Recruiting Rumor Mill: Focus shifts entirely to 2025, 2026 classes
The 2024 class is in the books so it’s time to fully turn our focus to the 2025 and 2026 classes and beyond. Here are the latest rumors national recruiting director Adam Gorney is hearing in this week’s Recruiting Rumor Mill.
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The three-star edge rusher from DeSoto, Texas, had been committed to Purdue since June but recently backed off his pledge as a whole host of programs have been reaching out.
Nebraska could be the program to watch but Penn State, LSU, TCU, Texas Tech and the Boilermakers, among others, will be under consideration.
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Addison already has a dozen offers but more could be on the way since he has impressive junior film and is loaded with potential.
Tennessee, South Carolina and Cincinnati have caught his eye the most. The Sumter, S.C., defensive end recently returned from a trip to Knoxville so there could be some post-visit high as the Gamecocks won’t easily let him out of the state.
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The Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie four-star defensive tackle has been committed to Texas since mid-December but he hasn’t visited Austin yet and position coach Bo Davis left for LSU.
The Longhorns still want him but the chatter after a recent visit to USC while he was in town for Pylon Los Angeles was that he wanted to flip to the Trojans but his mom had him hold off for a while.
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After rushing for 1,648 yards and 21 touchdowns this past season, a group of programs have emerged as front-runners for the Houma (La.) Vanderbilt Catholic standout.
The four-star all-purpose back has Oregon, Florida State, Mississippi State, SMU and Texas A&M in that top group right now.
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Texas is considered the slight front-runner for the Houston (Texas) Dekaney four-star receiver especially after another good visit there as he’s hit it off with coach Steve Sarkisian and assistants Jeff Banks and Chris Jackson.
But the word is Oklahoma is moving up in a big way for Hines and then Notre Dame, USC, Baylor and Penn State have all made an impression as well.
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Over the last few weeks, coaches from across the country have offered the 6-foot-8, 240-pound defensive end from Modesto (Calif.) Christian who just popped on the scene.
It’s almost inevitable that more offers are coming Idrissu’s way, but right now USC, Florida State, Washington and Michigan are standing out most now.
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The 2026 cornerback from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy backed off his Miami pledge in recent days and the move of position coach Jahmile Addae to the Buffalo Bills definitely played a big role in Jiles’ decision.
Florida, USC, Washington and Oklahoma have been pushing the Inglewood, Calif., native a lot but Jiles also still will keep Miami in his top group.
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The Hamden (Conn.) Hamden Hall receiver loved his experience at Penn State’s summer camp especially since the coaches were genuine and transparent with him, and continued to stay in contact.
So when Johnson returned for a recent visit it only built up the Nittany Lions even more in his recruitment as other Big Ten programs could be in focus with Florida, Duke and others but Penn State is looking strongest.
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The top dual-threat quarterback in the 2025 class, Knight committed to Notre Dame in September and despite moving back to Lucedale (Miss.) George County from Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Academy, his commitment remains very firm.
Alabama, Ole Miss, Colorado and South Carolina are the four programs mainly trying to flip him but he’s not really listening at this point.
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A bunch of top underclassmen recently visited UCF as coach Gus Malzahn and his staff continue to do well with in-state recruiting but Lherisse was one who couldn’t make that trip.
The Knights are a team to watch for the 2026 athlete from Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie but Kentucky, LSU, USC and Georgia are strongest at this point.
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For months, Ohio State was considered the major front-runner for the four-star running back from Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage but that might not be the case any longer.
Miami has been surging in Louis’ recruitment recently and as he stays pretty quiet about what he’s planning to do, the Hurricanes have to be growing in confidence.
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USC is going to play a major role in McDonald’s recruitment since he had such great meetings with new defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn and others during a recent visit to campus. He’s also playing at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei, which is a pipeline to the Trojans.
Notre Dame, Georgia, Texas A&M and Stanford are others to watch but LSU could be as well since McDonald is planning a visit there in early March after a personal invitation from position coach Corey Raymond.
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A Georgia commit since December 2022, Perlotte has not been shy about taking visits and looking at other programs and that will continue. The word is that the Buford, Ga., four-star linebacker will take official visits to Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State with Auburn, USC and Oregon also coming after him. The Bulldogs still look very strong.
A few days after making his Washington commitment, coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama and so the four-star linebacker reopened his recruitment.
The Huskies remain a contender but the Spanaway (Wash.) Bethel School standout has to restart relationships with coach Jedd Fisch and his staff as Arizona State, Florida State, Alabama, Cal and Texas A&M look strong as well.
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LSU is going to play a major factor in Stewart’s recruitment and won’t give up until the end for the No. 1 prospect in the 2026 class but the word right now is that Texas, USC and Oregon are the three standout programs in his recruitment.
That could certainly change with time as the Tigers have left a major impression and Stewart has talked highly of Georgia and others but it’s more wide open than first thought.
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Alabama, Michigan, Texas, Notre Dame, USC, Oregon, Tennessee and Ohio State have been the top eight for the four-star edge rusher from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and the word is that Wyatt could come off the board in early March.
The Ducks definitely look strong but others have impressed him throughout his recruitment and continue to push for the elite athlete who comes off the edge.