Recruiting Cheat Sheet: Mass defections from South Carolina
Welcome to your weekly Rivals Recruiting Cheat Sheet. Here you'll find all the biggest college football recruiting stories from this past week and what to look for this weekend, so you can know your stuff while watching the games.
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CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State
COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series
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Mass defections from South Carolina’s recruiting class
The hits keep coming for the Gamecocks. After firing Will Muschamp, their recruiting class is taking a beating. Six players have decommitted since that coaching move, five of them this week, and now South Carolina sits at No. 91 in the team recruiting rankings.
Athlete Simeon Price, linebacker Bryce Steele and defensive end George Wilson decommitted while Rivals250 linebacker Trenilyus Tatum flipped to Georgia Tech and defensive back Jayden Johnson flipped to Arkansas.
Steele is looking at teams like Michigan State, N.C. State, Boston College, and Texas. Johnson is in touch with Arkansas, Georgia Tech, East Carolina, Mississippi State, Virginia Tech, and others.
Wilson, who is hoping to make his decision in a week or two, is considering teams such as Auburn, Florida State, Boston College, Maryland, North Carolina and Penn State.
Check out GamecockCentral.com for all the latest on South Carolina’s coaching search.
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Vols lose Florida defensive back
Tennessee landed a commitment from Damarius McGhee on Aug. 1. The Florida native chose the Vols over Georgia and Ole Miss, but teams like LSU, Miami, and a few others never stopped recruiting him. On Thanksgiving, McGheee reopened his recruitment and is taking a look around. The Tigers and Hurricanes appear to have momentum at this point.
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More movement in Notre Dame’s 2021 recruiting class
It didn’t take long for JoJo Johnson to jump on board with the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame offered the Indiana native less than two days before he decided to commit to Brian Kelly’s squad, choosing it over Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue.
In a move that was expected to happen, defensive lineman David Abiara out of Texas officially split with Notre Dame. The writing had been on the wall since he was charged with criminal trespass last month.
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Buckeyes continue to raid Texas for top talent
Ohio State is not taking its foot off the gas when it comes to recruiting the 2022 class. The Buckeyes landed the top quarterback in the 2022 class last week in Quinn Ewers and this week Caleb Burton, one of the top receivers in the country, followed Ewers to Columbus.
The two are Texas natives and both are in the top 30 of the 2022 Rivals250. Ohio State may not be done raiding Texas either. Armani Winfield, a member of the 2022 Rivals100 and a Texas native, is trending toward the Buckeyes.
Buckeyes land a commitment from Rivals100 wide receiver Caleb Burton
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Utah lands its quarterback of the future
It’s still fairly early for the 2022 quarterbacks to be picking schools, especially with many of them not having played this fall, but Utah was able to lock down one of the best in the Pacific Northwest.
JP Zamora from Washington decided that the Utes were the team for him. Nevada was his only other offer but more teams are sure to come calling once they get back on the recruiting trail.
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Navy commit Calvin Johnson blowing up with major Power Five offers
Every year there are big-time prospects that emerge later in the recruiting process. This year it looks like Calvin Johnson is one of those players. The Mississippi native has been committed to Navy since June but Power Five teams are flocking to him.
Duke, Ole Miss, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Iowa, Mississippi State, Florida State and Penn State have offered recently and the momentum is only building from here.
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New short lists for two top DBs in 2022 class
Arizona State, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and USC made the final cut for 2022 five-star Will Johnson. The Michigan native has strong roots in the Midwest and his father played for the Wolverines but Ohio State has also prioritized Johnson. Arizona State is playing up their NFL connections and USC is hoping Johnson and fellow 2022 five-star Domani Jackson want to team up in Los Angeles. The Sooners have piqued Johnson’s interest as well and he really wants to get a closer look at the program.
On Thanksgiving, Jackson narrowed his list to six. Arizona State, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and USC made the cut for the Southern California star. The Trojans have a strong pull on Jackson, but he did just visit Michigan last weekend. A decision is not expected to come soon.
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End of Rivals250 linebacker’s recruiting is in sight
Rivals250 linebacker Yanni Karlaftis hasn’t made it a secret which teams are in the best position to land his commitment. California, Oregon, Purdue and Wisconsin have been his top schools for a while and one of them will sign him when he announces his decision during the Early Signing Period in December.
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Kansas State adds two commitments
The Wildcats made waves this week with the commitment of Texas native, three-star safety prospect Marvin Martin. He had been committed to Boston College but flipped to Kansas State. Martin’s commitment was Kansas State’s second of the week after Chris Klieman and his staff reeled in in-state safety Desmond Purnell.
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In-state athlete jumps on Vanderbilt offer
It only took a few days for Tennessee native CJ Taylor to jump onboard with Vanderbilt. Taylor took less than a week to consider the offer from Vanderbilt before announcing his commitment to Derek Mason’s squad.
The Commodores offered Taylor, who is listed as an athlete, as a safety. He is their 18th commitment in the 2021 recruiting class.
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Bruins lose a commitment from a productive Alabama RB
UCLA had been counting on Deshun Murrell to carry the load when he arrived on campus but now that looks like an unlikely scenario. The Alabama native decommitted from UCLA and is still considering the Bruins but Penn State and Oklahoma State are drawing his interest. Penn State has already hosted him on a virtual visit.
USC and Iowa State are also trying to get his attention.
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Baylor loses in-state commitment
The Bears are having a rough few weeks on the recruiting trail. Baylor already lost receiver commits to Auburn and Texas and now in-state receiver prospect Roderick Daniels has decommitted from Baylor.
Daniels has a lengthy offer sheet but it looks like he may still stay in-state with SMU picking up momentum.
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Coveted offensive lineman back on the market
Offensive lineman Austin Uke had been committed to Holy Cross since September but some major Power Five offers started to roll in and make him rethink his decision. This week Uke announced his decommitment from Holy Cross and is now looking at a number of schools.
Florida State, Penn State, USC, Georgia Tech, SMU, Vanderbilt and others are chasing the Texas native.
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WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND
This holiday weekend a couple of the nation’s best programs are flexing their recruiting muscle. Up first, as Adam Gorney reported, Clemson is going to have Korey Foreman, the No. 1 player in the nation, on campus for its game against Pittsburgh this weekend.
Foreman decommitted from Dabo Swinney’s squad earlier this year, one of the very few that have decommitted from Clemson during his tenure.
Check out Adam Gorney’s full interview with Foreman here.
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH CLEMSON FANS AT TIGERILLUSTRATED.COM
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Chapel Hill is the site of the marquee matchup of the weekend with the Tar Heels hosting Notre Dame. Normally this would be a huge recruiting weekend for North Carolina, but the dead period is putting a damper on things. A few recruits are still going to make the trip to Chapel Hill to see what the Tar Heels are all about. In-state 2022 standout Jalon Walker will be in attendance and so will be 2022 five-star Zach Rice, his second trip to North Carolina this season. There will be a few other recruits on campus as well as some members of North Carolina's 2021 recruiting class.
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Four-star Marcus Bradley is ready to announce his commitment at noon on Friday. The defensive lineman out of Maryland was committed to the Terps for months but opened his recruitment up again earlier this month. Texas A&M, Penn State, Virginia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, and USC are just some of the schools he's been in contact with since.
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Alabama is getting California native and current Michigan receiver commit Xavier Worthy on campus this weekend when Auburn comes to town for the Iron Bowl. The Crimson Tide were a finalist for the Rivals100 prospect when he initially committed to the Wolverines back in July but they haven’t stopped recruiting him and it appears to be paying dividends.