LOS ANGELES (AP) — All-American receiver Makai Lemon is skipping his final season at Southern California to enter the NFL draft.
Lemon won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver this season after catching 79 passes for 1,156 yards — tops in the Power Four conferences — and 11 touchdowns for the Trojans (9-3). The 5-foot-11 wideout with a knack for acrobatic catches and game-changing plays earned first-team All-America honors from The Associated Press.
Lemon grew up 25 miles from USC's campus in Orange County. After playing sparingly as a freshman in 2023, he caught 131 passes for 1,928 yards and 14 TDs during his two full seasons with the Trojans.
“The opportunity to play this game in the city that raised me was something I envisioned long before it became reality,” Lemon wrote when announcing his expected decision on social media Wednesday. “Competing in front of my family, friends and community made this experience even more meaningful, and I'll always be proud to have represented this university and this city.”
Lemon is USC's second Biletnikoff Award winner, joining Marqise Lee (2012).
Ja'Kobi Lane, Lemon's friend and fellow starting receiver at USC, also declared for the draft earlier this week.
USC coach Lincoln Riley already announced that both of his top receivers would skip the Trojans' trip to the Alamo Bowl to face TCU on Dec. 30. Riley's team is expected be without roughly a dozen starters between opt-outs and injury recoveries.
AP college football: https://apnews.com/college-football
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
“A dazzling delight for all ages” Read moreRodger's & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Discover India with Us! Read moreIndia Community Travel: Virtual Information Session
Join San Mateo County native and real estate expert Paisley Vartanian for the first-ever in-… Read moreNational Homeowners Day
JustMike650 said:
HOW ABOUT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2bx3FzgJ6o
Dirk van Ulden said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.