Tuesdays with Gorney: Ten surprising recruitment developments
As the midpoint of the college football season is upon us there have been a lot of surprising recruiting developments to watch as well. Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney touches upon 10 of them in this week’s Tuesdays With Gorney:
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Arizona gains momentum but loses local standouts
Arizona has seemingly turned a significant corner under coach Jedd Fisch and while the Wildcats are 3-3, their three losses could have all turned the other way and they’re all against top competition.
The Wildcats lost in overtime at Mississippi State, by a touchdown to Washington and almost upset USC last weekend in the Coliseum in a three-overtime thriller. It has been a long time since Arizona has been this competitive and yet the Wildcats couldn’t keep two Tucson kids committed.
Three-star defensive end Keona Wilhite backed off his pledge in recent days as UCLA, Oregon State and Washington pursue him but the devastating one came over the weekend when Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe four-star DE Elijah Rushing decommitted. Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi was at his game Friday and it seems like the Ducks are in control now.
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Texas A&M keeps trying to flip Micah Hudson
This is not necessarily surprising that Texas A&M is not giving up on the five-star receiver from Temple (Texas) Lake Belton - and the Aggies could have been responsible for Micah Hudson slowing down his commitment to Texas Tech in the first place - but it is a little stunning that Hudson was back in College Station over the weekend.
The Red Raiders landed Hudson in September after a drawn-out process where many expected him to commit months earlier. But Texas A&M seemingly convinced Hudson to wait a while and now convinced him to visit again for the Alabama game. It doesn’t look like a flip is imminent but it’s certainly something to watch.
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KJ Bolden keeps flirting with others
Florida State scored a major coup over Georgia and Auburn when the five-star safety committed to the Seminoles in August but KJ Bolden continues to show the Bulldogs and Tigers some significant attention.
It helps FSU that the Buford, Ga., standout was back in Tallahassee over the weekend as he continues to reinforce his relationship with coach Mike Norvell and his staff but Bolden was seen wearing UGA gloves at a game recently (and it wouldn’t be a shock if he was in Athens soon) and Bolden revisited Auburn this season as well.
FSU was the dream school so Bolden is still locked in but the other attention does remain a little curious.
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After Miami misstep, Ny Carr commits
More proof that game outcomes have almost no bearing on some recruits: Miami completely mishandled the end-of-game situation by not kneeling down and running out the clock in a stunning last-second loss to Georgia Tech and Ny Carr still committed.
The high four-star receiver from Moultrie (Ga.) Colquitt County backed off his pledge to Georgia in recent weeks and then Auburn and Miami emerged as the front-runners. After visiting Auburn, Carr headed to Miami this past weekend and despite the Hurricanes’ shocking loss, Carr still committed on the spot.
It is a huge recruiting win for the Hurricanes especially during a weekend that went horrifically and unnecessarily bad.
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Ryan Wingo continues to intrigue
Texas or Missouri? Missouri or Texas? The intrigue around what the five-star receiver is going to do continues to captivate the recruiting world because both scenarios are very plausible and Wingo isn’t giving away many hints.
There have been rumors that Ryan Wingo gave a silent commit to Texas during a recent visit but who knows if that’s true because he was just back at Missouri over the weekend and the pitch from the in-state Tigers is also very compelling.
Luther Burden’s huge success this season cannot hurt. Eli Drinkwitz’s job stability after a great start has to help. But Texas is also throwing it all over the field with elite quarterbacks and despite the loss to Oklahoma, the Longhorns look to be a national contender again.
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Will Cam Coleman stick with Texas A&M?
Sure, he’s visited Colorado and Auburn is trying to flip him all the time so that should be watched for someone from Phenix City (Ala.) Central who lives about an hour away from campus. But it’s not going to happen for numerous reasons including Cam Coleman has family in Texas, he recently revisited College Station and loved it and the Aggies are finally turning a corner.
That’s the argument from the Texas A&M side and I’m not sure whether I believe it or not.
I do think Colorado is a little bit of an outlier especially as the Buffaloes come back down to earth but Auburn could be one to watch. It’s much closer to home, coach Hugh Freeze and his staff are relentlessly coming after him and while the Aggies still look very strong I wouldn’t be shocked one way or another.
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Jordan Seaton saying good things about top teams
The more visits Jordan Seaton takes, the muddier his recruitment seems to get. The top-ranked offensive lineman in the 2024 class visited Florida over the weekend and the message I got from him was that the opportunity to play early especially at offensive tackle was there and that could be a major calling card for the Gators.
But the Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy just came back from a great visit to Tennessee where Vols commit Boo Carter was pitching them hard and Seaton was listening. And then Alabama, Ohio State and many others are involved as well.
The Crimson Tide still might have the edge but those other SEC schools definitely deserve watching.
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Is NC State getting a major steal in Jonathan Paylor?
NC State beat out South Carolina, considered the front-runner heading into his decision, and it looks like the Wolfpack are getting a major steal in four-star speedster Jonathan Paylor.
The Burlington (N.C.) Cummings standout is listed as a four-star receiver but so far this season he’s been used in the running game coming out of the backfield and in Wildcat situations with 83 carries for 1,301 yards and 20 touchdowns. He’s also caught three scores.
More than anything, Paylor’s explosiveness and athleticism is desperately needed in NC State’s attack that was not explosive much at all before last weekend against Marshall.
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Is Georgia going to lose another top WR?
Back-to-back national champs. Fifty-one points and 435 passing yards against a legit Kentucky defense. And yet, there is talk that four-star receiver NiTareon Tuggle is being heavily pursued by other schools and it’s at least worth watching if he decommits or not.
Can’t Georgia catch a break? Of course, I’m kidding there but it seems kind of odd that Ny Carr would leave the class and that Tuggle is looking around with so much success on the field for the Bulldogs.
Whatever happens, Georgia should be A-OK. Five-star Alabama commit Ryan Williams was in Athens over the weekend again and others would happily fill any spots left in the recruiting class. What coach Kirby Smart and his staff have going is extraordinary.
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Is Colorado going back to the portal?
So much of the college football world has been focused on Colorado and rightfully so because coach Deion Sanders has made the Buffaloes interesting again. In wins, in losses, on social media, Sanders and his team have been intriguing in so many ways.
And while Colorado has hosted a ton of elite recruits - maybe like never before - the Buffaloes still have the fewest commits in the Pac-12. Fewer than Cal. The class is ranked No. 65 nationally.
Maybe top players that visited in recent weeks are waiting until signing day to make decisions or to see how the rest of the season plays out. Or maybe Sanders, who concocted this team almost completely out of the portal, will go back and take transfers to further revolutionize the roster.
The recruiting game has changed and finding that proper balance between high school players and transfer players is more art than science. Maybe Sanders has figured that out and is just limiting how many spots he wants high school players to take up.