In today’s Tuesdays with Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney plays Buy It or Don’t Buy It when it comes to 10 recruiting rumors he’s hearing:
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RUMOR MILL: Recruiting heating up as spring slows down
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RUMOR: Florida could make a run at five-star Jeremiah Smith.
DON'T BUY IT. It was big news in recent days when an official visit to Florida was planned by the five-star Ohio State receiver commit from Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade Madonna but I’m hearing the Gators will have to blow him away to stay involved in this one. After a trip to Columbus with his family, Smith seems more locked in that ever with the Buckeyes. If five-star QB Dylan Raiola commits to Georgia then the Bulldogs could make it interesting but Ohio State looks very strong here still.
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RUMOR: Alabama and Georgia will become players on Gatlin Bair’s top list.
DON'T BUY IT. Nebraska, Michigan, TCU, Boise State and Oregon have been the five favorites for four-star receiver Gatlin Bair but in recent weeks Georgia and Alabama have offered and the feeling was that could drastically change things. I’ve been told that will not be the case with the Burley, Idaho standout who’s putting together an incredible track season and that Bair still plans to focus on only his top five because of the relationships he’s built there.
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RUMOR: Miami is now the team to beat for five-star Justin Scott.
BUY IT. I’m getting the sense that coach Mario Cristobal and his whole staff did a phenomenal job with Scott during his recent visit to Miami with many other recruits and now the Hurricanes are the team to watch in his recruitment. There could still be a long way to go in his recruitment but if he wanted to commit to Notre Dame why wouldn’t the Chicago (Ill.) St. Ignatius standout already have done it? There was talk he was going to pull that trigger earlier this offseason but it didn’t happen. Georgia is still very much in the picture and the Irish are right there as well but Miami could now have the edge.
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RUMOR: Five-star safety Peyton Woodyard could flip at some point.
BUY IT. This is not written in stone and Woodyard could absolutely stick with Georgia but after unofficial visits to Alabama and Ohio State in the last few weeks, the Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco safety has now scheduled official visits to all three schools? That perks up my attention as the Buckeyes were always a school Woodyard talked very highly of and then Alabama assistant Holmon Wiggins is a California guy with a ton of connections still in the state.
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RUMOR: Five-star David Stone will play at Oklahoma.
BUY IT. A lot has been made about Stone’s mom saying she doesn’t want him at Oklahoma but those comments were misconstrued and it’s not a case about her not liking the program but more about him getting out and being able to focus on school and football. Those reservations are dissipating I’m told and it looks like Oklahoma is now in very good shape with the five-star defensive lineman who’s at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy. Texas A&M is there, I get the sense Michigan State is sleeping a little and so I’d take the Sooners for sure.
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RUMOR: Four-star linebacker Demarcus Riddick could be on flip watch.
BUY IT. Information from the four-star linebacker out of Clanton (Ala.) Chilton County has dried up and that’s fine as Riddick weighs his options - basically sticking with his pledge to Georgia or flipping to Alabama. The Crimson Tide have not stopped recruiting Riddick one bit, if anything they’ve turned up the heat on the talented in-state prospect and the word I’m getting is that they feel Riddick is possibly the top linebacker in the entire 2024 class. Riddick has been committed to Georgia since November and the Bulldogs are the back-to-back champs so they’re no slouches but Alabama is making this one interesting.
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RUMOR: Oregon will beat Penn State and others for QB Michael Van Buren.
BUY IT. The Ducks just landed a quarterback commitment from Phoenix (Ariz.) Sunnyslope’s Luke Moga in late April but Oregon is probably not done in that department. There is always the transfer portal route but it’s more likely that the Ducks have turned a corner with the four-star quarterback from Baltimore (Md.) St. Frances. It seems like things are trending in that direction and that Oregon looks like the leader right now for Van Buren as Moga is also fine with it because he was told the planning for QB recruiting as well.
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RUMOR: Four-star LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa will end up at USC.
DON'T BUY IT.I never count out USC for a top local prospect especially with coach Lincoln Riley turning that ship in the right direction - and for a Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco prospect who could have teammates going to play for the Trojans - but my guess right now is that USC is running third in his recruitment. Viliamu-Asa has loved Notre Dame for a really long time and he respects coach Marcus Freeman a ton and then he’s incredibly comfortable at Ohio State and loves the winning tradition there.
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RUMOR: Tennessee should be concerned about JJ Harrell’s commitment.
BUY IT. Tennessee led the SEC in passing yards per game last season and it’s kind of like receiver heaven there because the Vols are going to throw it down the field under coach Josh Heupel. It looked like a perfect situation for four-star receiver JJ Harrell, who committed there in February. But now the word is that lots of teams are trying to come in on the Sardis (Miss.) North Panola standout and Ole Miss looks to be the biggest threat. Alabama, LSU, Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Florida are involved, too.
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RUMOR: Four-star Jamonta Waller will stay in Mississippi.
DON'T BUY IT. It’s certainly possible but I’ve gotten the impression that Waller is looking at out-of-state schools more while still probably staying in the SEC. An interesting consideration here is that former Picayune, Miss., teammate Dante Dowdell spurned the local schools for Oregon and if he has some early success out West it could convince Waller to consider something similar. The Rebels are a player here but so is Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Florida and many others If I had to guess right now, Waller would leave Mississippi.
