With commitments, decommitments and another busy weekend of college football, a lot is happening in this week’s Recruiting Rumor Mill. Here’s the latest from Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney.
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Texas A&M is coming really hard after the 2026 four-star who could be in the five-star discussion based off his performance this season but the Aggies aren’t the only ones involved. Oregon and Georgia are two others to watch and the word is that the Spring Valley (Calif.) Mt. Miguel two-way standout also “loves” USC so the Trojans should be watched, too.
The 2026 four-star tight end from Visalia (Calif.) Mount Whitney could not make the Texas A&M game last weekend but he does plan to get out to College Station sometime this season as the Aggies are one of the early front-runners in his recruitment. Auburn, Utah, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon and Miami are the other ones to watch.
The 2026 athlete from Buford, Ga., has “no concerns” about Auburn’s offense after being in town for the Arkansas game as the Tigers remain one of the early front-runners in his recruitment. Georgia definitely looks best early on with Tennessee right there as Ohio State, Auburn and USC are the others to watch.
The four-star linebacker flipped from Alabama to Tennessee in August but Harmon was back in Tuscaloosa over the weekend for its thrilling win over Georgia. The coaching staff made it clear to Harmon that they would “fight until the end” to get his commitment back as the Rome standout loved the “crazy energy” at Alabama on Saturday night.
Virginia Tech, Penn State and others are high on the list for Hart but after a Michigan visit the Wolverines could be surging in his recruitment. The 2026 three-star athlete from Roanoke (Va.) North Cross School got dapped up by Will Johnson and Jadyn Davis, the coaches showed an “incredible amount of love” and it was the best game-day experience he’s had so far as this was his second time at The Big House.
LSU could be even tougher to beat now that the Tigers offered one day before the 2027 five-star quarterback visited Alabama but his trip to Tuscaloosa went really well. The family noticed some “subtle differences that were intriguing” with how the Crimson Tide coaching staff handled some things and they briefly talked with position coach Nick Sheridan. Auburn, Florida and others are in the mix but this feels very much like LSU is out front for the Baton Rouge (La.) Dunham standout and Alabama has intrigued after the weekend trip.
After an early commitment to Alabama, Helton backed off that pledge in March as then the Crimson Tide and Georgia became the two front-runners. The 2026 four-star interior offensive lineman was back in Tuscaloosa over the weekend and the word is now that Alabama is back to being “very high” on his list. A re-commitment could definitely in the cards.
South Carolina, Clemson and others will be involved in Holtzclaw’s recruitment but the 2027 quarterback had a really memorable visit to North Carolina that could alter his recruitment moving forward. The Arden (N.C.) Christ School standout spent about 20 minutes with coach Mack Brown and quarterbacks coach Chip Lindsey, they talked about his recruitment, when to narrow things down and a possible commitment timeline as well as the Tar Heels - pending any coaching news moving forward - are definitely a team to watch.
The five-star USC quarterback commit had another “great” visit back to Los Angeles over the weekend and what especially stood out most was how quickly the program has progressed and gotten better from when the family saw them last season against Washington. The Carrollton, Ga., five-star will be back at USC for the Penn State game in a few weeks but the word is that things have “gotten a little noisy lately” with some Auburn, Colorado and Indiana staying in regular contact.
The four-star defensive end from Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian has been committed to USC since June but Oregon has been “working hard” to flip him and now it looks like Lowe will be taking a visit to Eugene. The Oaks Christian standout is looking at a date in October as this has become much more of a two-team race heading closer to signing day. The four-star was back at USC over the weekend for its win over Wisconsin.
Notre Dame could be tough to overcome for the 2026 four-star offensive guard from Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Cumberland Valley and Penn State, Clemson and others are pushing but the other team to watch might be Michigan. After a recent visit to Ann Arbor, Merrill called it a “special place” and he has a good relationship with position coach Grant Newsome. Still - do the Irish lead by a wide margin? We’ll see.
SMU and Oklahoma could be an early top two for the four-star receiver from Kaufman, Texas and a recent trip to see the Mustangs went well especially as he heard a lot of “good things” from the players and the staff. SMU moved higher on Miles’ list following that visit and while there is major interest in the Sooners the Kaufman standout also wants to see more from them in the SEC before making any decisions.
Even though it’s very early for the 2027 offensive lineman from Anna, Texas, another recent visit really stood out as the Sooners are definitely high on his list early on. Miller loves talking life and football with the coaching staff there and he especially appreciated the Oklahoma commits involving him and treating him like a future teammate. Miller is close to 20 offers already so there could still be a lot of changes but Oklahoma should stay high throughout his decision-making process.
The three-star defensive tackle from Lee’s Summit (Mo.) Lee’s Summit North had been committed to Oklahoma for more than a year but backed off that pledge in recent days as two programs have particularly caught his attention moving forward. Iowa State and Nebraska have come on strong in his recruitment and the Cyclones would be the one to watch since he’s talked about them highly since the beginning of his recruitment.
In July, the four-star safety from Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange flipped his commitment from Notre Dame to Michigan but one team in particular is not giving up on recruiting Taylor. Alabama hosted the four-star over the weekend and the chatter is that the Crimson Tide are not going to stop working on Taylor until signing day. There is some confidence an opening could be made there but Michigan is also working hard to keep the four-star in its class.
The 2027 four-star receiver from Las Vegas (Nev.) Arbor View was at UNLV over the weekend, he’s planning to visit Wisconsin in late October and he’ll be at a Utah game as the Utes, USC, Tennessee and Alabama have caught his attention the most in recruiting so far. Warren is “pretty open” this early but he does live with Christian Thatcher, a Utah commit, and his brother, Thaddeus, a top 2027 QB.
Ohio State has been tagged as the team to beat for the 2026 four-star safety from Brandon (Miss.) Hartfield Academy but Womack had a phenomenal visit to Alabama over the weekend and it was made clear to him that the coaching staff is making him a top priority. The Crimson Tide and the Buckeyes will be battling it out but Womack’s list remains long with Texas A&M, Texas, Washington, Nebraska, Tennessee and LSU still high.
Young has had some twists and turns in his recruitment and it might not be over. The four-star safety from Lakeland, Fla., committed early to USF only to back off that pledge where it looked like he was going to announce for Florida. When that didn’t happen, Ole Miss stayed involved with Young and he pledged to the Rebels in June. But Young was back at USF for its matchup against Miami and then Michigan State and Colorado are “applying pressure” as well.
