Best of the best: Top athlete classes for 2020
National Signing Day has come and gone. Recruiting classes are all but finished and the results are ready to be dissected. Today, Rivals position-by-position look at the 2020 cycles continues with the country’s top athlete classes.
MORE TOP CLASSES: Quarterback | Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End | Offensive Line | Defensive Line | Linebacker | Defensive Backs
1. Ohio State
The Buckeyes landed two of the position’s top five players in top-ranked Mookie Cooper and No. 4 option Cameron Martinez. Ohio State was actually the only school to land multiple four-stars at the spot this year, so their case for No. 1 is undeniable. Ryan Day and company added the Missouri-born Cooper early in the cycle and held on until the end with minimal drama.
2. Florida State
The combination of four-star Ja'Khi Douglas and high three-star Corey Wren gives FSU the No. 2 spot on this list, as both have the kind of athleticism that could lead to early playing time. Douglas, of course, is the headliner. Landing him is especially sweet for FSU as the rebuilding program was able to hold off a late push by Florida to do so.
3. Michigan State
Michigan State locked up four-star Terry Lockett late in the cycle, landing his commitment in December and added him to an athlete haul that already included longtime commit Ian Stewart. The Spartans beat out Minnesota and Nebraska in the chase for Lockett. In Stewart, Michigan State gets a versatile prospect that has spent most of his time at the wide receiver spot.
4. Tennessee
The Vols failed to land a four-star at the spot, but the two high three-star players they did sign built enough depth to land Jeremy Pruitt's program on this list. UT inked two of the class’ top 20 players listed at the athlete spot in Len'Neth Whitehead and Dee Beckwith. The higher-ranked of the two, Whitehead said it was Pruitt’s coaching style that gave the Vols the edge over UCLA, Wisconsin and South Carolina.