National Signing Day: Winners and losers
The second signing day is in the books and almost every top prospect is now signed, sealed and about to be delivered – if they’re not already on campus. Here is a look at the winners and losers from the February signing day.
*****
MORE NSD: Alabama wins recruiting title for 10th time | NSD LIVE – News, interviews & analysis | Announcement Guide
TRANSFER PORTAL: Latest news | Message board | Transfer ranking | Transfer Tracker
CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
CLASS OF 2025 RANKINGS: Rivals100
*****
WINNERS
Alabama
Alabama did nothing on the second signing day and still the Crimson Tide retained the top class in the country and all but a complete lock - even if five-star Duce Robinson ends up at Georgia - that they would remain No. 1 in the Rivals.com Team Recruiting Rankings.
What an incredible run for Nick Saban as Georgia is coming off back-to-back national titles, there is so much talk about transfer portal and NIL. Yet here’s Saban just loading up again, not to be pushed aside by Kirby Smart, Deion Sanders or anybody else just yet.
*****
Arizona State
The transfer portal was such a crucial and instrumental focus for first-year coach Kenny Dillingham as the Sun Devils tied Colorado for the most portal additions and yet still when four-star quarterback Jaden Rashada became available, Arizona State made a run at him and landed him on Wednesday.
The Pittsburg, Calif., quarterback was involved in an NIL mess with Florida and got out of his national letter of intent as ASU and TCU made him a priority. After a visit to Tempe and lots of consideration – plus with the connection with his dad to the school – the Sun Devils won out as he joins portal QBs Drew Pyne (Notre Dame) and Jacob Conover (BYU) in the class.
*****
Georgia
After a busy December signing period, it was quiet for Georgia’s 2023 class that looks to finish second even if the Bulldogs end up with five-star Duce Robinson. But coach Kirby Smart and his staff landed a big one in 2024 four-star defensive back Ellis Robinson.
He completely fits the mold in Athens as an aggressive, physical, tough player who won’t back down. Alabama and many others were after the former New Rochelle (N.Y.) Iona Prep standout, who’s now playing at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy, but Georgia won out. And with four-star tight end Walker Lyons picking USC, that could be even further good news for Georgia and Robinson once he’s ready to decide.
*****
Mississippi State
Let it not be lost amid lots of big five-star news on Wednesday the solid finish Mississippi State had to this class – as the Bulldogs might have added one of the biggest sleepers in the entire group.
High three-star defensive tackle Jonathan Davis from Monticello (Miss.) Lawrence County was being heavily pursued by Texas, Florida, Ole Miss and others down the stretch but the Bulldogs won out. They also added Theodore, Ala., cornerback William James.
*****
Oregon
The fact that Oregon coach Dan Lanning and his staff went into Gardena (Calif.) Serra and pulled Rodrick Pleasant away from USC was one of the bigger recruiting coups this recruiting cycle. Serra has sent so many top players to play for the Trojans and many have had a lot of success.
Also, Pleasant was so close to many USC pledges already that it looked like a foregone conclusion – until it wasn't. Pleasant was a big win but losing out on five-star tight end Nyckoles Harbor to South Carolina does hurt.
*****
South Carolina
It was a battle right up to the end but South Carolina won out for five-star tight end Nyckoles Harbor, holding off mainly Oregon and Maryland as the Washington (D.C.) Archbishop Carroll standout described the last few days as “chaos.”
The Gamecocks held on, though, and now coach Shane Beamer has a huge weapon on offense – and one with Olympic-level speed to work with. Harbor’s commitment was arguably the biggest storyline of the day and another massive building block for Beamer and his staff as the Gamecocks are trending up in a big way.
*****
South Florida
First-year coach Alex Golesh put a nice few finishing touches on his opening class at South Florida by adding three-star quarterback Israel Carter from Corona (Calif.) Centennial, who was committed to Arizona State, along with receivers JeyQuan Smith and Tyree Kelly.
Not only were those players added but Carter and Smith talked about Golesh as a recruiter and his vision for the program as he convinced both to head across the country to help the Bulls.
*****
USC
It was a little bit of a mixed bag for USC on signing day as long-time favorite Rodrick Pleasant ended up picking Oregon over the Trojans, but the addition of four-star tight end Walker Lyons is huge for the Trojans’ offense.
The Folsom, Calif., four-star, who was at one time committed to Stanford, was being pursued heavily by Georgia, Utah and others, but USC was always in the back of his mind. He decided to pull the trigger Wednesday after giving no indication in recent weeks that he was ready to go. Lyons will be doing a mission but down the road the four-star could be a huge bonus in USC’s attack.
*****
LOSERS
The Late Signing Period
Doesn’t it feel like the February signing day has gone the way of the dodo bird?
Some college coaches would prefer to only have the February signing day like the old days but now December has taken all the shine and luster away with only a few stragglers hanging on to make their decisions this late.
It feels unnecessary. Almost everybody makes their choice in December, then two more handfuls get it done at the all-star events and only a select few take visits in January and make their final calls in February.
February could be revitalized if it becomes the only game in town again (or if the NCAA moves the Early Signing Period to the summer), but right now it seems unnecessary and nowhere near as important as the December signing period.
*****
Purdue
It’s not the biggest loss in the world but four-star Kendrick Gilbert had been committed to the Boilermakers since the summer, he’s an in-state prospect and he survived through the coaching change. But when it came down to signing, the Indianapolis (Ind.) Cathedral prospect flipped to Kentucky.
He had been flirting with that program for months but never made the ultimate choice to flip biding his time until Wednesday. Purdue now has the second-to-last class in the Big Ten and it is one of just two programs in the conference, joining Rutgers, with no four-star commits.
*****
Stanford
It was a rough – but somewhat expected – day for Stanford as the Cardinal lost talented three-star defensive lineman Cameron Brandt to Michigan and powerful runner LJ Martin to BYU. Late January was very productive for the Cardinal as first-year coach Troy Taylor takes over but especially losing Brandt, an in-state prospect from Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon, to the Wolverines was not ideal.