LAS VEGAS – Los Alamitos five-star defender (Calif.) Malachi Nelson has been in the spotlight since he was in eighth grade, as he helped title one of the more recent in-memory quadrant classes in the 2023 cycle.
Now, his work and talents are coming to fruition as he approaches senior season and his early enrollment to USCbut in the meantime, the preparations are fine to bring his talents to the college level.
“I was working and trying to get fit with physical therapy and all that,” says Nelson. “Trying to keep my body steady because I feel like at this point, anybody can throw, everybody has an arm. That really helps with reading defensive posts, in the screening room. movies, in the gym and getting stronger.”
Deep midfield starts with Nelson and Arch Manning and stretched around people like Nico Iamaleava, Dante Moore, Jaden Rashada and more, but Nelson will always see himself as the best in the country.
“I just feel in my head, I’m number one,” he said. “No matter what the standings say, I feel like the things I do against the big teams, there’s no other quarterback against an opponent I was in last year. Light. We played. with St.
Rankings are not Nelson’s biggest concern, as the recent five stars have been focused on helping Lincoln Riley and USC staff members built their class of 2023 into a class that could compete for national championships.
“At this point, it’s just recruiting, now I’m part of the staff,” Nelson said. “There are a few people here who obviously like Brandon Inniss, and the defensive coach is also giving me the boys. We’re trying to fill every element of the team, we’ve got a lot of people in our sights that we’re trying to chase. Just try to build a complete team. “
And what is Nelson’s message to the hires?
“They’re going to see this year, it’s the best place to be in the country,” he said. “It’s the nation’s largest network of NILs, it’s huge today. It’s not that big, it’s LA and New York. You’re in LA, you have whatever you need and now we have it. good football, good and that will go a long way.”
His plan was to come and continue learning with Caleb Williams, whom he had known for a long time back in the Oklahoma days.
“That first year, I would study with Caleb, someone I grew up with and understood very well,” he said. “Find out the offense and get plays for next year which should be my year. We split things up even back in Oklahoma. We have a great relationship.”
Nelson has big goals and expectations during his time at USC, as he finds himself with this class of 2023 and the new coaching staff bringing the national championship and more hardware back to Los Angeles.
“All of that, everything you can think of,” he said. “The National Championship, Heisman will come, that’s not the goal but it will come. Being an annual contender is definitely the biggest thing.”
