National Signing Day, the biggest day of the recruiting calendar, is next Wednesday and the drama is building for some of the nation's top recruits. Uncommitted prospects are finalizing their plans while some verbally committed players are wondering if they need to rethink their decisions.
This week we take a closer look at the major storylines and important prospects fans need to be following in each conference. Up first is the ACC.
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BIGGEST DRAMA
The biggest storyline for the ACC heading into National Signing Day involves a prospect who isn’t even committed to an ACC program. Rivals250 No. 1 prospect Jeremiah Smith has been committed to Ohio State for about a year but two ACC teams have been working incredibly hard to flip the exceptional receiver from Florida.
Florida State and Miami are doing everything they can to get Smith to stay in-state and sign with them. As things stand now, if Smith were to flip, confidence is higher for Florida State but Miami isn’t giving up. The Buckeyes have a strong chance of holding onto Smith but all eyes will be on him when he goes to sign on the dotted line.
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TEAM RANKINGS
Florida State and Miami are in a fairly tight race for the ACC recruiting title. There are a lot of moving parts because both are trying to flip a number of prospects committed to other schools. Both teams are trying to flip No. 1 overall prospect Jeremiah Smith from Ohio State.
Florida State flipped five-star defensive lineman Armondo Blount away from Miami earlier in the recruiting process and the Hurricanes are working hard to get him back.
Miami is also working on flipping NC State four-star quarterback commit Cedrick Bailey Jr., Rivals250 Ohio State running back commit Jordan Lyle and four-star Wisconsin cornerback commit Xavier Lucas. Florida State and Miami are pushing for Rivals250 cornerback Zavier Mincey, who will announce his commitment on Jan. 6. Florida State is also working on fending off Georgia and Auburn to make sure they hold onto five-star safety KJ Bolden.
There could be some movement among the teams currently ranked Nos. 5-12. NC State, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Duke and Louisville could all be seeing some meaningful additions and/or subtractions in the next week and a half that are likely to impact the conference team rankings.
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TOP THREE ACC COMMITS
After taking official visits to Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, and Miami, Scott committed to the Buckeyes in early July. Notre Dame was very much in the mix for his initial pledge too. Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson was a major factor in his recruitment but as the season wore on, Scott turned his gaze back to Miami.
The Chicago native kept his change of heart very quiet until he actually announced his surprise flip to the Canes in late November. If Scott's No. 10 ranking in the Rivals250 remains the same through the final rankings update in January, he'll be one of the seven highest-ranked prospects to sign with Miami since 2002.
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Bolden remains committed to the Seminoles after issuing his verbal pledge to Mike Norvell and his staff but there are a few teams pushing to flip him before he signs. Syracuse just hosted Bolden for an official visit but the Orange are unlikely to be a real contender for his commitment.
The story here though is how close Bolden became with new Syracuse head coach and former Georgia defensive backs coach Fran Brown. Bolden and Brown were in constant communication while Brown was coaching in Athens and the Bulldogs aren't backing down, even without Brown on staff anymore.
Auburn is a major player for Bolden after hosting him for an unofficial visit last week. The Tigers could be the team to watch as Bolden tries to find some clarity before National Signing Day.
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Even though Patterson didn't take any official visits prior to his commitment, the South Florida five-star decided to stay home and play for Miami. The Hurricanes beat Florida State, Auburn, Michigan and Ohio State for his commitment.
Despite committing to Miami in August, Auburn was able to get Patterson to take an unofficial visit during the season but the Tigers didn't seem to get any traction from the trip.
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FLIP ALERT
The Florida State commit is weighing his options. Auburn is the main program to watch and Georgia is right there as well.
Florida State flipped Blount away from Miami but the Canes seem to have a serious chance to flip him back. This race is going back and forth and is expected to go down to the wire.
The longtime Duke commit has been a target for other teams since Mike Elko left for Texas A&M. Indiana and Michigan State hosted him over the weekend so he'll be one to keep an eye on this week.
The uber productive NC State running back commit is being pursued by Mississippi State and new head coach Jeff Lebby. If Royal takes a visit to Starkville this weekend, he'll be one to watch come National Signing Day.
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Another NC State commit on flip watch. Bailey is being pursued by Miami and the hometown pull could be enough to keep him from signing with the Wolfpack.
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PREDICTIONS
Miami pulls off at least two flips: The Hurricanes have their sights set on a handful of prospects committed elsewhere. It's likely they get at least one, probably two, and maybe more. Five-star Florida State commit Armondo Blount, a former Miami pledge, is possibly the Hurricanes' top target. They're of course working to flip Rivals250 No. 1 prospect Jeremiah Smith away from Ohio State but momentum doesn't seem to be on their side. The Hurricanes also want Rivals250 Ohio State running back commit Jordan Lyle to flip. NC State four-star quarterback commit Cedrick Bailey Jr. and four-star Wisconsin cornerback commit Xavier Lucas are possible flip targets too.
Clemson gets reinforcements up front: The addition of offensive line coach Matt Luke is a big move for Clemson and head coach Dabo Swinney. Unfortunately for the Tigers, offensive linemen are at a premium and there aren't many quality linemen prospects still uncommitted. One that Clemson has circled is Elyjah Thurman. The four-star out of Georgia was at Clemson's game against Florida State earlier this season. Georgia Tech and South Carolina are in the mix but this one is trending toward the Tigers.
Fran Brown and Syracuse make another splash: This past weekend was the biggest recruiting weekend for Syracuse in recent memory. Five-star Florida State commit KJ Bolden, Rivals250 Purdue commit Koy Beasley, four-star defensive back Marcellus Barnes and a handful of other key prospects were in attendance. Rivals250 running back Yasin Willis and three-star receiver Jaylan Hornsby were among the multiple commitments new head coach Fran Brown secured over the weekend and more could be coming. Defensive end KingJoseph Edwards and Stanford wide receiver commit Emmanuel Ross also took visits to Syracuse this weekend and things are trending in the Orange's direction for each of them.
