Three-Point Stance: New official visit rules, Texas QBs, Arkansas in 2024
Rivals national recruiting analyst Nick Harris takes a look at the new rule enacted on unlimited official visits, the quarterback class in the state of Texas in 2024 and Arkansas' momentum on the recruiting trail in this edition of Three-Point Stance.
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The new rule on official visits won't be as chaotic as expected.
The NCAA passed a new rule last week allowing unlimited official visits for prospects starting on April 1 of their junior seasons, and widespread panic among people in the industry and coaches alike immediately hit social media timelines about how this will put the recruiting industry in overdrive.
However, let's look at the potential positives.
Schools are still limited to the amount of official visitors that they can bring in for any given recruiting cycle, so it's not like you will be seeing prospects take official visits to every one of their 40-plus offers. Schools are going to be a lot more selective with not only who gets brought on campus, but who gets offered as well.
In addition, I don't foresee many prospects using more than five official visits once the rule settles in after a cycle or two. By let's say 2026 recruits will be entering a recruiting landscape that doesn't have any remaining fragments of the five official visits and will still be looking to take official visits to only a top handful of programs.
I think the only guaranteed negative you can find here is late in the cycle when committed prospects want to take a flurry of official visits and coaches and those in the recruiting industry going haywire about the availability they have to do that.
All in all, once the dust settles this will end up being a good thing for college football recruiting as it will allow schools to communicate much earlier about where a prospect stands with their program.
GORNEY'S TAKE: Coaches detest new official visit rule for good reason
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Historically speaking, the state of Texas has one of its best quarterback classes of all-time in 2024.
The state of Texas is no stranger to producing Power Five quarterbacks at a high clip, and the 2024 cycle has snuck up on us as yet another class with a heavy handful of elite talents.
In all, eight quarterbacks within state lines are committed to Power Five programs as DJ Lagway (Florida), Michael Hawkins Jr. (Oklahoma), Marcos Davila (Purdue), Trey Owens (Texas), William Hammond (Texas Tech), Mabrey Mettauer (Wisconsin), Deuce Adams (Louisville) and Hauss Hejny (TCU) make up one of the stronger classes in recent history in the Lone Star State. This phenomenon arrived in a hurry as four of those eight have made commitments this calendar year.
The 2024 QB class power was on full display Sunday in Austin at the Elite 11 regional as each signal-caller displayed their talents within the nation's premier quarterback setting. As for the ceiling on this group, I would say it's maybe lower than what some might expect, but one thing is for certain: Each will be able to make an impact at the Power Five level in different ways with the different skill sets that are presented within the class.
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Arkansas is heating up at just the right time in the 2024 cycle.
Early in the 2024 cycle, Arkansas is already in a great position with recruiting its top targets and building a well-rounded class as four of its five commits hold four-star ratings and they all come at a different position of need.
We can start with the recent out-of-state additions to the class in four-star quarterback KJ Jackson and four-star athlete Julius Pope, who have each entered the class in the month of April. While the recruiting strengths outside state borders have been strong, the in-state momentum could take a huge leap this week as four-star targets Charleston Collins and Courtney Crutchfield gear up to make their Friday decisions.
Each are trending to the Razorbacks in the Rivals FutureCast and each hold a great deal of importance as to what the 2024 class will shape up to be for Sam Pittman and his staff. If Arkansas can add those two, the momentum going into May and into the summer will be just where it's needed for the Razorbacks to continue on their pace for the program's top recruiting class in school history.