USC Secures Luke Wafle After Three-Year NIL Deal

Although we could’ve submitted a USC prediction for coveted four-star New Jersey Edge Luke Wafle on Sunday (June 15) morning when his USC official visit concluded, it was in our best interest not to.

About 24 hours before his scheduled announcement, it appeared that decision would work out in our favor. Less than 12 hours later, the tide had changed in favor of the Trojans again. USC was battling Ohio State, Penn State and Texas, but the fight for the highly coveted Hun School athlete was really down to the Trojans vs the Buckeyes.

Ohio State upped its NIL offer to become more competitive and keep the blue-chipper close to home. Wafle even informed USC that he was opting to stay closer to home. That phone call came early on Wednesday morning.

By early Wednesday evening, USC’s relentless pursuit appeared to pay off. We learned USC was back in the pole position after multiple sources confirmed. On Monday morning the update was, “It’s done.” Obviously USC won the battle with Wafle announcing for the Trojans at 2pm ET on the On3 Recruiting YouTube channel.

USC, Luke Wafle and a three-year NIL deal

With high profile recruits and battles between schools and NIL collectives, speculation on how lucrative the NIL opportunity was gets hot. By Thursday afternoon, fans from multiple schools were speculating on what Wafle’s deal might be.

On3 offered their take on Thursday.

“The Trojans were tracking for Wafle’s commitment coming out of last weekend’s official visit to Los Angeles. Ohio State upped its NIL package and began to trend Wednesday morning. USC then made a counter-offer to that and ultimately got the pledge locked in. We’re hearing Wafle’s package is between 2.2 and 2.6 million dollars over two years.”

What we’re told at WeAreSC from a very trusted source, is while Wafle’s NIL deal with USC is an extremely strong opportunity, it’s not a two-year deal. At the last minute USC changed it to a three-year deal.

Summary of events with USC and Wafle June 15-19

Here’s a brief summary of events with Wafle starting on Sunday morning.

On Sunday morning (June 15) I checked in on the status or vibe with Luke Wafle. At that time I was told by a source he would likely commit to USC on Monday. I posted we expected some huge news by the end of the week. Even though I was told it would be Monday, I know how this stuff works sometimes, so I said “later this week.” 

Obviously it didn’t happen on Monday and a few days passed. I checked in again Wednesday afternoon and was told “Thursday.” That’s what prompted a “Still Happening” thread on our message board at WeAreSC.

Then on Wednesday morning we learned with an assist from Steve Wiltfong, that it looked like Ohio State would get Wafle. I checked myself and was told USC was out….at least at that time.

Not long after that, we’ve learned from Steve and USC sources that were definitely still in the battle. I was getting ready to watch Jonas Williams at the Elite 11 Finals, but checked in again last night it still looked good for the Trojans.

On Thursday morning we submitted a USC prediction for Wafle and USC has an 87% chance of getting him per the On3 RPM.

The trend of USC getting dunked on with NIL sort of ended with Jahkeem Stewart in December, but USC getting Wafle as predicted, it’s kind of an exclamation point on where things currently stand with the USC football program.

2026 USC Commits (No. 1 Ranking)

USC’s No. 1 ranked 2026 recruiting class currently has 30 committed players from the 2026 recruiting class in Luke Wafle, Talanoa Ili, Peyton Dyer, Mark Bowman, Shaun Scott, Luc Weaver, Keenyi Pepe, Elbert Hill, Roderick Tezeno, Kannon Smith, Vlad Dyakonov, Deshonne Redeaux, Jake Johnson, TomTom Topui, Malik Brooks, Chase Deniz, Jaimeon Winfield, John Fifita, Esun Tafa, Trent Mosely, Simote Katonaga, Jonas Williams, Brandon Lockhart, Braeden Jones, Madden Riordan, Joshua Holland, Shahn Alston, Andrew Williams and Ja’Myron “Tron” Baker.