2/3/2023 football Edit

Sting Factor: The biggest recruiting burns of January

Adam Gorney • Rivals.com

National Recruiting Director

January could not match December, which was the month of de-commitments, but there were still some significant ones last month.

Here’s a look at the biggest January decommitments here, with a 1-10 scale on how big of a sting it was for the school getting snubbed.

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Sting Factor: 9

The five-star cornerback had one of the wildest recruitments in Rivals' history as he was expected to sign with Miami in December, but then opted against it only to then take a late visit to Colorado and flip to the Buffaloes.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal and his staff didn’t do terribly with elite players in the state but probably not good enough. While McClain was a unique case, the Hurricanes had him locked up and then lost him. It definitely hurts because McClain is a talented prospect despite his crazy recruitment.

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Sting Factor: 8

If McClain had a wild recruitment then Rashada might have topped it. A former Miami commit, Rashada flipped to Florida only to .... long story short .... get out of his national letter of intent after a disputed NIL deal. It was a mess all around.

Arizona State and TCU then became the main contenders in his recruitment and on signing day the four-star quarterback from Pittsburg, Calif., picked the Sun Devils. It’s a big win for coach Kenny Dillingham and his staff.

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Sting Factor: 7

Don’t let his current two-star ranking fool you. That was just a placeholder after an early commitment to Washington but Jones has now flipped to Oregon after visiting Eugene and it’s a major victory for the Ducks.

Not only is the Yuma (Ariz.) Catholic defensive end super impressive off the edge and very disruptive, but Washington got in on him early and convinced him to commit, only to see him flip to a Pac-12 rival in the Northwest.

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Sting Factor: 6

Cottrell is a talented four-star receiver who had a solid senior season with 46 catches for 651 yards and nine touchdowns but when Georgia started loading up with some talented portal receivers, the Milton, Fla., standout looked elsewhere. Texas A&M landed Cottrell and while it does hurt the Bulldogs, especially since the four-star went to a conference foe, Georgia should be just fine coming off back-to-back national titles.

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Sting Factor: 6

Butler’s early commitment to USC made complete sense. He’s a local prospect with tremendous speed who could be drawn to play for Lincoln Riley especially after seeing the Trojans' offense this past season. His pledge lasted almost a year and just when there was an uptick at USC, Butler backed off his commitment.

SEC schools and other national powers are involved now. The Trojans are still a player for Butler, who finished with 38 catches for 830 yards and 13 touchdowns in his junior season.

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Sting Factor: 5

Alexander committed to Wisconsin in late October when interim coach Jim Leonhard was in charge. But after Luke Fickell took over, the 2024 three-star cornerback from Chicago Heights (Ill.) Marian Catholic and the Badgers parted ways.

Purdue, Iowa State, Nebraska and others are involved now. Wisconsin is going to recruit in a different way under Fickell and it looks like Alexander will end up somewhere other than Madison.

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Sting Factor: 5

After Posse and Auburn’s new coaching staff parted ways, other SEC schools got involved with the Miami (Fla.) Mater Academy four-star quarterback. Missouri and Mississippi State have shown the most interest. Pitt and Kentucky are also poking around and this offseason could open his recruitment even more.

Auburn is going to go in its own direction with coach Hugh Freeze in charge now and Posse, who has bounced around a little from high school to high school, will almost definitely end up elsewhere.