Makai Lemon
American football player (born 2004)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Makai Lemon (born June 2, 2004)[1] is an American college football wide receiver for the USC Trojans. He won the Biletnikoff Award in 2025, given to the top wide receiver in college football.
Lemon at 2025 Big Ten Media Days | |||||||||
| No. 6 – USC Trojans | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Class | Junior | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | June 2, 2004[1] | ||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 192 lb (87 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | La Mirada (La Mirada, California) Los Alamitos (Los Alamitos, California) | ||||||||
| College | USC (2023–2025) | ||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career statistics as of Week 14, 2025 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Stats at ESPN | |||||||||
Early life
Lemon is from Los Alamitos, California.[2] He grew up playing football as a wide receiver and was close friends with quarterback Malachi Nelson, with them playing for the same Pop Warner team and winning a national championship.[3] He initially attended La Mirada High School, where he caught 57 receptions for 784 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman, in addition to four interceptions as a defensive back on defense.[4] He received his first scholarship offer from the Colorado Buffaloes during the first month of his freshman season.[5]
After his freshman season, Lemon transferred to Los Alamitos High School as a sophomore, where he joined Malachi Nelson.[3] In the spring 2021 season, he caught 43 passes for 756 yards and nine touchdowns, being named first-team all-state by MaxPreps.[6] He then recorded 65 receptions for 1,062 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior in 2021.[7] He was named first-team junior All-American and first-team all-state by MaxPreps.[6] As a senior, he was named first-team All-American and first-team all state after totaling 69 receptions for 1,044 yards and 12 touchdowns.[6]
Lemon was an Under Armour All-American and an invitee to the Polynesian Bowl.[6] He was ranked a five-star recruit and the 13th-best player nationally by ESPN.[8] He initially committed to play college football for the Oklahoma Sooners along with Malachi Nelson.[9] However, he later flipped his commitment along with Nelson to the USC Trojans, after coach Lincoln Riley left the Sooners for the Trojans.[10]
College career
As a freshman at USC in 2023, Lemon saw limited playing time and caught six passes for 88 yards.[11] Towards the end of the season, he played at cornerback as well as wide receiver due to injuries to the Trojans' players.[12] In 2024, Lemon had a breakout game against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, totaling 256 all-purpose yards while scoring a touchdown.[13] He saw more action as the 2024 season went on and finished as USC's leading receiver with 52 receptions for 764 yards.[14]
Lemon was the recipient of the 2025 Fred Biletnikoff Award, surpassing fellow finalists Skyler Bell of UConn and Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State. He is the second Biletnikoff winner in USC football history, following Marqise Lee in 2012.[15] On December 17, 2025, Lemon declared for the 2026 NFL draft.[16]
Statistics
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 11+1⁄8 in (1.81 m) | 192 lb (87 kg) | 30+1⁄2 in (0.77 m) | 8+3⁄4 in (0.22 m) | 6 ft 1+1⁄4 in (1.86 m) | 4.53 s | 1.59 s | 2.64 s | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[17][18] | ||||||||||||