USC lands NC State safety in transfer portal
01/14/2025 06:58 PM
Bishop Fitzgerald has committed to the USC Trojans out of the transfer portal, the former NC State football player has announced.
The safety spent two seasons in Raleigh and was all-ACC honorable mention in 2024. He finished the season with 55 tackles, 7.5 tackle for loss, 8 PBUs, 1 forced fumble and 3 interceptions.
Fitzgerald began his college career at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas and will have one year of eligibility remaining. He was in the portal for just 12 days after announcing his intent to transfer on January 2. In that time, he kept his recruitment quiet, but chose the Trojans over Penn State and likely other big-name football brands.
"An amazing staff, people who have NFL experience and a pedigree of sending guys to the next level and an amazing support staff and people who pour into you as a person,” Fitzgerald told trojansports.com of his impressions after visiting USC.
Now a senior and entering his third year of FBS football, Fitzgerald will join a USC defensive backfield in need of reinforcements. At safety, he will vie with returnee Christian Pierce to replace Akili Arnold, who ranked fourth on the team with 36 solo tackles as a sixth-year player in 2024. The team also lost backups Zion Branch and Bryson Shaw.
USC football has made the most of its transfer portal opportunity
Fitzgerald is the 12th player that USC has added this offseason via the transfer portal — and the team will need more coming off a mediocre 7-6 season. Defensive lineman Keeshawn Silver from Kentucky might be the prize of the haul, though there’s still time remaining. 247Sports ranks him as the 52nd-best transfer in this year’s portal class.
USC has also signed cornerback DJ Harvey from San Jose State, defensive tackle Jamaal Jarrett from Georgia, and running back Eli Sanders from New Mexico, among others. They landed wide receiver Prince Strachan from Boise State on Monday.
There’s another side of it, too. The Trojans have lost their share of players to the transfer portal, including wide receiver duo Zachariah Branch and Duce Robinson, who 247sports ranks as the sixth- and seventh-best transfers in the class. They also lost their quarterback, Miller Moss, to Louisville.
USC will need to continue adding heading into what ESPN’s Paul Finebaum called a make-or-break year for head coach Lincoln Riley.
"The expectations for him are through the roof, and you can't get away with a couple of bad years at 'SC, even if you end on a high note,” he said.
The post USC lands NC State safety in transfer portal appeared first on ClutchPoints.
