It was only a matter of time before programs like Oregon, Texas A&M and Miami started flexing their recruiting might. Those programs and others stood out as the recruiting calendar flipped from June to July. Here are some takeaways on those teams and the other major storylines from the past week on the recruiting trail.
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Note: All rankings are per the 247Sports Composite.
1. It’s not that Oregon didn’t have quality players in its class, it’s just that the Ducks were hovering around the mid-20s of the national rankings. If you’ve paid attention to Dan Lanning and his staff’s recruiting efforts, you knew that wouldn’t last too long.
The Ducks added five blue-chip players to their class last week, including three who were top-100 prospects nationally, and no prospect was ranked lower than No. 235. The headliner was five-star Conroe (Texas) cornerback Dorian Brew, who announced his commitment on Saturday.
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Brew seemed like an Ohio State lean at one point during this cycle, but he became the second five-star prospect in the Ducks’ class, along with five-star Tampa Bay Tech (Fla.) receiver Dallas Wilson, who has been committed for more than a year and a half.
Brew’s commitment came after Oregon picked up a pledge from four-star Derby (Kan.) tight end Da’Saahn Brame.
Lanning has made California a major priority like previous Oregon coaches before him, and his success there continued on Saturday. The Ducks picked up commitments from four-star Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) running back Jordon Davison, who is rated No. 108 nationally, and four-star Folsom (Calif.) defensive lineman Josiah Sharma (the No. 235 overall prospect).
Oregon has commitments from five blue-chip California prospects in this cycle.
The Ducks also added four-star McDonogh School (Owings Mills, Md.) corner Brandon Finney.
Oregon’s class is ranked seventh nationally after it doubled in size over June, growing from seven commitments to 14, and its average player rating is 93.69, which ranks third.
2. Oregon’s success in California has become an expectation at this point. It is quite a surprise to see Texas A&M have so much success in the Golden State during this cycle.
In the spring, the Aggies picked up commitments from four-star Corona (Calif.) Centennial quarterback Husan Longstreet, and four-star Quartz Hill (Lancaster, Calif.) corner Adonyss Currie provided them with a solid foundation in California this cycle.
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They added to it during the past few days. On Sunday, Texas A&M beat out Oregon and USC to earn a hard-fought recruiting win for four-star Bonita (La Verne, Calif.) linebacker Noah Mikhail.
Longstreet, Currie and Mikhail are all top-100 players nationally, and they are three of the top-five recruits in California.
Then on Tuesday, four-star San Ramon Valley (Danville, Calif.) edge rusher Marco Jones committed to the Aggies over USC, Michigan and Texas. Jones is the No. 167 overall player in the cycle.
First-year Texas A&M coach Mike Elko values California talent for his defensive vision, and his class now ranks fifth nationally, which is solid for his first full cycle.
“He’s just a genuine guy,” Ryan Porter, head coach and general manager for Mikhail and Jones’ travel seven-on-seven squad California Power, said of Elko. “A lot of head coaches have big egos, and I didn’t get that at all from him. I thought he was very humble, and when you were talking to him … he genuinely cared about what was coming out of everybody’s mouth. … You’d be surprised how many programs we’ve been to and you don’t even see the head coach. It blows my mind. … He did it the right way.
3. Five-star tight ends don’t come along very often. There have been only three five-star prospects at the position during the previous five recruiting cycles. They were Arik Gilbert and Michael Mayer in 2020 and Duce Robinson in 2023.
So that makes five-star Goodland (Kan.) tight end Linkon Cure a rare prospect. On Monday, Cure committed to Kansas State and gave the Wildcats class a significant talent boost. For reference, Cure would be the highest-rated recruit to ever sign with Kansas State. He’s the first blue-chip player in the Wildcats class, and they won out over the two programs already highlighted in this story, Oregon and Texas A&M, so it was an impressive moment for Kansas State coach Chris Klieman.
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It’s easy to envision the passing connection of Avery Johnson and Cure. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Cure also plays for California Power, so Porter has insight into him as a prospect.
“Linkon Cure, I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes to Kansas State and plays half the time as tight end and half the time at Z receiver,” Porter said. “I think he’s very Mike Evans-ish, if that makes sense. … I think he made the right decision to go to Kansas State, personally.
4. This past week was more of what we expect from the ACC’s Florida programs. Early last week, Miami’s class ranked 32nd nationally.
The Hurricanes moved up 17 spots with four blue-chip commitments during the past week, and the emphasis was clearly on defense. The highest-rated player of this recent commitment wave was four-star IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) linebacker Gavin Nix, who is the No. 169 player nationally.
