Ranking the Contenders: Jihaad Campbell
Jihaad Campbell has had a lot of moving pieces recently when it comes to his recruitment.
The four-star defensive end is originally from New Jersey, but he recently transferred to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.
And now Campbell has released a group of his top eight schools, although two have a particularly good chance at landing him and six others are still in the mix but have some ground to make up.
In today’s Ranking The Contenders, we look at Campbell’s frontrunners and then discuss the other programs that are in the running.
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CLEMSON
This past season, on his own dime, Campbell and his mother made the trip from New Jersey to Clemson to check out the Tigers’ game against Boston College. It went very well, as the four-star defensive end toured the campus, got a feel for the area and Clemson has clearly emerged as one of the favorites in his recruitment. From Brent Venables to Lemanski Hall and others, Campbell is consistently talking with Clemson’s coaches and that is a big deal as well. Now at IMG, Campbell has other teammates being recruited by the Tigers, and that could further solidify their position up top.
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OHIO STATE
The Buckeyes have dipped into the category of "Best of Both Worlds" since Campbell is originally from the Northeast, so Ohio State would still be considered a regional school, the four-star has a fantastic relationship with defensive line coach Larry Johnson, and that’s going to be important. Campbell especially likes the job Johnson and Ohio State’s entire staff has done at developing players at his position and getting them to the NFL. The Buckeyes have recruited the Northeast well and the Southeast, too, so Campbell being at IMG now is no disadvantage at all. Ohio State is probably not the frontrunner right now, but the Buckeyes are definitely in it.
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THE OTHERS
The six others on Campbell’s list remain contenders, but most fall somewhere in the range from sleeper to land his commitment to complete longshot.
Rutgers was a player while Campbell was in New Jersey because Greg Schiano is doing a good job recruiting in-state kids, but his move to Florida greatly diminishes the Scarlet Knights. Georgia has engaged with the four-star defensive end, but right now would not be considered one of the top schools. Both the Bulldogs and Texas A&M just offered in recent days, so it might even be way too early to tell where those SEC powers could go in his recruitment.
Penn State has reached out and if Campbell stayed in the Northeast the Nittany Lions would have a better shot, but they are probably toward the middle or back end of the pack at this point. Oklahoma is probably on the outside looking in right now, and a visit to Norman would be important if that happens in the coming months.
Florida could be an interesting one. Now an in-state prospect, the Gators could make major in-roads with Campbell and if he gets to Gainesville then they could move way up his list. At this juncture, Clemson and Ohio State are the frontrunners, but maybe more than any other school Florida would be one to watch.