LOS ANGELES — He hadn’t been home for a week, the campus invites flooding Eli Sanders’ phone as soon as his name dropped in the transfer portal.
First he hopped on a plane to East Lansing, and Michigan State, the very Monday and Tuesday the portal opened. Then came a trip westward, to Arizona, the following Wednesday and Thursday. Friday yo-yoed him back east to Arkansas. Saturday and Sunday was Virginia Tech. All of these programs pitching themselves, across the country, to one of the most productive backs in the portal, the 5-foot-11 Sanders coming off a season in which he rushed for 1,063 yards and nine touchdowns for New Mexico.
And then, on Sunday night, Sanders returned to his hotel in Virginia and checked his phone. There, waiting, was a text from USC running backs coach Anthony Jones. They got on a brief call, Jones inviting the Oceanside native to Southern California for one final visit.
It was over in a matter of days, from there, Jones visiting campus across Monday and Tuesday and officially committing to USC on Wednesday.
“Growing up a USC fan, definitely always wanted to play there, always wanted to at least attend school there,” Sanders, who went to high school in Arizona, told the Southern California News Group on Wednesday. “So, you know, having that opportunity was a dream. And once I got the opportunity, I couldn’t pass it up.”
It’s a much-needed import for USC, after a brutal couple of weeks of departures via the portal. Last week, in a shocking move, standout sophomore back Quinten Joyner transferred, leaving the program barren in the backfield coming off a 6-6 regular season.
“I know this isn’t the message y’all were expecting or hoping for, and it honestly wasn’t what I thought I’d be writing as we looked to next season either,” Joyner wrote on Twitter on Dec. 14, in a message to USC’s fan base announcing his departure.
With starting back Woody Marks heading to the NFL and Joyner gone, USC desperately needed transfer portal help at running back, sending a slew of offers to portal options. And Sanders brings intriguing upside with true game-changing speed, a back who averaged 7.2 yards per carry in a breakout 2024 season.
“I feel like I can take the top off the defense with my speed,” Sanders said, asked how he felt he could fit into head coach Lincoln Riley’s offense at USC. “Fitting in with their run schemes, and their offense, how they get the back into space, just felt like the right fit.”
Sanders spent three years at Iowa State before transferring to New Mexico, producing one of the more quietly underrated seasons of any running back across the country in 2024. He broke out, in particular, across his final four games; the highlight was a 16-carry, 173-yard performance in a victory over San Diego State, a defense that held – held is relative – Boise State Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty to 149 yards on 31 carries.
It’s unclear if Sanders will be an immediate bell-cow in USC’s offense, and he could well end up playing a complementary role next to current true freshman Bryan Jackson, who will have his own audition for USC’s RB1 job in 2025 in the Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 27. But Sanders repeatedly referenced the opportunity to “compete” in USC’s room as a large factor in his decision, a back who projects as a large part of Coach Lincoln Riley’s plans in 2025 in any capacity.
“I think everybody’s dream is to be the starting running back for USC. So that’s what I’m trying to go in there to do.”