Miami added four-star Chaminade Prep (Hollywood, Fla.) corner Chris Ewald, who is the third corner commit in the Hurricanes’ class and beat out Auburn for four-star Benedictine Military School (Savannah, Ga.) edge Herbert Scroggins.
Mario Cristobal went back to his bread and butter — the offensive line — and picked up a commitment from four-star Seminole (Sanford, Fla.) offensive lineman Max Buchanan, too. Miami’s class ranks 15th nationally. Cristobal has recruited for two full recruiting cycles with the Hurricanes, and those classes ranked seventh (2023) and fourth (2024).
5. Florida State moved up 30 spots — to 36th — after it more than doubled its class size during the past 10 days. The Seminoles have received five commitments since June 25. The most surprising came on that day when four-star Milton (Alpharetta, Ga.) receiver CJ Wiley picked Florida State over Georgia. Wiley is a top-100 prospect.
The Seminoles have a good track record at defensive line under Mike Norvell. Four-star Port Charlotte (Fla.) commit Myron Charles — the No. 132 overall player in the class — could be a building block along the defensive front.
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Florida State landed commitments from four-star Millard South (Omaha, Neb.) tight end Chase Loftin and four-star American Heritage (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) corner Gregory Xavier Thomas as well.
The Seminoles had four commits in mid-June. Even though the class is only 36th nationally — mainly because it consists of just nine commits — it’s hard to argue against the quality of the class. Florida State’s average player rating is 93.50, and every commit is a blue-chip prospect. We’ll see how the Seminoles can close the cycle during the next six months. Norvell has yet to sign a top-10 class at Florida State.
6. Jedd Fisch’s first real class at Washington is coming together both in terms of quality and quantity. The Huskies rank 19th based on the size of their class (18 commits), but they received a talent boost this week with two blue-chip commitments.
Fisch took care of Washington’s backyard when he landed the No. 1 prospect in the state: four-star Bethel (Spanaway, Wash.) linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, who was committed to the Huskies for a few days before Kalen DeBoer’s departure led him to re-open his recruitment.
The Huskies picked up another solid prospect from California when four-star Troy (Fullerton, Calif.) tight end Vander Ploog announced his commitment to the Huskies last week.
Rainey-Sale and Ploog are the two highest-rated players in Washington’s class. The Huskies’ average player rating (88.11) isn’t overwhelming, but Fisch proved adept at evaluating unheralded prospects while at Arizona.
7. It was also a solid week for Kentucky, which now has the No. 20 class in the country, after landing commitments from two four-star edge rushers: Jayveon Campbell and Cedric Works. Both are top-200 prospects nationally. Campbell is the top-ranked player in Kentucky, and Works is a top-10 prospect in Ohio. Those are good recruiting wins for Mark Stoops.
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8. Mike Locksley was hired at Maryland partly to raise the program’s recruiting profile. To date, it hasn’t happened but credit the Terrapins for landing a commitment from four-star Archbishop Spalding (Severn, Md.) quarterback Malik Washington last week.
Maryland’s class ranks 32nd nationally. Locksley has signed just one top-25 class since he took over as the Terrapins’ coach after the 2018 season (No. 18 in 2021). Can Washington’s commitment lead to more blue-chip prospects and a top-25 class?
Elsewhere
• Alabama continued its strong recruiting run with commitments from five-star Mission Viejo (Calif.) corner Dijon Lee and four-star Blue Valley (Stillwell, Kan.) linebacker Dawson Merritt last week and four-star Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) tight end Kaleb Edwards on Tuesday. Adding Lee and Merritt makes it seven top-100 prospects so far in DeBoer’s first class with the Crimson Tide. Edwards is the No. 159 overall player nationally.
• Ohio State still sits atop the team rankings and added more talent to its defensive line class with the addition of two four-star big men: Weddington (Matthews, N.C.) Trajen Odom and St. Joseph’s Prep (Philadelphia) Maxwell Roy.
• Oklahoma added top-100 receiver Cortez Mills, a Florida native, and four-star edge rusher C.J. Nickson, an in-state product, during the past week. Those are two of the four top-rated players in the Sooners’ class, which is sixth nationally.
• It has been a pretty rough recruiting summer for USC, but the Trojans did land two four-star commitments last week: Carrollton (Ga.) corner Shamar Arnoux and Christian Brothers College (St. Louis, Mo.) receiver Corey Simms.
• Arkansas landed top-100 Wayne County (Jesup, Ga.) linebacker Tavion Wallace on Tuesday. Wallace, the No. 54 player nationally, is by far the highest-rated player in the Razorbacks’ class.
(Top photo of Dan Lanning: Ali Gradischer / Getty Images)
