You could be living under a rock in Georgia and still have heard of Julian “JuJu” Lewis. One of the top quarterbacks in the country, JuJu Lewis has already made waves even before joining the USC 2025 recruiting class. Everyone seems to be buzzing about the promising QB, who gave his verbal commitment to USC on August 22, 2023. While five-star quarterback Lewis decided to speed things up and reclassify to 2025 earlier this year, he’s still sitting pretty at the top as the No. 1 prospect in his class, according to Rivals.com. What’s so special about the star QB?

This Gatorade Georgia player of the year, who stands at 6-foot-1 and packs 175 pounds, absolutely balled out last season. The sophomore QB threw for 3,094 yards and 48 touchdowns, taking the Trojans to an 11-2 record and all the way to the Class 7A state quarterfinals. Curious about his stats? With a solid 66.4% completion rate (hitting 186 out of 280 passes) and averaging 11.1 yards per throw, he only tossed two interceptions. The hype is real! The QB wrapped up his sophomore year by racking up 7,212 passing yards and 96 touchdowns in his high school football career. But where did it all begin for this highly sought-after QB? Here’s what you need to know about the academic journey of the QB.

Julian “JuJu” Lewis comes from a football family

Born in Carrollton, Georgia, JuJu comes from a family with a gridiron legacy. Papa T. C. Lewis played football for the UConn Huskies while Grandpa Ty was a high school football coach. Since he was a kid, Lewis exhibited exceptional prowess on the gridiron. At the mere age of seven, the QB could throw a youth-sized football 25 yards. Coach Ron Veal took the boy under him at eight and trained him to be a beast on the field. Veal had previously coached NFL stars Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields. 

Lewis transferred from Pace Academy to Carrollton Junior High School, Georgia, in his final middle school year, where he met coach Joey King. With coach King by his side, Lewis kept breaking the records and dominating in the gridiron. He didn’t waste any time there, either, as he became the starting quarterback at Carrollton High School as a 14-year-old freshman in 2022. In his debut game at Carrollton High, Julian let the gridiron know that he is THE player, throwing for 288 yards and five touchdowns in a blowout win over Gadsden City High School, 69–7. And guess what? That was just the start. Over 15 games, Sports Illustrated dubbed his freshman season “the most staggering in Georgia high school football history.” JuJu piled up a jaw-dropping 4,118 passing yards while slinging 48 touchdowns, with just 12 interceptions.

Julian took the underdog Carrollton, a completely unknown team, to an undefeated regular season and a spot in the state championship. In that game, he set a state record with 531 passing yards and threw for five touchdowns, even though they didn’t quite seal the win. JuJu completed 65.5% of his passes throughout the season, earning first-team all-state honors and snagging MaxPreps’ national freshman of the year title. And that’s not just it. The QB landed 12th in state history for single-season passing yards. Not too shabby for a 14-year-old, huh? Even after killing it in the gridiron, JuJu Lewis maintained an A average in the classroom. Lewis has shown that he is truly THE guy.

Will Julian Lewis join USC?

Although verbally committed to USC, many football pundits and fans do not expect JuJu to stick with his pledge to the Trojans. The five-star QB has already visited multiple campuses, including Deion Sanders’ Colorado and Curt Cignetti’s Indiana despite his commitment to Riley and the Trojans.

Tom Loy, a national recruiting analyst for 247Sports noted, “So now I’m watching Indiana and Colorado. If I had to pick between the two, I would give the edge to Indiana. I think that the staff is doing a phenomenal job. We all know about the relationship with Tino Sunseri. I think coach Cignetti is doing a phenomenal job trying to recruit him(Julian Lewis), treating him like a priority. Like I said, right now I give the edge to Indiana over Colorado and the field.” While JuJu has not officially spoken about his final decision, it would be interesting to see which team the elite QB finally commits to. Indiana will win big if they flip JuJu for their 2025 recruiting class. What do you think about Lewis’ future in gridiron? Share your thoughts in the comments below.