Recruiting Rumor Mill: Key Junior Days taking place across the country
It was an incredibly busy weekend for visits across the country at junior days and Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has the latest he’s hearing in this week’s Recruiting Rumor Mill.
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Missouri is moving way up for the four-star receiver from Saraland, Ala., as Alfred loved his visit to Columbia over the weekend. He learned more about the football program, really appreciated the “brotherhood” of the Missouri coaches, players and staff, as he spent a ton of time with position coach Jacob Peeler and coach Eli Drinkwitz.
The word is that Tennessee is slipping majorly for Alfred with Georgia and South Carolina also moving up.
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Could Antoine follow former New Iberia (La.) Westgate teammate Derek Williams Jr. to Texas? It sure sounds like the Longhorns are very, very involved with the four-star safety especially after Antoine spent a lot of time with position coaches Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon over the weekend. Everything seemed to fit perfectly for Antoine from “playing early, development, great fit, family environment, my major, great culture,” and more.
LSU, Texas A&M and others won’t go down without a fight, either.
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One week after admitting he almost committed to Mississippi State on his visit, the Ackerman (Miss.) Choctaw County high four-star receiver had a phenomenal visit to Auburn that has him thinking again.
From coach Hugh Freeze to position coach Marcus Davis and new offensive coordinator Derrick Nix, Auburn made it super clear to Cunningham he would see the field and that he was “needed” in the Tigers’ offense. The high four-star receiver was also impressed that Auburn talked about God first and football second as he’s big into the church.
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After backing off his pledge to Georgia in late December, the word was that the four-star offensive lineman from Prichard (Ala.) Vigor could have Auburn as his new front-runner but DeBose’s list seems to be getting longer.
The Tigers could still be the team to beat and the others could be a little smokescreen but LSU, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida State and Michigan are making a run at him. Over the weekend, his talks with Freeze and Auburn OL coach Jake Thornton definitely helped the Tigers in the long run.
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Texas and Oklahoma are two to definitely watch with Oregon, Ohio State, USC and others in the mix but now Missouri is also joining that top group after the Tigers made a huge impression over the weekend.
The five-star offensive lineman from Lewisville, Texas loved the environment and the brotherhood he saw between the players and the coaches but the message from coach Eli Drinkwitz on down was what stood out most.
“Their message was very clear: They see me as a program-changer and they want me to be the best I could possibly be at Mizzou,” Fasusi said.
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Following a two-month commitment to Alabama that was completely changed when coach Nick Saban retired following the season, Grady wants to re-evaluate his decision after recent changes with the Crimson Tide staying as a contender in his recruitment. But Florida State definitely made a major impression over the weekend – especially since he stayed in Tallahassee and didn’t chase the Alabama opening – and the Seminoles’ message to Grady was they believe he’s the best at what he does.
Auburn, Georgia and LSU will be the other three that have a real chance with the four-star defensive end from Enterprise, Ala.
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Offers are quickly coming in for the massive four-star offensive lineman from Eureka, Mo., but the feeling is that Notre Dame could be tough to beat following his weekend trip to South Bend.
The word is that the Irish are “very high” in Lange’s recruitment right now and he loved the brotherhood he saw at Notre Dame but Missouri isn’t going to back down easily with Nebraska, Kansas State, Kansas and others also involved.
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The four-star quarterback from Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin has been committed to Florida State since April 1 so he has turned from recruited to recruiter for the Seminoles. And Jones has a big-time wish list.
Over the weekend, Jones was working on teammate (and recent Alabama decommit) Jaime Ffrench along with CJ Wiley, Florida legacy Vernell Brown, Florida commit Jalen Wiggins and Zayden Walker, who has FSU and Georgia among his top programs.
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The four-star quarterback who has settled back at Boulder (Colo.) Fairview has been committed to Penn State since November and he was back in Happy Valley over the weekend with a big-time target list for the Nittany Lions.
Kritza is especially working on receivers Naeshaun Montgomery, Lyrick Samuel and Phillip Bell and flipping four-star linebacker Elijah Melendez from Miami.
