The first class of 2018 rankings were released last week, which help frame the recruiting battles to come for the rising junior class. Here are five of what should be the fiercest and most news-worthy recruitments in Big Ten country.
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Heading into the summer it appeared Ohio State was going to be the team to beat as an offer seemed imminent. After camping with the Buckeyes in June, though, that offer did not materialize and Trout’s interest in the program waned significantly. Nebraska has offered and has been a strong contender from the jump, as has Iowa, where he visited in the winter. Trout visited Indiana in June and his grandparents live close to Bloomington, but the first challenge for the Big Ten programs will be keeping him from going to the SEC. With Ohio State fading, the in-state Missouri Tigers look like the early team to beat.
Griffith has transferred from Chicago’s Mt. Carmel High School to IMG Academy in Florida, but his recruitment remains very Midwest-centric. Talking with Houston and those close to him this summer left the impression that this recruitment may not go on too much longer. His father is former Illinois great Howard Griffith and new head coach Lovie Smith has Houston’s attention. Michigan State and Penn State have also had Griffith’s attention for some time and Ohio State has rallied in this recruitment over the last couple months. Look out for Notre Dame, though. Griffith keeps his favorites close to the vest, but they seem to be the team to beat here.
After accumulating several more offers early in the summer, Jones came out with a top five list that featured four Big Ten programs: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern. Visits to Illinois and Iowa were taken during the past couple weeks and strengthened both programs’ positions on his list. Michigan State is recruiting the Chicagoland area as well as any school right now and Northwestern is the local school on that list. As with Griffith, though, it appears that Notre Dame – the fifth school in Jones’ top five – may hold an early edge after offering him following a standout performance at their Irish Invasion Camp in June.
The No. 1 tight end in the 2018 class has an offer list befitting that lofty ranking, and a pair of Big Ten schools stand out as two of the strongest contenders from that list. As the in-state program, Penn State is unsurprisingly one of those programs and the Nittany Lions made Kuntz a priority early in the 2018 class. The other Big Ten program is Ohio State, which offered in the spring and made an immediate impression on Kuntz. Most pundits see this as a three-team race, though, with Notre Dame being that third major contender. The Fighting Irish are off to a strong start in 2018 and could prove to be a major thorn in Big Ten schools’ sides this cycle.
Quarterback is the most important position on the field, and often the most important recruit in a class. The state of New Jersey fields a very deep quarterback class in 2018 and it will be important for new Rutgers head coach Chris Ash to keep one of the big names in-state. Leary is the second-highest rated among the top New Jersey 2018 quarterbacks and Rutgers has offered. Maryland beat them to the punch, though, and after he made a recent visit to College Park it looks to have an early edge.
