"Pool parties or winning?": Football fans react as No. 1 recruit from Ohio, Elbert Hill, signals at a USC Trojans commitment

Modified Apr 23, 2025 10:30 GMT

Archbishop Hoban (Akron, OH) cornerback prospect Elbert Hill is projected to sign with the USC Trojans. This is according to the latest prediction by On3’s Steve Wiltfong. Hill also lent credence to this, reacting to the prediction with a two eyes emoji on X (formerly Twitter).

Expand Tweet

Hill’s reaction has got fans talking, with many sharing their views in the comments section of the post. An Oregon fan, Lil Duck posed a question to Hill, asking,

“Pool parties or winning?”

Expand Tweet

An Ohio State fan, Tim Murphy, wrote,

“OSU fan here- hope it works out for the young man- LA is beautiful and lots of endorsement opps. But NOTHING like football on Saturday in Ohio. 100,000in the Shoe- and millions more watching or listening. My grandkids collect the Buckeye cards- the legacy, the brotherhood.”

Expand Tweet

Another fan of the Buckeyes, Big Don, wrote,

“I don’t even care if a kid doesn’t pick Ohio State. Plenty of talent on that roster. But I’d pick somewhere you aren’t going to lose 5 games a year and waste away just to enjoy Cali weather lol."

Similarly, a fan account, Across The Field, shared its sentiment, writing,

“Development>quick money. Riley probably will be fired before this kid lands on campus anyway.”

However, a USC fan commented,

“The best come to the west. USC is where it's at.”

USC Papi, in the same vein, wrote,

“Come home roc. Trojan family waiting”

Elbert Hill’s father on why USC is favorites to sign him

In an interview with On3, Elbert's father opened up on the factors that put USC high on his son's list, including the role of the coaching staff. He said,

“Just the whole coaching staff and coach Riley. Coach Riley has been awesome. The relationship he’s built with him, me, our family. Coach Weston, coach (D'Anton) Lynn, coach (Trovon) Reed, they’re doing a phenomenal job recruiting us. Just the vision and the plan they laid on the table is awesome. They show him they really want him there. Every time we go out there it’s incredible.”

Elbert Hill is a top priority recruit for Lincoln Riley and his staff, especially the USC secondary coach Doug Belk who's his primary recruiter. The five-star prospect has taken several visits to the USC campus, with another visit scheduled for the last weekend of April.

Although the odds seem to be in their favor, the Trojans have to fight off Oregon, Ohio State and Alabama in Hill’s recruitment race.

About the author

Kayode is a College and High School Sports writer at Sportskeeda since June 2023. Hailing from Nigeria, he has an undergraduate degree in Linguistics and African Languages, and has previously had stints as an entertainment and politics writer for around 7 months. Adept at creating content around historical perspectives, he strives to report stories based only on verified information. His mantra is - truth is always more important than sensationalism.

A fan of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, Kayode admires how Nick Saban developed talent at the team and delivered consistent results, and hopes that the post-Saban era is just as fruitful. He is thoroughly impressed by Johnny Manziel’s talent, and feels that Shedeur Sanders is massively underrated. Nick Saban is his all-time favorite college coach.

While Kayode believes there is little to separate college and mainstream sports, pro leagues absorbing the best athletes leads to their quality being higher. Witnessing the Colorado Buffaloes’ hot streak at start the 2023 football season was one of his all-time favorite college sports moments.

When not writing, Kayode enjoys reading and watching sports documentaries. His most recent watch was "Sir Alex Ferguson: Never Give In."

Know More