Basketball
Lindsay Gottlieb has done it again.
For the third time in four years, the USC coach has landed the No. 1 ranked women’s basketball recruit in the nation. In 2023, she signed JuJu Watkins — now the reigning national player of the year. This season, she’s bringing in top 2025 recruit Jazzy Davidson. And in 2026, another extremely talented player is set to arrive in Los Angeles to suit up for the Trojans.
On Friday afternoon, No. 1 2026 recruit Saniyah Hall announced that she had committed to USC.
Hall made the announcement on ESPN’s NBA Today, unbuckling a Jordan Brand jacket she was wearing to reveal the USC logo.
In a video posted to her Instagram account, Hall says, “My journey has led me to USC. It felt like family as soon as I stepped on campus. I’m excited to be here, and this is home. Let’s get to work. Fight on.”
On ESPN, Hall added: “Going (to USC), it felt like home. I loved all of my future teammates. The girls there are just so fun to be around. And then definitely Lindsay — she’s definitely there to support me and I’ve built a relationship with her. She’s a great coach.”
Hall showed off her skills with the U.S. National Team earlier this month, leading the Americans to the gold medal of the FIBA U19 World Cup. Hall, a 6-foot-1 guard from Ohio, was named MVP of the tournament. She started all seven games in the Czech Republic, averaging a Team USA U19 record 19.9 points per game. She also posted 6.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 2.9 steals per game as the Americans went 7-0.
Many of the top programs in the nation were vying for Hall’s services. She visited South Carolina and North Carolina in May and before that had visited UCLA and Ohio State. Hall also held offers from UConn, LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland and TCU.
After starting her high school career locally at the Laurel School in Ohio, Hall played for the basketball factory Montverde Academy in Florida last season, which in recent years has produced the likes of Jaloni Cambridge, Mjracle Sheppard and Janiah Barker. She averaged 20.3 points per game at Montverde.
This season, Hall will play for the SPIRE Academy in Ohio, another hoops powerhouse.
Hall’s commitment ensures that the Trojans are going to be must-watch for years to come — especially in the 2026-27 season, when Hall shares the court with Davidson, Watkins and Kennedy Smith, who was the No. 6 ranked recruit in 2024. With at least four five-star recruits in the rotation in the 2026-27 season, the Trojans will be viewed as legitimate contenders for the national championship.
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