The Early Signing Period is underway and the bulk of top prospects have made their commitments and signed their papers. With that being said, grab the envelope please as it’s now time for the Gorney Awards.
MORE NSD: Winners and losers | NSD Blog | Travis Hunter spurns Florida State, signs with Jackson State | Breaking down team rankings | Where will Deion's next job be? | How teams announced their signees
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CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State | JUCO
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
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RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info/coverage on 2021 camp series
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BEST DRAMA AWARD
Travis Hunter wins this award and the voting was not even close. A Florida State commitment since March 3, 2020, Hunter pulled off the unthinkable on Wednesday when he flipped to Jackson State and to play for coach Deion Sanders.
His decision sent shockwaves even through the college football world as discussions are now being had whether Hunter’s choice is a one-off by him or a new trend that could impact the sport with NIL ramifications and so much more.
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RETURN TO SENDER AWARD
Shemar James was committed to Florida for months but he backed off that pledge in October and then coach Dan Mullen was replaced by Billy Napier. Georgia and Alabama emerged as the front-runners for the five-star linebacker from Mobile (Ala.) Faith Academy. But the Gators crept back in James’ recruitment and he always showed them a lot of interest. On signing day, James decided to commit again to Florida.
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RETURN TO SENDER AWARD II
Kiyaunta Goodwin took visits all over the country. He spoke highly of all those trips. Texas A&M, Michigan State and many others were involved but all the while the massive high four-star offensive lineman remained committed to Kentucky.
On Tuesday night, the word was that Goodwin was down to the Wildcats and Spartans and that it “would come down to the last minute.”
When he decided, Goodwin stuck with Kentucky and gave the Wildcats an awesome piece to work with upfront.
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BELIEVE IT WHEN WE SEE IT AWARD
Kamari Wilson was pegged to Georgia for at least half a year if not longer. It seemed inevitable that the four-star safety from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy would pick the Bulldogs. But a late visit to Florida got everybody talking and still the sense was that, yeah, he might like the Gators but Georgia is still the team to beat.
That was not the case on Wednesday, as Wilson picked Florida over Georgia and others in one of the more surprising moves of the day.
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DON’T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT IT AWARD
This award goes to Shazz Preston and Aaron Anderson. Both are from Louisiana. Both are four-star receivers. And both are going to Alabama. Anderson, from New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr, flipped from LSU after the news broke that Ed Orgeron would not be retained and Preston chose the Crimson Tide over the Tigers and others. LSU still landed three of the top-five players in the state with five-star Jacoby Mathews waiting to decide but that offensive firepower could have been used in Baton Rouge.
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FLIPPING AWARD
Terrance Brooks was committed to Ohio State since June. The Buckeyes develop defensive backs as well as any team in the country. The high-end four-star said recently that a number of schools were still pursuing him and Texas was not going any harder than the others. That appears to be a smokescreen because on signing day the Little Elm, Texas, standout backed off his Ohio State pledge and picked Texas. It wasn’t a complete shock but certainly caught our attention.
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FLIPPING AWARD II
Everybody and their mother got the sense that Tyre West was not going to end up in Georgia’s class. But most expected the four-star defensive tackle from Tifton (Ga.) Tift County to flip to Florida State since that coaching staff had developed such a strong relationship with him and he’d been to Tallahassee so often.
But word started leaking out a little Tuesday night that Tennessee was a serious contender and West made it so Wednesday by flipping to the Vols.
MORE: Ryan Wright's analysis
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SAVE THE DAY AWARD
Florida State had a miserable day from the Travis Hunter news to Devaughn Mortimer’s flip to OC Kenny Dillingham leaving for Oregon but Azareyeh Thomas was a bright spot. He's also someone who might be getting overlooked in the national rankings a little bit.
The Niceville, Fla., four-star has length, speed, athleticism and playmaking ability, and the Seminoles kind of stole this one because just a few weeks ago he was probably headed elsewhere.
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PHILLY’S FINEST AWARD
As strange as it sounds, there is a little connection building from Philadelphia to College Station, Texas. Four-star defensive end Enai White is the top-rated prospect in the Pennsylvania state rankings out of Philadelphia (Pa.) Imhotep Charter and he picked the Aggies as expected on Wednesday.
In the 2021 class, two of the top 14 players in Pennsylvania – DE Elijah Jeudy and CB Tyreek Chappell, both from Philadelphia Northeast – chose Texas A&M as well.
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BOOKS & BALL AWARD
Darrius Clemons said the academics impressed him most during his weekend visit to Michigan. That might sound like lip service but it’s legitimate for the four-star receiver from Portland (Ore.) Westview, who had Auburn and Oregon as his favorites in recent weeks.
There are important connections here as Clemons is originally from East Lansing, Mich., and he’s a childhood friend of Andrel Anthony plus Michigan - on and off the field - blew him away. The coaching staff had a message for Clemons on his visit: Michigan is back. That resonated with the four-star who picked the Wolverines on Wednesday and isn’t looking back.
