Makai Lemon (born June 2, 2004) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

Early life

Lemon is from

Los Alamitos, California is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center is located on the Joint Forces Tr ...

. He grew up playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as a

and was close friends with

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Malachi Nelson Malachi Nelson (born December 7, 2003) is an American college football quarterback for the UTEP Miners. He has previously played for the USC Trojans and the Boise State Broncos. Early life Nelson was raised in Los Alamitos, California and atten ...

, with them playing for the same

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

team and winning a national championship. He initially attended

La Mirada High School La Mirada High School is a public high school in La Mirada, California. It is a member school of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District which was built in 1960 as one of three high schools in the district. After the Norwalk/La Mirada Scho ...

, where he caught 57 receptions for 784 yards and five

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

, in addition to four

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

on defense. He received his first

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

offer from the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado Boulder. The university sponsors 16 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden ...

during the first month of his freshman season. After his freshman season, Lemon transferred to

Los Alamitos High School Los Alamitos High School (also known as Los Al) is a public school for grades 9 to 12 located in Los Alamitos, California, and also serving the city of Seal Beach and the community of Rossmoor. It is the only high school in the Los Alamitos Uni ...

as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

, where he joined Malachi Nelson. In the spring 2021 season, he caught 43 passes for 756 yards and nine touchdowns, being named first-team all-state by

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is currently owned by PlayOn. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including boys, girls, and co-ed sports. ...

. He then recorded 65 receptions for 1,062 yards and 15 touchdowns as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

in 2021. He was named first-team junior

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and first-team all-state by MaxPreps. As a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

, he was named first-team All-American and first-team all state after totaling 69 receptions for 1,044 yards and 12 touchdowns. Lemon was an

Under Armour All-American The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January 5 ...

and an invitee to the

Polynesian Bowl The Polynesian Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame that honors the greatest players, coaches, and contributors of Polynesians, Polynesian descent in the sport of American football. It was established in 2013 by former National Football League ...

. He was ranked a five-star recruit and the 13th-best player nationally by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. He initially committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

along with Malachi Nelson. However, he later flipped his commitment along with Nelson to the

, after coach

Lincoln Riley Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. Riley previously served as the head coach ...

left the Sooners for the Trojans.

College career

As a freshman at USC in 2023, Lemon saw limited playing time and caught six passes for 88 yards. Towards the end of the season, he played at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

as well as wide receiver due to injuries to the Trojans' players. In 2024, Lemon had a breakout game against the

Rutgers Scarlet Knights The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are the athletic teams that represent Rutgers University's New Brunswick campus. In sports, Rutgers is famously known for being the "Birthplace of College Football", hosting the first ever intercollegiate football ...

, totaling 256

all-purpose yards All-purpose yards or all-purpose yardage is a gridiron football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing ...

while scoring a touchdown. He saw more action as the 2024 season went on and finished as USC's leading receiver with 52 receptions for 764 yards.

References

External links

USC Trojans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemon, Makai 2004 births Living people Players of American football from Los Alamitos, California American football wide receivers La Mirada High School alumni Los Alamitos High School alumni USC Trojans football players