More wild recruitments and decommitments will come heading closer to the Early Signing Period, but there have already been some big ones. Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney looks at some of the crazy recruitments so far.
MORE GORNEY: Latest intel on five-stars that are still in play
*****
CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2026 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
TRANSFER PORTAL: Full coverage | Player ranking | Team ranking | Transfer search | Transfer Tracker
*****
It looked like Boggs was done with his recruitment after an early commitment to Ohio State because not many receivers back off pledges to the Buckeyes. But when the four-star receiver from Cocoa, Fla., started to take a bunch of offseason visits, the two sides parted ways.
On July 4, when Missouri won out over UCF it was a major win for the Tigers. But a month later, Boggs flipped to the Knights, staying closer to home and seemingly ending things finally.
*****
Alabama to Auburn to Alabama to Auburn. In what we believe to be the first two-time back-and-forth, Coleman has now been committed four times in total to only two programs.
The Saraland, Ala., four-star defensive tackle committed back to the Crimson Tide in March and it lasted until late July when – yep – Coleman flipped back to the Tigers.
Are we certain things are now finished? Probably. But Coleman has surprised us before.
*****
For so long, the belief was that the Ackerman (Miss.) Choctaw County four-star receiver would end up at Mississippi State. It made a lot of sense. He’s close with his family, new coach Jeff Lebby will roll out a pass-happy offense and Cunningham seemed destined to play 30 minutes away in Starkville.
But then things got totally thrown in disarray as Cunningham started taking visits around the SEC. Auburn became his new leader and then shortly thereafter he visited Alabama and committed to the Crimson Tide.
*****
Leading up to his decision, Ohio State looked like the program to beat for the five-star running back out of Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei. He grew up idolizing Ezekiel Elliott, he loved the Buckeyes’ offense and position coaches and teammate Chris Henry Jr. was also committed.
But after a late visit there, the two sides decided to part ways and Oregon (once considered at best an outside shot to land Davison) got his commitment over Alabama.
*****
For a long time, Moore was talking up all the possibilities at LSU with him, five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood and five-star running back Harlem Berry all committed. That is the holy trinity of elite playmakers in the 2025 class but it wouldn’t last.
The five-star receiver from Duncanville, Texas, backed off his pledge to LSU in May and it was almost a certainty that he would flip – maybe quickly – to Texas. That ended up not being the case.
Moore and his family took a late visit to Oregon, fell in love with the vision for the offense and he’s now committed to the Ducks.
*****
Many onlookers were so sure that Texas was going to be the pick for Pettijohn that when he showed up to the Rivals Five-Star and said Ohio State and USC were the favorites that maybe he was doing some sleight-of-hand to throw people off the scent.
But he wasn’t lying.
The Buckeyes won out for the hard-hitting linebacker from McKinney, Texas, and in July he picked the Buckeyes. Pettijohn said this week that Texas was actually out of the running as it came down to Ohio State, USC and Texas A&M.
*****
It was no surprise that Terry made an early commitment to Georgia. He’s a dominant, five-star defensive tackle from Manchester, Ga., so it felt like a virtual lock. But then Terry visited USC, fell in love with the bright lights and surprisingly flipped his commitment to the Trojans in March.
But after coming home and settling back in, a few months later, Terry backed off his USC pledge and reopened things again.
Georgia, Alabama and Florida State are the finalists now and a decision might not be made until the Early Signing Period, but the Bulldogs are still the team to beat.
*****
The five-star receiver started with a commitment to Texas A&M but then backed off that pledge. Then Watkins committed to Colorado and Deion Sanders as the two have known each other and are from the same area in Florida.
But Watkins decommitted from the Buffaloes as he didn’t want to limit his options that early in recruiting and now he’s wide open again.
Playing his senior season at Venice, Fla., Watkins took officials to South Carolina, Ole Miss and Indiana this summer. He wore Ole Miss gloves at the Rivals Five-Star. But Watkins remains open to others and his recruitment remains unpredictable.
