Former UNLV quarterback Jayden Maiava announced on Tuesday that he would transfer to Georgia, but he had a change of heart just hours later.
Maiava’s father, William Maiava-Pratt, told ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren late Tuesday night that his son is now headed to USC. Lincoln Riley made a final pitch and convinced the quarterback to join the Trojans.
Maiava, a redshirt freshman, had 3,085 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions at UNLV this past season. He added 277 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground. USC is in need of a new starting quarterback with Caleb Williams headed to the NFL.
Many will be surprised that Riley made a strong push to land a top transfer quarterback after the way Miller Moss played in the DirecTV Holiday Bowl last month. The redshirt sophomore went 23/33 for 372 yards with 6 touchdowns and an interception in a 42-28 win over Louisville. The 6 touchdowns were a USC bowl game record. Moss appeared to be in complete command of Riley’s offense.
USC is joining the Big Ten next season, so perhaps Riley wants as much internal competition as possible. A former 5-star quarterback also left the Trojans this week, so they had some room to add a player at the position.