Six notable prospects that signed late in the Early Signing Period
The Early Signing Period was especially busy Wednesday as so many top prospects came off the board. But a few others waited throughout the end of the week to make their decisions.
Here is a look at how their recruitments played out as coaching changes had a big impact on a lot of decisions.
MORE NATIONAL SIGNING DAY: Five surprises | Five disappointments | Winners and losers | The Gorney awards | Travis Hunter spurns Florida State, signs with Jackson State | Breaking down team rankings | Where will Deion's next job be? | How teams announced their signees | Top 10 storylines of Late Signing Period | Ten best still available | NSD Blog | Ten biggest flips of NSD | Top Group of Five signees | Focus shifts to February for 2022 class
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QB TANNER BAILEY
South Carolina is loaded with quarterbacks. The four-star from Gordo, Ala., had been committed to Oregon and if coach Mario Cristobal did not leave the Ducks for Miami, it was believed Bailey was completely locked in with his commitment. But when Cristobal left, Bailey backed off his Oregon pledge and then took a visit to Indiana.
South Carolina got much more involved, though, and the Gamecocks won out for his commitment over the weekend. Shane Beamer offered Bailey after Gunner Stockton’s decommitment and the Gamecocks made it clear that taking two quarterbacks in the 2022 class would be preferable.
South Carolina has now landed Bailey and three-star Braden Davis and surprisingly landed former five-star Spencer Rattler out of the transfer portal.
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CB DENVER HARRIS
There was a time that the five-star cornerback from Houston (Texas) North Shore was nearly a lock to Alabama. He even joked that friends would ask him when he was committing to the Crimson Tide because it was so obvious. But Alabama sort of slowed on Harris in favor of other cornerbacks in the closing weeks. Even though the Crimson Tide re-engaged with him leading up to signing day, Texas A&M had stayed consistent and diligent in recruiting him and landed his signature.
LSU and others were also involved but when coach Jimbo Fisher said the Aggies could sign an historic class, he wasn’t exaggerating.
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CB DOMANI JACKSON
When Jackson made his first commitment to USC, it looked like his recruitment was over. He wanted to play for the Trojans for a long time, he could be the centerpiece of the 2022 recruiting class and all made sense. Except the coaching situation was a mess for the Trojans and with decision day coming, the five-star cornerback from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei wanted to investigate other options.
Alabama and Michigan joined the list of favorites and the Crimson Tide had the best chance of landing him. After his visit to Tuscaloosa, it looked like Jackson had made up his mind to play for the Crimson Tide. But after USC shockingly hired coach Lincoln Riley and then Jackson visited USC multiple times in the closing weeks, the Trojans won out.
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ATH KENDRICK LAW
With Law’s commitment to Alabama over the weekend, the Crimson Tide have as many top-10 players from the state of Louisiana as LSU does. Alabama has taken advantage of the LSU coaching change and the Tigers haven’t capitalized yet on Brian Kelly’s arrival in Baton Rouge. It might not end up that way as three top-10 recruits remain on the board but Alabama did a great job recruiting Law.
LSU made a very hard push late and Texas was involved as well.
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WR TETAIROA MCMILLAN
Not a fan of the recruiting process and everything that comes with it, McMillan committed to Oregon this summer for two main reasons: He always wanted to play for the Ducks ever since Marcus Mariota did (McMillan is also a Hawaii native) and his relationship with the coaches, especially Mario Cristobal and Bryan McClendon.
With Cristobal leaving for Miami and McClendon’s future coaching location unclear, McMillan flipped to Arizona over the weekend. He had an excellent visit there over the summer and three of his Anaheim (Calif.) Servite teammates, including high three-star QB Noah Fifita, had already signed with the Wildcats.
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TE JALEEL SKINNER
The four-star tight end who’s originally from Greer, S.C., but was playing at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy had been committed to Alabama since October. It looked like that pledge was going nowhere. But then Mario Cristobal took the Miami job, convinced Skinner to take another visit to Miami - he had also been there over the summer - and by the end of the weekend had flipped Skinner from his Crimson Tide pledge.
The best-looking tight end in the class, Skinner was a huge early recruiting win that probably wouldn’t have happened if Cristobal didn’t get the Miami job.