Julian Lewis, USC QB commit, makes history as 'Sports Illustrated' cover athlete

Julian Lewis is already making history.

Lewis is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week, making him the youngest football player to ever grace the cover of the iconic magazine.

Here’s a look at the cover:

Tenth-grader Julian Lewis, already a USC commit, could be the next big thing in football.@brianburnsed on the quarterback prodigy playing the NIL long game, in SI’s ‘The Money Issue’ https://t.co/csksEcozn9 pic.twitter.com/JmlGTI2UFK

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 13, 2023

Lewis is a subject of a Sports Illustrated profile this week examining his NIL future.

Lewis is still a sophomore in high school, so he will not be at USC for a number of years. He’s currently the No. 1 overall player nationally in the class of 2026, per 247Sports Composite rankings.

He committed to the Trojans back in August. He’s long been considered to be one of the top high school quarterback prospects in the country, regardless of class.

Lewis is currently the only high school quarterback committed to USC. The Trojans don’t have a QB in place yet for the class of 2024 or the class of 2025. However, USC does have Malachi Nelson already on its roster. Nelson was a 5-star prospect in the class of 2023.

USC is idle this week but will play Arizona State in Week 4.