The window was quickly closing last May, the pool of available transfers nearly set for next season, and Lincoln Riley had yet to land the interior lineman he and USC’s defense still desperately needed.
Damonic Williams, one of the top young defensive tackles in the Big 12, was headed to Oklahoma. Derick Harmon, a 320-pound behemoth previously at Michigan State, chose Oregon. Within two days in May, two of the most coveted tackles in the transfer portal were out of reach. Others were finding homes fast. Time was running out to find a fit.