Midwest Spotlight: Five prospects with booming recruitments
The Spring Evaluation Period sees college coaches racking up frequent flier miles, and top prospects racking up scholarship offers. For several prospects in the Midwest, the Spring period has been a springboard for their recruitments. Here are five spring sensations from the region.
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Reuben was a late arrival on the college recruiting scene and did not receive his first offer until this past February. Several Power Five programs, including Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Notre Dame, offered Reuben before the Spring Evaluation Period, but his recruitment went national once college coaches went back on the road in April. Since the beginning of May, Reuben has added offers from Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
We had a chance to see Stephens for the first time in-person at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp presented by adidas in Ohio in early May and he was recently ranked three-stars. College programs love a basketball background at the tight end position, and Stephens is as accomplished on the court as he is on the gridiron. An offer from Kentucky on the first day of the Spring Evaluation Period kicked off a wave that included new offers from Duke, Iowa, Louisville, LSU, Rutgers and Purdue.
The first offers for Nance started to roll in immediately after his breakout performance at the Rivals 3 Stripe Camp in Dallas at the end of March, but the process really took off once coaches hit the road at the Spring Evaluation Period. When April 15 hit, Nance held five offers, but he has added 11 more since from the likes of Illinois, Iowa State, Kansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Nebraska and TCU. He also dropped his personal record in the 100 meters to a remarkable 10.49 seconds, and that speed is driving much of the interest.
With an earlier Signing Day and an early official visit period, expectations were that a greater focus would be put on underclassmen in this Spring Evaluation Period. At least in the Midwest, the attention toward 2020 class has not been noticeably increased over previous sophomore classes, but Johnson is one who has seen a significant spring bump. Hailing from the tradition-rich East St. Louis program, Johnson has added four of his five offers since May 8 from Iowa, Iowa State, Kentucky and Missouri.
West Bloomfield High has a pair of three-stars in the 2019 class and five prospects in the 2020 class that have already received Power Five offers, so the school has been a popular stop for college coaches this spring. That has allowed Edwards to get plenty of exposure, and it has produced his first six scholarship offers. The first offer came from the home-state Michigan Wolverines on April 17, which has since been followed by offers from Kentucky, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Purdue and Syracuse.