USC Football Recruiting: 2020 Lawndale defensive end Tuli Tuipulotu talks USC visit and top schools.

Three-star defensive end Tuli Tuipulotu visited the USC Trojans on Junior Day, and tells Conquest Chronicles his impressions of the team and the thing that stood out to him the most about the Trojans.

Tuli Tuipulotu is a three-star strong-side defensive end for Lawndale High School. The 2020 recruit visited USC on March 24 for Junior Day and has seen his recruitment really pick up steam since January.

Since the beginning of the year, Tuipulotu has received offers from ten Division 1 programs including, Nebraska, Stanford, Washington State, and Wisconsin.

USC offered Tuipulotu back in October of last year and has been hot on his trail. His brother, Marlon Tuipulotu, is a redshirt sophomore defensive lineman for the Trojans.

The three-star is rated as the No. 28 strong-side defensive end in the nation and the No. 55 player in the state of California per 247Sports.

The 6-foot-two and a half, 254 pounder, has a wingspan of 76 inches and 10 inch hands, which helps him in the sack department. Tuipulotu is fantastic playing off the edge and would be a solid addition to a USC pass rush that needs some help with the departure of sack-leader Porter Gustin.

Through two years of varsity football, Tuipulotu has recorded 144 tackles, 10 sacks (nine coming from his junior season), three forced fumbles, and 36 tackles for a loss.

It is not hard to see why the Trojans are after Tuipulotu, after the huge increase in production from his sophomore to junior season. Could we see another pair of brothers like Abdul-Malik McClain and Munir McClain, in 2020 with the Tuipulotus?

We spoke with the younger Tuipulotu about his thoughts on USC’s program and where it ranks in his recruitment.

What was the thing that stood out to you the most about USC?

“The thing that stood out to me was how well the team’s chemistry has developed. They also seem to be having more fun playing football.”

Did you get to interact with anyone on the team? If so what were they like?

“I was mainly around the Polynesian players and they all seem very close and cool.”

How would you describe the energy within the football department?

“I feel like the players care more and are starting to have fun playing with each other.”

Being from Lawndale was USC the childhood favorite team?

“Growing up, I didn’t really have a favorite college football team...but I always heard of USC and UCLA.”

Do you have any top schools right now? If so, where does USC rank among them?

“I do not have a list of tops schools yet.”