Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney and Mid-Atlantic recruiting analyst Adam Friedman along with Richie Schnyderite of TheKnightReport.com and Ryan Young of TrojanSports.com tackle three topics in recruiting and determine whether they believe the statements or not.
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1. Penn State has the edge in Dani Dennis-Sutton's recruitment.
Gorney’s take: FACT. With visits now to Penn State, USC, Alabama and Georgia, Dani Dennis-Sutton’s recruitment has definitely taken an interesting turn and the Nittany Lions have far more competition to land the four-star defensive end. But I still think they’re the leaders in his recruitment. I’m not going to discount the significance of the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs trying to land him (since both programs have recruited the region so well) but there are too many connections and relationships at Penn State right now. Things could change after those visits but the Nittany Lions are the team to beat.
Friedman’s take: FACT. Penn State definitely has the advantage in Dennis-Sutton's recruitment. It was the first visit he scheduled and it's not surprising to see him schedule others. He was always going to do that. Alabama and Georgia are the programs to watch out for here. Dennis-Sutton has built some good relationships with each school and Georgia has made up some ground after not making his early short list. Still, Penn State is the team to beat because of his strong connections to the school and his many former teammates that have gone there and are still playing there.
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2. It would be surprising if Tetairoa McMillan did not end up at USC.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. USC is the front-runner at this time and for so many reasons explained below but here’s the thing: Tetairoa McMillan is not your typical recruit. During the pandemic shutdown he spent weeks in his native Hawaii and didn’t even have a phone there. Recruiting is not this huge priority to him and so that could mean he just picks USC and is done with it or it could mean Oregon, Stanford, Notre Dame or any number of SEC programs could also be seriously in the mix. We just don’t have a good feel for his recruitment yet. I do think he ends up at USC because of his opportunity to play early, it’s close to home and McMillan does not seem like one that wants to play the recruiting game. But if an under-the-radar school happened to land him it wouldn’t shock me, either.
Young’s take: FACT. Tetairoa McMillan has been trying to slow-play his recruitment, especially in the comments he makes publicly. But he's also not hesitant to note that he talks to the USC staff more than any other and that he feels a strong relationship there, whether it's with wide receivers coach Keary Colbert, director of high school relations Armond Hawkins Jr. or even head coach Clay Helton, who has been very involved in McMillan's recruitment.
USC is intent on doing a better job with the top local WRs in this class after seeing the likes of Beaux Collins or Troy Franklin further up north head out of state in the last cycle. And it has a lot to sell right now, including opportunity. A year after sending Michael Pittman to the NFL, the Trojans now also lose Amon-Ra St. Brown and Tyler Vaughns, and Drake London won't be far behind them. There is room for a top wide receiver to come in and play immediately next year in what will remain a high-volume passing attack. The Trojans still have to close the deal, but there's no other school that looks better positioned for McMillan at this point.
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3. Gavin Wimsatt is legitimately torn 50-50 between Kentucky and Rutgers.
Gorney’s take: FACT. There seem to be two camps when it comes to Gavin Wimsatt’s recruitment: One is that he is all Rutgers and is just waiting for the right time to finally pop to the Scarlet Knights. The other is that Kentucky is very much still in the picture and that the Owensboro, Ky., four-star quarterback is still intrigued by playing for the Wildcats and in the SEC. Cincinnati, Oregon State, Michigan State and others are not giving up yet, either. I would say Rutgers has the best shot at landing him and that it probably happens at some point soon but I do think Wimsatt is still thinking hard about the Wildcats, too.
Schnyderite’s take: FICTION. I don’t believe he’s torn at all. He is on vacation with his family currently and I’m sure his recruitment will be a topic of discussion, throughout the trip. But right now the belief among many is that Rutgers is still in the lead here and a commitment could be made shortly after that trip. Not to mention some of the Scarlet Knights' top commits are currently putting in a ton of work to land him, especially recent four-star running back commit Samuel Brown, who has been in his ear even before he chose Rutgers.
