Recruiting Rumor Mill: Prospects weigh in after big weekend visits
The Recruiting Rumor Mill stays busy with visits across the country. Here is the latest from another busy weekend across the college football landscape.
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The three-star defensive end from New Orleans (La.) Edna Karr remains solidly committed to TCU but Bax was at LSU’s game over the weekend and had conversations with the coaching staff there about the Tigers’ recruitment of him.
LSU has not offered yet but the coaches continue to show serious interest and an offer from the Tigers would definitely be a big deal.
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The “family feel” at Clemson definitely stands out to Brown, who especially took notice to the team supporting Bryan Bresee’s sister, who is battling cancer. The top-ranked inside linebacker in the 2024 class from Jefferson, Ga., loves how close the Clemson teammates are and it could play a significant role in his thinking as Georgia, South Carolina and others have made a big impression as well.
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LSU is considered the front-runner for the 2024 four-star safety from Duncanville, Texas, and he was back in Baton Rouge this past weekend to get more familiar with the program.
Dotson closely watched safeties Jay Ward and Major Burns especially, and the 2024 standout loves how detailed Kerry Cooks runs things for the safeties.
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With more than 50 offers, Feagin was back at Florida this past weekend and even though the Gators lost to Kentucky the 2024 four-star cornerback loved the “great atmosphere” inside The Swamp as he keeps developing his relationship with that staff.
Florida is definitely a major player in Feagin’s recruitment but visits to Florida State, Clemson and Alabama are coming up.
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Georgia soundly beat Samford on Saturday and the 2024 four-star athlete from Loganville (Ga.) Grayson was there, thought the atmosphere was “crazy”, saw the stadium “rocking” and that “everything felt right.”
The Bulldogs are clearly a main contender early in Fox’s recruitment but a big visit to Louisville is coming up later this week.
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The 2024 tight end from Chillicothe, Ohio, has been committed to LSU since late July but he visited Florida over the weekend and it was an “incredible” visit. The Gators’ message to him was that they were excited to finally meet him in person and after doing so that they’d dramatically step up their recruiting efforts.
Galloway is going to give Florida a look especially after the visit went so well but he will also be back at LSU in October when the Tigers host Ole Miss.
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He’s a 2025 prospect so there’s a ton of time left for the Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei prospect but Harris visited Pitt over the weekend and now he has even more interest in the Panthers.
Harris met coach Pat Narduzzi and assistants Tim Salem, Alex Kline and Tiquan Underwood, who definitely stood out the most because he showed so much interest in Harris and all the other top prospects there. Underwood is one of Harris’ “favorite recruiters yet” and Harris loved the atmosphere at the Pitt/Tennessee game.
“A lot of the fans love Pitt football, flat out,” Harris said. “The coaches, the fans, the marching band and the players were a vibe.”
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Texas might now be considered the team to beat for Harrison-Pilot especially after what he saw in Austin from the players completely buying in to coach Steve Sarkisian in the Longhorns’ one-point loss to then-No. 1 Alabama. The Temple, Texas, standout has TCU, Houston and others involved but watch the Longhorns here.
“If Quinn (Ewers) didn’t get hurt, they would’ve won and they stand really high in my recruitment,” Harrison-Pilot said.
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The Auburn coaching staff is making Henderson a major priority and the 2024 four-star defensive end from Leeds, Ala., is fully noticing their efforts. The Tigers have emerged as a major contender in Henderson’s early recruitment, he loves how the coaches are handling him and he will be back for Auburn’s game against Penn State this weekend.
“I can tell Auburn wants me,” Henderson said. “They show love and it feels like home.”
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Texas is “improving” on recruiting the 2024 five-star receiver as he loved the atmosphere at the Alabama-Texas game on Saturday afternoon and loved how involved the fans were throughout the close contest.
The Temple, Texas, Lake Belton product watched closely as the Longhorns moved around their ‘X’ receiver as he’d be playing that role in Austin. Texas A&M could have the edge in his recruitment now with Ohio State, Texas Tech and others involved but the Longhorns made a big impression.
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The three-star offensive lineman from Modesto (Calif.) Modesto Christian especially loves the coaches and the staff at Cal and being from the Bay Area it could be a tremendous draw to the Golden Bears.
Cal coaches are expected at his game this upcoming weekend which is another positive step in landing Itete, who said Vanderbilt, Oregon, USC and UCLA are all showing interest. He’s expected to visit Oregon later this season.
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Jefferson’s experience at Ole Miss definitely left a major impression on the 2024 high three-star athlete from Chattanooga (Tenn.) Baylor school as he talked to many of the coaches and they complimented his playmaking ability. He felt the love in Oxford and the Rebels will be one team he closely monitors moving forward along with Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Auburn. The 2024 standout plans to visit Alabama this weekend.
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Texas has always been high on Livingstone’s list and his experience on Saturday could have only moved the Longhorns up as the atmosphere was “insane” and Texas’ performance was “amazing” in a close loss to Alabama.
The Longhorns are looking better but the 2024 high three-star receiver from Lucas (Texas) Lovejoy is still planning to see Georgia, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Baylor and Oklahoma State this season.
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Texas made a massive impression on the 2025 wide receiver from Katy (Texas) Jordan during the Longhorns’ close loss to Alabama on Saturday and said they “moved up a little” in his recruitment as many others are involved early on as well. Marsh has a twin sister who he’s going to try to convince to look at Texas as well - and that could be important moving forward.
“I never experienced anything like that,” Marsh said.
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The Middleburg, Fla., three-star running back committed to Utah in late June but Mitchell was back at Florida over the weekend and had an excellent time even though the Gators lost to Kentucky.
Mitchell especially loved the game-day atmosphere in The Swamp but his pledge to the Utes remains strong and he’s taking his official visit to Utah this weekend. Interestingly, Mitchell expects to be at every Florida State home game for the rest of the season as well.
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The 2024 high three-star tight end from Ainsworth, Neb., was at Kansas State this past weekend to see the Wildcats’ dismantling of Missouri and the word is that everything was “positive” and the atmosphere in Manhattan was “very pleasing.”
Nebraska has been rumored to have an edge with the in-state prospect but with the coaching change there things could be back to square one. Nelson expected to visit Lincoln this weekend and then go to Iowa State but things might be in flux now.
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Clemson, Tennessee and Florida are the three front-runners for the four-star defensive end from Phenix City (Ala.) Central and the Tigers definitely made a huge impression over the weekend.
The message from the coaching staff is also appealing that Clemson will be losing a lot of players along the defensive line so Parker could come in and play early. Other visits are going to happen but Clemson did all it could to land the four-star on his “amazing” visit.
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The environment and the game-day atmosphere at Auburn stood out most to the 2024 high three-star running back from Stockbridge, Ga., as Scott noticed so many fans there hours before the game to support the players outside the stadium.
Auburn hasn’t offered him yet, though, so that will be something to watch moving forward as Rutgers, South Carolina, Pitt, Mississippi State and Wake Forest have been more active so far.
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A lot of programs remain in contention for the 2024 four-star offensive tackle from Leesburg (Va.) Tuscarora but his visit to Arkansas this past weekend was extra special. Westphal spent a surprising amount of time with coach Sam Pittman which came as a “surprise” to Westphal and his family.
From seeing him on the sidelines to meeting with him to being invited into the locker room and so much more, the Razorbacks left a huge impression on the 2024 four-star.
“I felt real special,” Westphal said.