Recruiting Rumor Mill: Programs begin contacting 2023 standouts

National recruiting director Adam Gorney is back with his Recruiting Rumor Mill, which features recruiting chatter and news from around the country. Today’s focus is on which schools have made the biggest impression on some of the top 2023 prospects now that coaches can communicate with them.

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“Florida has shown the most love to me this week,” Ausberry said, so the Gators are definitely doing a great job showing the four-star linebacker from Baton Rouge (La.) University Lab love early on. Ohio State, Texas A&M and LSU should also be watched in his recruitment.

Notre Dame, Texas, Michigan State, Auburn, Arizona, Michigan, Missouri, Colorado, TCU and Oklahoma all made a big impression on the four-star safety from Denton (Texas) Guyer. All those programs were active with him on Sept. 1 but his recruitment continues to stay busy with new offers from Florida and Auburn.

Some of the same schools that have been involved with Branch for a long time have been aggressive with USC, Ohio State, Alabama, Tennessee, Clemson and Washington leading the way but new ones are getting in the mix as well. The four-star from Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman said Michigan State, Colorado and Ole Miss have reached out.

Mississippi State, Georgia, Auburn and Clemson have been the most active programs reaching out over the last few days to the four-star defensive end from Warner Robins, Ga. Clemson and Georgia could be battling it out most for Burley right now.

Texas A&M, USC, Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon and Notre Dame have been the most active with the four-star receiver from DeSoto, Texas. Oklahoma is also a school high on the list but Cook did not mention the Sooners as being so involved as the others at least through this first week.

BYU made an impression on Esera since that coaching staff sent a puzzle piece each day to fill in a poster of himself that stood out. Oregon and Stanford have also been “amazing” and then Ole Miss and UCLA have been pleasant surprises and have been in a lot of contact with the four-star linebacker from Provo (Utah) Timpview.

Florida State and Auburn were the two schools who made the biggest impression early on and showed the most attention to the four-star defensive end from Highland Home, Ala. Those two programs along with Alabama, Clemson and Tennessee make up Faulk’s top five.

Ohio State, Oklahoma, Clemson, USC, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Texas and Texas A&M were the schools most active with the high four-star receiver from Longview, Texas. The Sooners are definitely high on the list and so has been LSU but the Tigers were not mentioned as one of the most aggressive in the last week.

Georgia, Alabama, Clemson and North Carolina were the four schools showing the most attention to the No. 1 cornerback in the 2023 class. Clemson was the school that reached out first and the Phenix City (Ala.) Glenwood said the coaches told him he was a priority and he hopes they keep showing that in their recruitment of him.

Mississippi State, Louisville, Miami and Missouri were the most active schools with the four-star running back from Farmerville (La.) Union Parish but Michigan State, Tennessee and Baylor have reached out a lot as well and Holly has heard from nearly every school that has offered him.

Notre Dame, Stanford, Oregon, Michigan State, Penn State, Florida State and Florida have been the most involved with the four-star running back from Miami (Fla.) Gulliver Prep. His father played for the Spartans but it’s no guarantee he ends up there as Stanford, Oregon and Notre Dame seem to be highest.

Miami, Florida, Mississippi State and Oregon have pushed the hardest early on with the four-star offensive tackle from Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips and made the biggest impression with the 6-foot-7, 315-pound prospect who has more than 40 offers.

Arizona, Miami, Oklahoma, Virginia, Oregon and others have been showing a lot of interest in the four-star offensive guard from Honolulu (Hawaii) St. Louis and then Ohio State and USC have also been showing a lot more interest in recent days.

Lots of schools have been showing a lot of attention to the four-star safety from Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes but it’s been mainly Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Florida, Stanford, Florida State and Virginia.

Multiple coaches from Stanford, LSU, Clemson, USC, Mississippi State and Georgia have been sending graphics and edits to James and he’s “definitely feeling the love” as the Del Valle, Texas, four-star receiver has also heard from many other programs.

Florida, Florida State, Clemson, LSU, Texas A&M, Michigan and Penn State are the programs that have been most active in reaching out to the four-star cornerback from Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson.

Oklahoma and Florida State have been the top two schools for the four-star receiver from Los Alamitos, Calif., but USC is “making a really big impression on me,” Moore said and so the Trojans have to be seen as an emerging player in his recruitment. Clemson and Alabama have reached out a lot as well.

Notre Dame, Miami, Arizona State, Alabama, Penn State and North Carolina have been the mainstays that have been super aggressive with the four-star athlete from Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy. But M’Pemba, who didn’t take visits this summer because he spent time in Africa, said “everyone really” has been reaching out.

Mississippi State, Auburn, LSU and Michigan have been the four schools most involved with the four-star safety from Selma, Ala. Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Arkansas are three other SEC programs that have caught Nelson’s attention early on.

Georgia, Texas A&M, Michigan State and Texas were the four schools that were the most aggressive with the four-star all-purpose back from El Campo, Texas for graphics and communication in the opening days. He had previously been committed to the Longhorns but backed off that pledge in June.

Notre Dame was the first to contact the four-star cornerback from Seattle (Wash.) Rainier Beach and the first school to call him so the Irish have definitely made an impression. But Presley has had lots of attention from many other schools including Alabama, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Cal, USC, Florida State, Michigan State and Missouri.

Georgia, Oregon, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Mississippi State and Auburn have been the schools that have been the most involved with the Douglasville (Ga.) South Paulding offensive lineman. Sanker is planning to be at Georgia this weekend.

“Nobody has made more of an effort than Notre Dame and Michigan State,” Tate said about the schools that have been the most involved over the first week. Michigan and Texas are two other schools to watch with the Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy four-star receiver who’s off to a phenomenal start in his junior season.

Michigan State, Clemson, North Carolina, Alabama and Auburn have been the main schools showing the most early attention to the four-star cornerback from Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake. His brother, A.J., played at Clemson before being a first-round NFL Draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons.

Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, LSU and Alabama are the five schools that have been showing the most involvement for the four-star defensive end from Hickory, N.C. But Walker said there is no order yet and that he’s still open to all programs.

The four-star safety from New Iberia (La.) Westgate has seen the most activity from Alabama, Clemson, LSU, Michigan, Texas, Michigan State, Florida, Miami and Mississippi State so far. LSU could be tough to beat for Williams but many are still pursuing Williams and pretty heavily.

The first school that contacted Woods was Michigan right after midnight and the Wolverines had Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson teammate Tony Mitchell on the other line. All the parties talked for about 10 minutes. After Michigan, Woods heard from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Oregon, Penn State and USC to name just a few that night.