player. To this point, everything he's showed us has backed that up."
It's now looking like Lucas might have been the most significant transfer addition for the Trojans in this latest haul.
With FBS sack leader Tuli Tuipulotu off to the NFL, USC had a major void to fill in its pass rush. The Trojans are hoping to get production from a number of players in that regard, but Lucas might be the most promising of the group.
He's shuffled between defensive end and rush end (more of a stand-up outside linebacker-type position) this spring, and Nua said Lucas will be used "everywhere in the front."
"It's great when you see big guys move well," Nua said. "He's a big human being that moves very, very well and loves the game. That's probably the thing that separates everybody is how much passion they have for the game, and he definitely has it."
Riley added his own praise last weekend.
"He's done a good job. I've really been impressed for a younger guy to transfer in, he's learned our stuff, he's been very reliable from a scheme standpoint. He makes explosive plays. He's brought a really good energy and competitiveness to each day. He was one of the first newcomers to become gold-plated -- he got that honor a couple of days back," Riley said of the Trojans' process of making players earn their helmet decal each year.
"... He's got a really, really high upside, and he's one of those guys that you feel his impact on practice just about every day. That's what great players and certainly guys that are really good and impactful defensive linemen, you feel them. Like Tuli was like that, like if Tuli wasn't in a drill -- which he was always in a drill so that's probably not a very good example -- but if Tuli wasn't in a drill you could feel that vs. if he was there. The great ones, you just kind of feel a presence. And Anthony, I'm not saying he's Tuli, I'm not saying he's a great player yet -- he's certainly got the chance to be. He keeps on the track he's going, he's got a chance to be very good, and we're thrilled with just how he's handled it all here at the beginning and acclimated to our team and our culture."
Lucas, meanwhile, was asked if he had any specific goals for his first year at USC and he kept it simple and focused.
"I'm just trying to come out here and work, trying to find me a spot," he said.
It seems a safe bet to say he's already done that.
