Recruiting Rumor Mill: Chatter from Rivals Camp Series in Philadelphia

The Rivals Camp Series stopped in the Philadelphia area this past weekend and a lot of top regional prospects were in attendance. Here are the latest news and notes in this week’s camp Recruiting Rumor Mill.

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Penn State, Michigan, Alabama, Virginia Tech and Maryland are just some of the schools that are prioritizing Van Buren. He is one of the top quarterbacks in the 2024 class and one of the very best on the East Coast in the next recruiting cycle. Van Buren doesn’t have any visits planned at this point but expect him to try to go see Georgia, Clemson and Alabama. Van Buren is looking for a coaching staff that doesn’t have a lot of turnover but does a good job developing quarterbacks and has that family culture that everybody’s looking for. His best relationship might be with Penn State assistant coach Danny O’Brien. The two are in contact on a very frequent basis.

Three programs seem to be doing the best job with Adams so far. North Carolina is really leaning on their connections to the Virginia Beach area and it seems to be working. Adams really enjoyed his visits to Chapel Hill and the staff treats him like family. Adams really likes the new coaching staff at Virginia Tech also. He said they are doing a much better job recruiting in-state prospects and that makes him feel like a bigger priority. Current Penn State receiver and Virginia Beach native KeAndre Lambert has been doing a good job making sure the Nittany Lions stay high on Adams’s list of options. The coaching staff has done a good job building strong relationships with him too. Expect Adams to try to plan visits to programs like Maryland, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Ohio State this summer.

The in-state schools and Penn State have the early momentum for Jones. He was recently on campus at Virginia and really enjoyed speaking with the new coaching staff and getting to know coach Elliott. Jones had a strong relationship with Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry from his time at Penn State and that has carried over to Blacksburg. Jones said that Pry wants to use him like Micah Parsons and that really appeals to him. The Penn State coaching staff has really good relationships with Jones and that could play a big role down the road. He’ll try to make another trip to State College this summer. Expect him to also make a return visit to Ohio State at some point. He really enjoyed his time in Columbus the first time around and the Buckeyes could be in the process of turning up the heat on him.

Price is expecting to narrow his list down to eight or ten schools at some point in the next three or four months. He did say that Boston College, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Cincinnati will all make the cut when he does announce his short list. Boston College and Wake Forest seem to have prioritized him and the schools have built some really good relationships with him throughout this process. Coach Adams from Wake Forest and coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim at Boston College are in touch with him frequently. Price will be at Boston College for an official visit on June 17.

Gill missed a portion of last season but that doesn’t seem to have slowed down his recruitment very much. Kansas, Kansas State, Washington and North Carolina are all doing a good job with him. The Tar Heels haven’t offered just yet but he feels like an offer could be coming relatively soon. Washington’s playing style and their success in the Pac-12 is something that is intriguing to Gill. They were also his first offer and that carries a lot of weight with him. Kansas and Kansas State are showing a lot of love at this point and they could pay dividends down the road. Expect Gill to take a couple of visits and then try to commit next month.

Lee is one of the more coveted defensive backs in the 2024 class but three teams seem like they’ve separated themselves from the pack. Pittsburgh, South Carolina and Ohio State are locks to make his shortlist when he does announce it at some point during the upcoming season. Ohio State was one of his dream schools and his mom is a big fan of the Buckeyes. South Carolina defensive backs coach Torian Gray has a track record that really appeals to Lee so the Gamecocks seem to be emphasizing that throughout this process. During a visit to Pittsburgh earlier this recruiting cycle he really enjoyed the family atmosphere and the coaches were able to give him some pointers that helped his game. Look for Lee to try to get on campus at Alabama, South Carolina, Ohio State and a few others this summer.

College coaches are still learning a lot about Love but he feels like a priority for schools like Rutgers, Syracuse, Boston College, Maryland, Texas A&M and Georgia. It’s the relationships with members of the coaching staff at each school that are really driving the interest and he’s singled out Savon Huggins from Boston College, Khalil Ahmad from Syracuse, and coach Elijah Robinson from Texas A&M for their efforts in his recruitment. Expect Love to take a lot of visits this summer including to schools like Oregon, Texas A&M and Georgia.

Karriem is a defensive back that a lot of colleges are looking to learn more about throughout this spring and summer. The tall, long defensive back has an official visit set up to Illinois the first weekend in June and the Illini should have high expectations for the trip. The coaching staff has made him a priority and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by Karriem. Schools like Oregon, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and a few others have been in contact and have shown up at his school to watch a workout or learn more about him from his coaches. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Karriem take his recruitment into the fall.

