Recruiting Rumor Mill: Prospects react after another busy visit weekend
The Recruiting Rumor Mill is back with a lot of news and rumors from another busy weekend of visits.
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The food and the atmosphere at Notre Dame stood out a lot to the 2024 cornerback from Nashville (Tenn.) Lipscomb Academy, but the biggest selling point at Notre Dame will be his relationship with the coaches especially Marcus Freeman, Mike Mickens and Chris O’Leary. It’s early but Notre Dame, Georgia, LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee and NC State stand out most.
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The top 2024 linebacker from Jefferson, Ga., was back at Georgia this past weekend and had an “amazing experience” especially because he was sitting with quarterback commit Gunner Stockton and the two were talking football together. The Bulldogs are going to be a major player in Brown’s recruitment and he’s also mentioned Auburn, Ole Miss and others.
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A new offer from Alabama is “very big” for the 2023 safety from Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange as he especially loves the culture there and how the team plays for each other. Alabama has definitely moved way up the list but Tennessee, Florida, Boston College, Cincinnati and Pitt will stay in contention.
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The 2023 four-star outside linebacker from Many, La., has traveled the country this season and on Saturday he was at Arkansas. It went really well. There were many standouts but spending a lot of time with coach Sam Pittman was the biggest highlight. Curtis was also lucky to experience a raucous crowd especially late in the game as the Razorbacks beat Mississippi State and that will stick with him for a long time, but there’s also a long way to go in his recruitment.
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Ole Miss still holds an advantage in Davis’ recruitment but after visiting Georgia this past weekend, the Bulldogs are “definitely in the conversation now.” The whole atmosphere stood out to the 2023 four-star tight end from Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill. He loved that Georgia uses multiple tight ends and that the standard is so high in Athens. Ole Miss has an edge but Georgia and others are closing fast.
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There are going to be a lot of national powers vying for Harris’ services and his weekend trip to North Carolina went really well. “Genuine feel,” Harris said. He also likes his chances to get on the field early in Chapel Hill and the 2023 four-star CB from Phenix City (Ala.) Central looks up to UNC position coach Dre Bly and that will be a big selling point.
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The 2023 five-star defensive end from Allen, Texas, was back at Texas A&M this weekend and the message from the coaching staff was that he would be a great addition to the Aggies as they continue to make him a top priority in that class.
“They have always been high,” said Hicks, who released a top 11 Sunday that included the Aggies, Texas, Alabama, LSU and others.
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The 2023 four-star tight end from Folsom, Calif., loved “a lot of things” about his Alabama visit this past weekend and he loved how much attention he received from the entire coaching staff. The pre-game festivities also made a tremendous impact.
“The energy itself pre-game was the craziest thing I have ever seen by far and to hear 100,000 people screaming was something I’ll never forget,” Lyons said.
The Crimson Tide will stay high on the list along with Stanford, Texas, UCLA, Ohio State, USC, BYU, Oregon, Washington and Ole Miss.
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The Texas A&M coaches are giving Owens a lot to consider and a ton of compliments about how they need a running back like him, how he can “run behind the maroon goons,” how he’s a do-it-all back with speed, size and can make people miss and how he’s explosive as well.
After a phenomenal environment in College Station, the former Texas pledge said, “They are in a great place with me.”
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The 2023 four-star defensive end from Sumter, S.C., is not sure about front-runners yet in his recruitment but he loved the energy at South Carolina’s win over Florida last night and the Gamecocks have definitely made a huge impression.
“I loved what I saw last night,” Rhames said, as South Carolina could hold an edge in his recruitment now.
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The high four-star Alabama quarterback commit has an impressive list of top prospects he’s still going after and Simpson is hearing good reports on many who visited Tuscaloosa this weekend.
Simpson’s top targets to round out the Alabama recruiting class is USC cornerback commit Domani Jackson, four-star CB Earl Little, five-star receiver Evan Stewart and four-star defensive end Marvin Jones Jr.
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The 2023 wide receiver from Lake City (Fla.) Columbia tore his ACL but the South Carolina staff still showed “real love” and made sure Tolliver knew he was still wanted in that recruiting class.
The game atmosphere and the fans stood out and Tolliver said, “I can see myself in Willy B making plays.”
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Getting a jumpstart on seeing schools nationwide, the 2025 athlete from Orange, Calif., visited Georgia this past weekend, loved the environment and landed an offer from the Bulldogs. But the word is that his commitment to USC still stands.
“No changes,” White said. “Strong SC commitment.”
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Texas A&M has not offered the 2024 four-star safety from Pearland (Texas) Shadow Creek yet and he said he still has a lot to prove and he’s patiently waiting. But his weekend trip to College Station, “was literally the best football atmosphere I've ever experienced. Felt like I was at a World Cup soccer championship game.”
Texas A&M would definitely be high on his list if an offer came with still a couple years to figure it out.