Fact or Fiction: Ryqueze McElderry will eventually flip to Alabama
Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney and national recruiting analyst Ryan Wright along with Andrew Bone from BamaInsider.com and Jason Suchomel of OrangeBloods.com tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
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1. After visiting Alabama this past weekend, Ryqueze McElderry will eventually flip from Georgia to the Crimson Tide.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. I’m not completely sold that a flip will happen but I would not be shocked if it does. Here’s my reasoning: Ryqueze McElderry was shown a ton of early attention and love by Georgia and that will go a long way in his final thinking as the Bulldogs are coming off a national championship. It hurts that coach Matt Luke is gone and that will play a factor but I’m just not sold McElderry will get over Alabama being a little slower to the game and Georgia showing all that love early on. The Crimson Tide continue to make up ground and the more McElderry visits the better Alabama’s chances are. But even after this last visit a source told me McElderry remains 100 percent committed to Georgia. A flip would not stun me though.
Bone’s take: FACT. McElderry has attended both of Alabama's Junior Days, but the visit this past weekend was a little different than the first as the Crimson Tide have a new offensive line coach, Eric Wolford. The good news for Alabama is Wolford is the first coach to contact McElderry during his time at South Carolina. The relationship continued while coach Wolford was in Lexington and now with the Crimson Tide. McElderry grew up an Alabama fan. He will return to Tuscaloosa for the spring game next month. There is a strong indication of a flip, but he remains committed to the Bulldogs for now.
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2. Texas will have the edge in Arch Manning's recruitment after his visit in a few weeks.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Arch Manning could definitely end up at Texas. No doubt about it as I believe the Longhorns are among his top three right now. But I just don’t think one visit is going to give any program the edge right now, especially if the five-star quarterback wants to see game-day environments in the fall before making a decision. Texas is on a great path to land Manning and another trip to Austin is huge. But I’m not going to discount Georgia and Alabama here because he will see those schools among others. I just don’t think Manning is going through the recruiting process like this – giving one team an edge, and then another visit will sway him a different way.
Suchomel’s take: FACT. If you're a Texas fan reading the tea leaves on Manning, you should feel pretty good about the Longhorns' position. The Texas staff still has not targeted any other quarterbacks, whereas a school such as Georgia has broadened its quarterback search in recent months. That alone is a pretty good indicator of the confidence level in Austin. Manning is likely to make other spring visits, but Texas getting the first is probably no small sign as well, and Manning will be joined on that trip by a number of other top Texas recruiting targets, some of whom have been in touch with Manning and have expressed an interest in playing together. I fully expect Texas to come out of that late-March visit as the team to beat in the Manning sweepstakes.
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3. Cormani McClain will end up staying in the state of Florida.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. It looked like Florida was the lock for a long time and the Gators could absolutely still land the Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson five-star cornerback. But it looks like Alabama and Ohio State have taken a significant lead in his recruitment now. I like the Crimson Tide’s chances most. Cormani McClain would get to stay relatively close to home, would be joining the nation’s top program and coach Nick Saban works intimately with that position group. Plus, Alabama has produced so many NFL defensive backs I’ve lost count. The in-state programs are still battling (Miami and Florida the most), but my bet is that he heads elsewhere.
Wright’s take: FICTION. If Miami, Florida, Florida State or UCF have a say in this, McClain will stay in the Sunshine State for his college years; you can add USF, FIU and FAU to the hopeful list. Under the Dan Mullen staff, McClain took multiple visits to Gainesville with the Gators emerging as a perceived front-runner. Miami has gotten him on campus more recently, and McClain has gone to South Florida multiple times. But three big teams are jumping heavily in the race for now: Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State. Recent time has been spent with the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide with an April stop in Columbus. Florida teams can make up ground, but the momentum for now looks outside the state of Florida.
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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK
Weekend: Who should be the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 class? | Top QB?
Monday: Five-Star Countdown | Meet the new five-stars
Tuesday: New Rivals250 released | Gorney goes position-by-position
Wednesday: Offensive position rankings released | QB rankings spotlight | Who is the next five-star QB? | RB rankings spotlight | Who is the biggest threat to take over top position at RB? | WR/TE rankings spotlight | OL rankings spotlight
Thursday: Defensive position rankings released | DL rankings spotlight | LB rankings spotlight
Friday: State rankings released
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