Now a month into the college football season, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney takes a look back at the 2020 five-stars who are still in college football to see how they’re performing so far. This is a weeklong series looking at all the five-stars still in college football.
THIS SERIES: Checking up on the 2023 five-stars | 2022 five-stars | 2021 five-stars
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In the spring before his senior season, Uiagalelei – then the No. 1 player in the 2020 class – committed to Clemson over Oregon.
After an uneven three years with the Tigers, which actually ended on a high note as Uialgalelei threw for 2,521 yards with 22 touchdowns and seven picks in 2022, the five-star quarterback transferred to Oregon State as it became clear Cade Klubnik was taking over at Clemson.
So far this season, Uiagalelei is completing just under 58 percent of his passes for 828 yards with seven TDs and three INTs.
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On signing day, Flowe chose Oregon over USC as Clemson was also a contender late in his recruitment. One of the more fearsome linebackers in recent memory, Flowe dealt with injuries during his time in Eugene and showed flashes of greatness but was never consistently on the field.
He transferred to Arizona for this season as a redshirt sophomore where he’s second on the team with 24 tackles.
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After a slow start to his career that was marred by injury, Ratledge emerged last season at Georgia starting 12 of 13 games at right guard. He’s played in all four games this season as well. In the spring before his senior season, the Rome (Ga.) Darlington five-star offensive lineman picked the Bulldogs over Tennessee.
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Penn State had the early lead for the local Catawissa (Pa.) Southern Columbia five-star receiver but he ended up picking Ohio State over the Nittany Lions, Clemson, Alabama and Georgia. Now in his fourth season, Fleming hasn’t lived up to the five-star billing as he’s been surrounded by elite receivers in Ohio State’s offense.
In his career, Fleming has 67 catches for 828 yards and seven touchdowns, the majority of those coming last season.
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Texas A&M beat Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma and others for the five-star receiver from Houston (Texas) Tomball but in March 2022 he was arrested on assault charges and dismissed from the team.
Demas has landed at Garden City (Kan.) Garden City CC where he’s currently leading the team with 19 catches for 238 yards and a touchdown.
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Kentucky secured a huge commitment from Rogers over Alabama, Georgia, Michigan and Tennessee, and during his time in Lexington from 2020-22, the five-star defensive tackle totaled 60 tackles, five for loss.
He has since transferred to Auburn and so far this season he has five tackles in four games.
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South Carolina beat out Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and LSU for the five-star defensive end who had his best season in Columbia in 2022 when he totaled 60 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
He has since transferred to Oregon where he has nine tackles so far this season but leads the Ducks with three sacks.
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North Carolina beat out Georgia, Ohio State and Texas A&M for the Virginia Beach (Va.) Princess Anne five-star cornerback. Playing in 37 games for the Tar Heels, Grimes totaled 97 tackles with 20 pass breakups and one interception.
He then transferred to Texas A&M but has not seen the field yet this season.
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After visiting for the Iron Bowl, Braswell committed to Alabama over Georgia, Ohio State and many others early in his recruitment. Now in his third season with the Crimson Tide, Braswell has totaled 50 tackles (11 for loss) with 6.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
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Even though his brother, Chris, was at Michigan, the five-star offensive lineman chose Stanford over the Wolverines in his recruitment. Over three seasons with the Cardinal, Hinton started 16 games at right tackle and played in 23 before transferring to play at Michigan. He has three starts at right tackle so far this season.
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Clemson beat out Florida and many others for the five-star running back but he only lasted one season with the Tigers before transferring to Gainesville and lasting one season there.
Bowman is now at UCF where he’s carried the ball 10 times for 62 yards and a touchdown so far this season.
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After visiting his four favorites before his decision, Milton chose Georgia over Alabama, LSU and Ohio State. The 2022 season was his best with 85 carries for 592 yards and eight touchdowns as he’s totaled 1,145 yards and 10 scores and is now in his fourth season with the Bulldogs.
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Michigan made a serious run at the five-star quarterback but Tennessee won out for his services. However, that’s only the start of Bailey’s journey which has had a lot of twists and turns and struggles along the way.
He spent two seasons in Knoxville and started seven games but then transferred to UNLV where he couldn’t win the starting job. Bailey is now at Louisville as a backup to Purdue transfer Jack Plummer.
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An early Penn State commitment, the five-star linebacker from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas flipped his pledge to Florida in the summer before his senior season. So far in Gainesville, Wingo has totaled 42 tackles and two sacks now in his fourth season there.
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The Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha five-star running made a surprise commitment to South Carolina on Memorial Day and was the Gamecocks’ leading rusher in 2022 with 573 yards and nine touchdowns in 2022.
He then transferred to USC where he’s the main running back for the Trojans and has 349 yards and two scores so far this season.
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An early Auburn commitment, Kennedy backed off that pledge and then it looked like LSU was the leader heading into the summer. But he picked Alabama after working out there. It didn’t work out in Tuscaloosa and after playing mainly on special teams for three seasons, he transferred to Colorado. He’s played in four games with one tackle so far for the Buffaloes.