Brown is one of the more explosive edge rushers in the 2024 class and colleges coast-to-coast have taken notice. Rutgers is in a great position because of all of the connections they have to his high school. Defensive line coach Marquise Watson is doing a good job recruiting him as well so the Scarlet Knights should be a major contender for him throughout the process. Washington has done a good job appealing to him early in the process and they’ve been emphasizing how well he fits into their scheme. Syracuse might have an unbeatable edge though. Brown‘s father played at Syracuse and is very close with a handful of coaches on the staff.

Bethea has done a good job making the rounds early in the recruiting process. Washington, Oregon and Ole Miss are just a few programs that have hosted him this year. Bethea is planning on visiting Texas A&M at some point this summer but everybody might be chasing Rutgers. Their connections to Bethea’s school are very strong and there are a number of former Erasmus Hall players on the roster at Rutgers. Defensive line coach Marquise Watson has really clicked with Bethea and that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.

LSU is making a major run at the four-star athlete especially after back-to-back weekend visits to Baton Rouge went really well. Aguero has hit it off with coach Brian Kelly and especially position coach Kerry Cooks during his time at LSU and the Tigers have to be considered a serious front-runners. Ohio State, Florida and Miami should also be watched. Georgia was considered the team to beat but the Bulldogs now have a fight on their hands.

Michigan, Notre Dame and Penn State are the three early standouts for the 2024 three-star offensive guard but he’s also keeping in touch with Maryland since it’s the local school for the Olney (Md.) Good Counsel standout. Altuner loves the offensive line production and the coaching staff at Michigan, the energy and high-level play at Penn State and having position coach Harry Hiestand on staff at Notre Dame is a huge draw since he coached Good Counsel alum Sam Mustipher and others.

The four-star defensive end from Camden, N.J., wore Kentucky gloves during Sunday’s Rivals Camp and the Wildcats are one of his four favorites with Tennessee and Virginia but the rumor is West Virginia is the team to beat in his recruitment. He has an official visit to Morgantown set for the first week of June and he does plan to take trips to the other three. Heard loves the defensive scheme of the Mountaineers, said it’s “perfect” for him and the four-star hits it off with the entire coaching staff, too.

Penn State, South Carolina and Kentucky are the three early standouts for the 2025 cornerback from Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances but Notre Dame is the dream school because of its mix of academics and athletics. At Penn State, Humes loved the family feel there and talking to coach James Franklin. He has not yet visited South Carolina but an offer in 8th grade made an impression and Kentucky visited his school recently for spring practice and liked Humes enough to offer.

Georgia Tech, Maryland and Liberty are the standout programs for Little, who said the Yellow Jackets especially stand out because he’s drawn to playing and going to school in Atlanta and he likes the coaching staff a lot. But his family likes Maryland and it’s the hometown school for the Upper Marlboro (Md.) Rock Creek Christian three-star defensive end. A trip to Miami is trying to get worked out and the Hurricanes could move way up if that happens.

One of the best-looking prospects at the Rivals Camp didn’t even participate as he’s coming back from injury but the 2025 defensive end from Philadelphia (Pa.) Imhotep Charter has been landing offers quickly and receiving lots more interest. No favorites have emerged yet but Mathis is talking more with Oregon, Alabama and Ohio State. Visits to Rutgers, Texas A&M and Penn State should happen this summer and watch out for the Aggies since they landed former Imhotep teammate Enai White last recruiting cycle.

The 2025 offensive tackle has been picking up offers quickly and Matthews remains open to all programs but Georgia, Rutgers, Miami, Penn State and Texas A&M have caught his eye the most so far. The Bulldogs might even have the slightest edge coming off the national title plus the academics in Athens. Matthews wants to be a doctor and said that is going to play a significant role in his decision-making process when picking a school.

Oklahoma, Michigan and Oregon are the three programs that have particularly caught Seaton’s eye as the 2024 four-star offensive guard works through his early recruitment. The Washington (D.C.) St. John’s College High standout will get pushed from top Big Ten, ACC and SEC teams throughout his recruitment as the No. 1 offensive guard in his class but the Sooners and the Wolverines have made a huge move early and getting to Eugene seems like a top priority.

Maryland, Boston College and Liberty are the three main standouts for the three-star offensive lineman from Owings Mills (Md.) McDonogh. Walker loves the coaching staff and atmosphere at Maryland and is looking to schedule an official visit back to College Park soon. The coaches stand out most at Boston College and he knows some players on the team there as well.

Michigan, Rutgers, Pitt and Penn State are the four standouts for the 2024 cornerback from Philadelphia (Pa.) Imhotep standout. He hasn’t visited Ann Arbor yet but hopes to this summer as that coaching staff is trying to get him on campus. Woseley loved the spring game atmosphere at Rutgers and how hard the coaching staff is pushing. With the Nittany Lions, he sees the Penn State-to-Philly pipeline opening up even more and his relationship with coach Cory Sanders at Pitt is a major selling point plus the Panthers gave him his first offer.