Sting Factor: Ranking the December decommits
There were 107 Power Five de-commitments in the month of December as everyone was jockeying toward the Early Signing Period. Here’s a look at the 10 that were the most impactful in the busiest month of the recruiting calendar.
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Peyton Bowen - Notre Dame to Oregon to Oklahoma
The five-star safety had one of the craziest signing day storylines in recent memory when the then-Notre Dame commit flipped to Oregon but he and his family never sent the paperwork. After hours of further deliberation, the Denton (Texas) Guyer standout decided he would sign with Oklahoma and after the Sooners looked out of it, they ended up winning out. At the Under Armour Media Day, Bowen maturely explained the situation as it unfolded on signing day and how OU won out for him.
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Keldric Faulk - Florida State to Auburn
On the final weekend before signing day, the four-star defensive end was weighing one final visit as the then-Florida State pledge decided to take it to Tallahassee. That looked like a super positive sign that Faulk would end up signing with the Seminoles but on Sunday of that weekend, the Highland Home, Ala., standout snuck in one more visit to Auburn. Faulk flipped to the Tigers on signing day after being pledged to FSU since early July.
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Dante Moore - Oregon to UCLA
The five-star quarterback committed to Oregon over the summer and it was a huge recruiting win for the Ducks. But after then-offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham left for the Arizona State job, there started to be cracks in the pledge.
The Detroit (Mich.) Martin Luther King standout ended up taking a visit to UCLA late in the process and flipping to the Bruins despite all of Oregon’s efforts to keep him, including flying coach Dan Lanning to meet him in Michigan.
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Deandre Moore - Louisville to Texas
Rumors started flying months ago that it was unlikely the four-star receiver from Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco would sign with Louisville even though numerous teammates were headed there.
Georgia and Texas emerged as the frontrunners to land Moore but even on signing day he was unsure of his future destination and didn’t show for the Bosco ceremony. Instead, he waited a day longer to flip to the Longhorns.
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Austin Novosad - Baylor to Oregon
The four-star quarterback from Dripping Springs, Texas, was not really aching to flip and turned down Texas A&M – where he’s a legacy – among other programs to stick with Baylor. But when Moore flipped from Oregon to UCLA, the Ducks made Novosad a top priority, brought him in for a semi-secret visit on the final weekend before signing day and flipped him.
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Rueben Owens II - Louisville to Texas A&M
Owens made a shocking commitment to Louisville in June and he stuck with the Cardinals until early December when coach Scott Satterfield left for Cincinnati. That gave Texas A&M another opening to refresh its recruitment with the top-rated all-purpose back and he flipped his pledge to the Aggies.
Many believed A&M was going to be the destination for Owens all along and finally heading into signing day, the high four-star landed there.
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Caleb Presley - Oregon to Washington
Presley committed to Oregon in the summer and it was a big victory for the Ducks coaching staff to win a Pacific Northwest recruiting battle. But as the Seattle (Wash.) Rainier Beach four-star cornerback kept getting to know the new Washington staff, the Huskies became more of a contender.
Presley visited both Oregon and Washington late and the decision was tough, but in the end he decided to stay home and play down the road.
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Kadyn Proctor - Iowa to Alabama
The five-star offensive tackle had been committed to Iowa since late June as the in-state Hawkeyes fended off national powers, but it wouldn’t last until signing day. Oregon made a serious run at the Pleasant Hill (Iowa) Southeast Polk standout, who was teammates with Iowa freshman safety Xavier Nwankpa. The new Colorado staff tried to get involved, as well, but Alabama got him to return on a late visit and flipped him.
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Dylan Raiola - Ohio State
In one of the more shocking moves in December, the No. 1 player in the 2024 class backed off his pledge to Ohio State. The five-star quarterback from Chandler, Ariz., seemed locked in early with the Buckeyes and he has an arsenal of five-star receivers headed to Columbus, but Raiola decided to reopen his recruitment.
Since that time, basically every power program in the country has started to recruit him again.
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Sylvester Smith - Tennessee to Auburn
Smith had not been one to talk much about the recruiting process and after making a pledge to Tennessee in April, it looked like the Volunteers had dipped into the state of Alabama and gotten a sneaky good four-star safety.
But the coaching change at Auburn absolutely piqued the interest of the Munford, Ala., standout and with the Tigers less than two hours from home and a late visit there, Auburn flipped him from its SEC rival.