LOS ANGELES — The programs came calling, last winter, and Kyron Hudson deflected them all to his father.
Between USC wide receiver Hudson and Oregon defensive tackle Keyon Ware-Hudson, father Chance reflected, he had about 12 teams reach out about the possibility of his sons entering the transfer portal. A few, Chance told the Southern California News Group back in the fall, were interested in package deals. And father Chance listened, because the money was hard to turn down.
But Hudson, even through three years of inconsistent snaps and infrequent opportunity, didn’t want to leave USC.
“His answer? From him?” Chance said in the fall, asked if Hudson thought about transferring. “Absolutely not. There was zero.”
A breakout season and a reel of highlight catches later, though, and receiver Hudson has officially entered the portal following his redshirt junior season at USC, announcing his departure in a lengthy statement on X (formerly Twitter).
“I step forward,” Hudson wrote, “with gratitude for my time at USC and anticipation for what lies ahead.”
In a room full of talented sophomores jockeying for snaps, the former Mater Dei High standout emerged as the most consistent veteran presence at receiver for USC in 2024, hauling in a career-best 38 catches for 462 yards in 12 games. His handful of one-handed grabs became a signature, a career-best 83-yard game against LSU and a couple of improbable catches helping USC earn an impressive Week 1 win. Even as game-to-game opportunities in Coach Lincoln Riley’s passing attack wavered, Hudson was a constant on the outside, racking up the most snaps of any Trojans receiver in 2024.
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Amid a late-season flu that swept through USC’s locker room down the stretch, Hudson had to receive an IV for fluids during the week of the Nebraska game, according to a source familiar with the situation. That Saturday, he still caught three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown.
“I mean, he’s one of those guys – you just kind of, you can’t have enough of ’em in your program, that they just stay the course, they just keep getting better,” Riley said, earlier in the season, of Hudson. “There’s not, maybe always these massive jumps. But they’re always there. He always practices, he never misses anything, he never misses a rep.”
That consistency, in turn, will be missed dearly in USC’s receivers room in 2024, with veteran leaders Hudson and Kyle Ford (out of eligibility) now moving on.
USC wide receiver Kyron Hudson makes a touchdown catch in front of Nebraska defensive back Malcolm Hartzog Jr. during the first half of their game last month at the Coliseum. Hudson plans to enter the transfer portal. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)