Four-star WR NiTareon Tuggle's recruiting stock is rising by the day

Few recruits in the nation have seen their stock rise like that of Nitareon Tuggle in recent weeks. The offers have come in at such a pace that when Rivals first caught up with the Nappanee (Ind.) Northwood standout last week to discuss his recent blowup, additional offers from Georgia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Miami and Florida had already come his way prior to the original interview being published.

Following the new slew of offers, Tuggle caught up with Rivals one more time to discuss his meteoric rise, schools that stand out and what to expect next with his recruitment.

Tuggle began receiving Group of Five offers towards the end of his junior season, but it wasn't until Vanderbilt extended his first Power Five offer Jan. 13 that the stream of major offers began rolling in. The 6-foot-3 receiver knew that as long as he continued to work hard, and had faith, that this could eventually happen.

"It has been great because I felt like I've been deserving the type of offers that I have now because I have put so much hard work into this," Tuggle said. "I'm not sure what exactly led up to this happening, but I feel like if you just praise God for everything and make sure that he is number one first, then as long as you are doing the other things right things that everything else is going to come. If you are doing your school work, working out and doing the right things outside of school, then the offers and stuff will come and God will bless you."

At that time Auburn had just become offer No. 20 for Tuggle. The Tigers were among a group of early standouts for the fast rising receiver who had no idea of the offers he was about to receive in the coming days.

"Definitely Auburn because we've been in touch for a minute, they just hadn't offered yet, but then they offered yesterday," Tuggle said. "So Auburn, Penn State, Cincy, Purdue and then Vanderbilt. Those are the schools that hit me up a lot and are always in contact, so that would probably be the five that standout right now."

Despite naming those schools as early standouts, Tuggle made it clear that his recruitment was wide open and that he may also be partial to playing in the south where many of his upcoming school visits are located.

"My visit plans for this upcoming month will probably be Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State, Colorado and Minnesota," Tuggle said. "Then I'll head south for Georgia, Texas A&M, Houston and LSU. Those will be most of the schools that I go to in March and April."

"I'm not dead set on it, but I really think that I want to play down south or out of state," Tuggle said. "I don't have a problem playing 15 hours away. I want to get that out there to all of the coaches so that they know I'm not just going to go to Purdue or Notre Dame for sure, but I'm trying to get out and explore different places."

Word must have gotten out because just two days after the original interview, a new group of offers began to roll in. Three of which came from the south in Georgia, Florida and Miami.

"I kind of figured Georgia would come because I have been talking with their coaches for a while now, but I just didn't know when it would happen," Tuggle said. "Basically two days after we originally talked they hit me up out of nowhere saying that they wanted to offer me. That just surprised me and it was a wild moment for me because it's Georgia. I mean, they are the best team in the country. They definitely stand out for me now and are a contender in my recruitment. I'll definitely be going there and the other down south schools in April."

Then seemingly out of nowhere came additional offers from Miami and Florida.

"Miami hit me up randomly because I hadn't really talked to them before," Tuggle said. "They just text me right after my track practice and told me to call them, so I already had an idea of what that meant and they offered. Then Florida hit me up right after that, so I'm guessing they saw the Miami offer. The Florida coaches said - Nitro, we are going to make this happen and offered me. So that is basically how it all happened."

While Tuggle still remains wide open with his recruitment, the group of new offers have given him a lot to think about.

"I'll probably add Georgia and Florida to the list," Tuggle said. "They will probably be in it until the end because I've been talking with Georgia for a while and I know DJ Lagway the big-time Florida quarterback commit very well."

Tuggle will continue riding the wave and exploring as many options as possible in the meantime. The plan is to narrow his list in July followed by an August commitment so that he can focus on his senior season and winning a state championship ring.