Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith is joined by national recruiting director Adam Gorney, Jon McNamara of BadgerBlitz.com and Jim Coyle of TheHoosier.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
MORE FACT OR FICTION: Alabama will finish with a better class than Auburn
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1. Kansas State made the biggest splash of July by landing Linkon Cure.
Gorney: FICTION. Linkon Cure is a massive pickup for Kansas State, no doubt about it, especially since Texas A&M and Oregon made such a serious push for him and he should be used extensively in that offense but he was not the biggest splash commitment of July. Five-star receiver Dakorien Moore backed off his pledge to LSU and it looked like he was a near-lock to Texas but after taking a late visit to Eugene, Moore and his family loved their time there and they especially loved the coaching staff and he committed to the Ducks. Oregon is inching toward a national title and Moore is a massive piece.
Smith: FICTION. Cure is a borderline five-star prospect and in the discussion for the best tight end in the country for the 2025 class. He’s also going to be the highest-ranked recruit Kansas State has landed in many years. However, there is another recruiting win that stands out more to me.
Oregon landing five-star wide receiver Dakorien Moore is a statement to the country that it’s firmly a national power on the recruiting trail. The Ducks have gone from a program to watch in big recruitments to a team that others fear. Moore is the best receiver in the country this cycle and plucking him out of Texas is a major win.
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2. Luke Emmerich is the most underrated player in Wisconsin’s class.
McNamara: FICTION. Considering the circumstances, I’m fine with Luke Emmerich’s current three-star rating, largely because the Wisconsin commit missed his entire junior season due to a leg injury. With that, it’s tough to go much higher, even though his recruitment exploded in April with offers from USC, Nebraska, Minnesota, Utah, California, Michigan State and Wisconsin after he blazed a 10.69-second 100-meter dash.
Now, if the question were who has the most highly-anticipated upcoming senior season from the Badgers’ class, you could make a very strong case for Emmerich, who is pegged to play the dollar position in UW’s defense. At 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, look for his high school program to use Emmerich in a variety of ways on each side of the ball this fall.
If I had to provide an answer to the question above, I’d go with either Samuel Lateju or Nicolas Clayton, both of whom carry a 5.6 Rivals Rating right now. Lateju, a standout from New Jersey, is a raw prospect but possesses as much upside as anyone on Wisconsin’s current commit list. Clayton, a high-end edge prospect from Florida, has an intriguing blend of size and athleticism. Both, in addition to Emmerich, should be in the four-star discussion once their senior tape is available.
Smith: FICTION. This is a very tough call to make. Wisconsin has done a great job with this recruiting class so far landing players early who will continue to rise during the evaluation process. Emmerich is certainly in the discussion. So is New Mexico linebacker Mason Posa.
But my pick is Michigan offensive tackle Cam Clark. Standing at 6-foot-7, 285 pounds he’s got a dream frame to play tackle in the Big Ten. After evaluating him in person, he moves well for his size too. On film he plays with a mean streak that will serve him well at the next level.
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3. Indiana is recruiting ahead of schedule in Curt Cignetti’s first full class.
Coyle: FACT. Rivals.com has Indiana's 2025 class ranked No. 40 in the Rivals Recruiting Team Rankings. That is below 11 of the now 18 Big Ten conference teams. At No. 40, the Hoosiers are ahead of UCLA, Michigan State, Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue and No. 66 Iowa. With around 20 incoming recruits and just looking at the numbers, most people would say "no." And with good reason. There is one four-star prospect on that list and Indiana has never landed a five-star prospect.
But that is how it has always been for Curt Cignetti's previous teams. He has won, and has won a lot with the players that fit his system, that he and his staff have developed. After Indiana's first fall practice Cignetti reiterated that by saying "we want to develop players, develop more consistency in performance day in, day out; play in, play out." Can that work in the Big Ten? I believe that answer is yes and no.
Some things are transcendent, but there is no question that while I think Indiana will surprise a lot of people this season, the talent level will have to continue to rise for consistent success.
With already having had USC commit and the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the country, Ju Ju Lewis, on campus to visit that fact alone forces me to say yes to this specific question. And it doesn't even matter if the Hoosiers have a snowball's chance in Los Angeles of landing Lewis. Getting Lewis to visit was a first in IU program history! As a matter of fact, even with Indiana basketball's decades deep and storied history, that program has never had a No. 1 recruit visit Bloomington. Never. Curt Cignetti and Tino Sunseri have already done what no other IU football coaches have done in the 137 years of the Indiana program's existence.
Is Indiana's incoming recruiting class loaded? No, not by any means and far from it. But I do think Cignetti will use the talent he has already brought in via the transfer portal, along with a very favorable schedule, to win in his first year at a program that has collected the most losses in FBS football, which will ultimately boost his 2025 class.
Just by looking at the Hoosier's current 2025 recruits I don't believe a 40th-ranked class is sustainable long-term for competing at the top of the Big Ten, but I believe that with Cignetti, and a staff that has been with him for the ride, it will get the Hoosiers where they are wanting to go and do so quickly. In that regard I am of the opinion that Indiana is in about as good of a place that they could have hoped for at this particular time of the recruiting cycle.
Smith: FACT. Even though the Hoosiers currently rank 12th in the Big Ten recruiting rankings I’ve been impressed with the work the staff has done on the trail so far. I like the makeup of the class and where guys are from. There are a couple Florida natives in the class. There is plenty of Big Ten country flavor from Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.
Tight end Blake Thiry from Wisconsin is one of the gems of the class. The recruits I talk to are very fired up about Cignetti and what his staff can accomplish in Bloomington. If they perform better than expected on the field in 2024, this class will rise.
