NSD 2023: Winners and losers
Another busy National Signing Day is in the books and with that are winners and losers on the day. Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney takes a look:
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MORE: Georgia is No. 1 but door is open for others to claim top spot | Biggest storylines to follow in the days ahead
NSD INTERVIEWS: Florida State coach Mike Norvell | Stanford coach Troy Taylor | Arizona coach Jedd Fisch | Illinois coach Bret Bielema | Washington State coach Jake Dickert | Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith | Auburn signee Amaris Williams | Syracuse coach Fran Brown | No. 1 prospect Jeremiah Smith | West Virginia coach Neal Brown | Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry | Auburn coach Hugh Freeze | Amaris Williams commits live on Rivals | Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham | Clemson coach Dabo Swinney | Nebraska coach Matt Rhule | Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire | Purdue coach Ryan Walters | Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea | Larry Tarver discusses flip to Nebraska | Legendary coach Lou Holtz | CFB analyst Yogi Roth | Fitz and Gorney preview the big day | John Garcia Jr. previews signing day in the Southeast
TEAM RECRUITING RANKINGS: ACC | BIG TEN | BIG 12 | PAC-12 | SEC | OVERALL
CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State
TRANSFER PORTAL: Latest news | Transfer search | Transfer tracker/player ranking (football) | Transfer team ranking (football) | Transfer tracker/player ranking (basketball) | Transfer team ranking (basketball) | Rivals Portal Twitter
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WINNERS
Alabama
The Crimson Tide surged to third in the team rankings after a phenomenal - and busy - day for coach Nick Saban as it was predicted things could pick up on signing day. Did it ever. Alabama landed four-star defensive ends Jayshawn Ross and Steve Mboumoua, flipped four-star athlete Aeryn Hampton from Texas and flipped local four-star running back Kevin Riley out of Northport (Ala.) Tuscaloosa County.
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Auburn
The only big news that came on signing day for Auburn was when four-star defensive end Amaris Williams flipped from Florida but there were other important storylines that never materialized. The only news that didn’t go well was five-star KJ Bolden flipped to Georgia instead but four-star receiver Perry Thompson stayed with the Tigers as he and five-star receiver Cam Coleman along with four-stars Malcolm Simmons and Bryce Cain form one of the best receiver groups in the country.
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Georgia
It was not a busy day for the Bulldogs, who are in prime position to win another team recruiting championship, but only one piece was needed. Georgia pulled off a stunner by flipping five-star safety KJ Bolden from Buford, Ga., who had been committed to Florida State since the summer. If a flip was to happen it looked like Auburn was in the best spot. But Bolden told reporters that he had secretly planned to pick Georgia for three weeks.
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Nebraska
The confetti is still being picked up in Lincoln following five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola’s flip from Georgia to the Huskers but Nebraska had a notable signing day as well. Matt Rhule and his staff flipped four-star defensive back Larry Tarver from Maryland, landed three-star safety Amare Sanders from Miami (Fla.) Norland and after four-star linebacker Vincent Shavers and Miami parted ways, the Huskers picked up another talented recruit.
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Ohio State
A visibly-relieved coach Ryan Day exhaled upon hearing the news that five-star receiver Jeremiah Smith committed to the Buckeyes. Hours and hours later, Smith still had not sent in his paperwork but around 10 p.m. the issue was resolved and the No. 1 prospect in the 2024 Rivals250 was in the fold. Ohio State also held off five-star defensive end Eddrick Houston from flipping to Alabama. Losing four-star receiver Jeremiah McClellan to Oregon hurt.
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Oregon
The Ducks already had 24 commitments entering signing day but two big flips of four-star receivers made Oregon’s class even stronger. Four-star former Ohio State commit Jeremiah McClellan committed to the Ducks and then later in the day former USC pledge Ryan Pellum surprisingly picked Oregon during a signing ceremony at his school. According to reports, even Pellum’s family didn’t even know the flip was going to happen.
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Texas
A few days ago, Texas flipped four-star safety Xavier Filsaime from Florida and that kicked off a week of good news for the Longhorns. After rumors that five-star receiver Ryan Wingo was going to flip to Missouri he was drama-free and signed with Texas. The big flip of the day came when four-star linebacker Tyanthony Smith went from Texas A&M to the Longhorns. Smith tried to hide a late visit to Austin but word got out that there was serious interest.
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LOSERS
Colorado
Deion Sanders has spoiled us the last two recruiting cycles with flash commitments on signing day - five-star Travis Hunter a few years back and five-star Cormani McClain last year. That was not the case on Wednesday and the Buffaloes signed only five players, one not being five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton. The portal machine might be ramped up even more now.
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Florida
It was a rough day for Florida losing four-star receiver Izaiah Williams to Texas A&M, four-star defensive end Amaris Williams to Auburn and four-star linebacker Adarius Hayes to Miami but there were also some considerable bright spots. The biggest of them being five-star quarterback DJ Lagway stuck in the class and didn’t flip to USC. Landing four-star athlete Jadan Baugh and three-star Gregory Smith III shouldn’t go unnoticed.
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Florida State
Florida State missed on flipping five-star receiver Jeremiah Smith and probably finished third in that race, five-star KJ Bolden signed with Georgia and five-star defensive end Armondo Blount flipped back to Miami. Despite those losses, the Seminoles signed three-star D’Nas White and still hold the No. 11 class.
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USC
Over the last few weeks, USC did some incredible work loading up this recruiting class, flipping prospects all over the country and putting some nice finishing touches on the group. But Long Beach (Calif.) Millikan four-star receiver Ryan Pellum flipped to Oregon and the Trojans couldn’t flip Lagway. That comes on the heels of five-stars Malachi Nelson, Domani Jackson and Korey Foreman and four-star Tackett Curtis entering the portal.