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Oregon, LSU, USC, Ohio State and NC State are four others to watch for the high three-star defensive end who just transferred to Matthews (N.C.) Weddington and now Florida State is among that top group as well.
The more he gets to know coach Mike Norvell and especially the reputation and resume of position coach Odell Haggins the more he’s intrigued by the Seminoles. Others are definitely major contenders here but after a weekend visit to Tallahassee, FSU should be watched.
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After landing an offer from Penn State over the weekend, it could be very difficult to beat the Nittany Lions for the three-star tight end from Center Valley (Pa.) Southern Lehigh.
Miami, Ohio State, Rutgers and Pitt are some others to watch but his weekend trip to Happy Valley went well and he loved the coach’s vision for how he’d be used in that offense.
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The top-ranked outside linebacker in the 2025 class, Owusu-Boateng’s brother, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah played at Notre Dame and the Irish are also very involved with the Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy.
Owusu-Boateng is not going to use family history in his own decision but he loves a lot about Notre Dame especially after this weekend since they made him feel like a top priority. Ohio State and Texas are two others to really watch but Notre Dame is definitely up there.
“I could see myself being a great linebacker for the Irish,” Owusu-Boateng said.
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Alabama, Georgia, Miami, Michigan and Oregon rounded out Pickett’s top five in late December but there could be another program added after his weekend visit.
The five-star defensive back from Zephyrhills, Fla., had an “amazing” trip to Clemson and the coaches told him he could play on both sides of the ball early. That has been a message Pickett has wanted to hear as receiver and safety both stand out to him.
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The four-star tight end from Washington, Okla., who had been committed to Notre Dame early on is still not planning to commit soon but Ohio State is absolutely the team to watch now.
The time the coaching staff spent with Roberts over the weekend from position coach Keenan Bailey all day with him on Friday to coach Ryan Day and new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien on Saturday, the Buckeyes made a huge impression.
He will visit Miami this weekend and then see Oregon in early February.
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Getting a great read on Rogers’ recruitment is difficult because the four-star offensive lineman from Mesquite (Texas) Horn stays pretty quiet about favorites but his trip to Texas this weekend went well.
Sitting down with coach Steve Sarkisian and especially position coach Kyle Flood definitely helped the Longhorns as Rogers works through his recruitment. He will be at Oklahoma this weekend and then Texas A&M in early February but LSU should be a program to watch as well.
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Georgia is “big on the list” but the four-star receiver from Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake is not yet ready to make his commitment to the Bulldogs.
A recent visit back to Athens went well again and it might be very difficult to beat Georgia in the long run but Tennessee, Ole Miss, Texas recently has gotten more involved and Oregon are others to watch.
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A visit to Wisconsin last weekend definitely helped the Badgers as Strebig got to meet new offensive line coach AJ Blazek and USC has thoroughly impressed him but after another visit to Notre Dame, the Irish could be the team to beat here.
What stands out about Notre Dame to the Waukesha (Wisc.) Catholic Memorial four-star offensive lineman is that his relationships are “so strong” there and that could be tough to beat. A day before his visit started in South Bend, ND coach Marcus Freeman and a group of assistants visited Strebig at his school.
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The “family culture” that Notre Dame represents is huge to Terry and it puts the Irish “definitely in my top two right now” after his weekend visit.
The three-star receiver from Ironton, Ohio has also been very high on Michigan early in his recruitment with Wisconsin and West Virginia among others involved.
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It’s very early and a lot more offers could be coming his way because Toodle has elite qualities but right now South Carolina is the team to beat in his recruitment.
After visiting Columbia over the weekend, the 2026 outside linebacker/edge rusher loved how he was treated like family and how the coaches told him they want him to come back and watch him practice in the spring.
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Wiggins turned down Florida State and others to commit to Florida only a week ago but the four-star defensive end from Tallahassee (Fla.) Rickards was back at FSU over the weekend and the Seminoles’ coaches are not giving up.
The pitch to Wiggins was that he could be a leader and a legend at home and wouldn’t have to go down to Gainesville to do it. It’s still unclear if there’s any traction there but FSU has kept him as a priority.