The USC Trojans, led by the likes of JuJu Watkins, just snagged a top recruit for the future of the program. On Friday, July 25, women’s college basketball reporter Talia Goodman reported that 6’2 forward Saniyah Hall has expressed her commitment to play for coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s Trojans when she eventually plays collegiate hoops.
This is great news for the Trojans, who have become one of the premier destinations for aspirants in recent times. Watkins, who is currently nursing her season-ending ACL injury, will immediately be backed by the likes of Hall when she makes her return, which is projected to be either the end of the upcoming campaign or the start of next year.
“BREAKING: Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class, has committed to USC,” @TaliaGoodmanWBB on X captioned.
– Talia Goodman, July 25, 2025
BREAKING: Saniyah Hall, the No. 1 recruit in the 2026 class, has committed to USC.
READ: https://t.co/chUDI5CTzv pic.twitter.com/G8EVYmrjGm
— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) July 25, 2025
College basketball fans and spectators then called on rival coaches of coach Gottlieb, such as South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley, for missing out on Hall.
“Come on, Dawn Dawn blew it,” one user claimed.
“As long as it is NOT South Carolina, the world is a better place,” another user asserted.
“Why? Is Coach Gottlieb an elite like Staley & Geno?,” a user questioned.
Several users on X then dropped their own takes on Hall’s recruitment to USC, as some are in favor of it while others don’t think it will work.
“Lol. Sorry, but that chemistry isn’t gonna work,” one user pointed out.
“That’s got the potential to be the most insane team. Jazzy, Saniyah, and JuJu. Sheesh. How you guard that?,” another user explained.
“Three No. 1 recruits all on the same team 🙂↔️ it won’t take them long to realize there’s only one ball #InNOut,” another shared.
“Three #1 players in the nation with other highly ranked all Americans…You have to win a National title for the run like this to be successful,” a user wrote.
Hall is currently entering her senior year of high school hoops with SPIRE Academy in the 2025-26 season, through which she will play for the Trojans in the 2026-27 college basketball campaign. Per 247Sports, Hall is ranked as the No. 1 prospect nationally amongst all five-star recruits in the class of 2026.
JuJu Watkins reacts to Saniyah Hall’s USC Trojans commitment on Instagram
As Saniyah Hall was reported to be committed to the USC Trojans for her freshman year of college basketball in the 2026-27 season, she then posted about it, where she was wearing the team uniform on her own Instagram account. Third-year superstar JuJu Watkins then dropped her own reaction with a hyped-up GIF on Hall’s upload.
Hall now joins coach Lindsay Gottlieb’s Trojans, headlined by the likes of Watkins, who finished the 2024-25 season with an overall record of 31-4 (17-1, Big 12). Without Watkins due to her ACL injury, the Trojans went all the way to the Elite Eight of this year’s NCAA tournament, where they were defeated by the eventual champions, the UConn Huskies, by 14 points, 78-64.
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