This week in recruiting: Missouri, Michigan bolster classes, SMU flexes its ACC muscles

There’s plenty of optimism about Missouri’s upcoming season, and the outlook for the Tigers on the recruiting trail is on the upswing as well after the first week of July.

SMU officially joined the ACC on July 1 and enjoyed a stellar follow-up recruiting weekend.

Here’s a look at those and other storylines from the past week in recruiting.

Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.

1. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz has signed top-20 classes in two of the past three recruiting cycles. That’s not super eye-opening for a member of the SEC, but it is for the Tigers based on their historical standards. And Drinkwitz is well-positioned to make it three top-20 classes in four cycles.

Missouri went into Florida and landed two four-star receivers last week — Jayvan Boggs of Cocoa High and top-100 prospect Donovan Olugbode of IMG Academy. Those are good wins for receivers coach Jacob Peeler, who has a strong recruiting track record dating back to his days at Cal and Ole Miss.

1000% committed MIZ lets do it!! 🐯@Hayesfawcett3 pic.twitter.com/UyZ1SPc50r

— Jayvan Boggs (@Jayvan_Boggs) July 4, 2024

Missouri followed that on Saturday by landing four-star offensive lineman Lamont Rogers, the No. 55 overall player in the class who is from Mesquite (Texas) Horn.

There’s a lot to like about Missouri’s work this cycle. The class ranks No. 13 nationally and includes three top-100 prospects — and notably is headlined by a quarterback in Matt Zollers who is on the fringe of five-star status. Missouri has advantageous in-state NIL laws, which also helps.

Drinkwitz had a breakthrough 2023 season when he led Missouri to 11 wins and a Cotton Bowl victory. That success raised expectations for the program, but it’s also built momentum that has carried over into recruiting.

2. Last week was SMU’s first official week of recruiting as a power-conference program — well, since the demise of the Southwest Conference — and it displayed its potential on the trail.

On Wednesday, SMU flipped four-star quarterback Ty Hawkins from nearby rival TCU. Hawkins plays at IMG Academy in Florida but is from San Antonio. That was a well-executed pivot for head coach Rhett Lashlee and quarterbacks coach D’Eriq King after losing former QB commit Keelon Russell to Alabama last month.

A day later, the Mustangs landed a commitment from offensive lineman Dramodd Odoms, a top-100 prospect from Lamar High School in Houston. They added another supporting piece around Hawkins with a commitment from four-star receiver Jalen Cooper of Cibolo (Texas) Steele on Friday.

SMU hasn’t signed a top-50 class in the modern recruiting era. The Mustangs’ 2024 class ranked 108th and consisted of just 10 signees and one blue-chip prospect. What will the program’s recruiting ceiling be in this new landscape? So far, so good.

3. While we’re in the state of Texas, the Longhorns received a commitment on Saturday from four-star defensive back Kade Phillips of Missouri City (Texas) Hightower.

But it was the prospects from the Lone Star State who didn’t pledge to Texas who made headlines.

Oregon went into Texas, pulled off a surprise and beat the Longhorns for Duncanville High five-star Dakorien Moore, the No. 1 receiver in the country and the No. 3 overall player in the class.

And Ohio State beefed up its No. 1 class by adding a commitment from McKinney High five-star linebacker Riley Pettijohn, who is No. 29 overall in the class.

Of the top 10 players in the state, two are committed to Ohio State, two are committed to Oregon and one is committed to Alabama. The other five remain uncommitted.

Texas has finished sixth and third nationally, respectively, over the past two recruiting cycles and is usually good for a surge at some point, but the Longhorns’ class is ranked 22nd and includes just two top-100 prospects. We’ll see how much ground Texas can make up over the next five months.

4. Miami had another good week and moved into the top 10 of the rankings after receiving a pledge from two top-100 prospects — safety Hylton Stubbs of Jacksonville (Fla.) Mandarin and offensive lineman Seuseu Alofaituli of Las Vegas Bishop Gorman. Stubbs, who was previously committed to USC, and Alofaituli are the two highest-rated prospects in Miami’s class. Three of the Hurricanes’ four top prospects have committed in July (four-star linebacker Gavin Nix being the other).

The Hurricanes also did work in the Class of 2026, landing a commitment from quarterback Dereon Coleman, a four-star prospect who plays at Orlando (Fla.) Jones.

5. LSU had a productive week on the defensive line, landing commitments from three four-star prospects — edge rusher Damien Shanklin of Indianapolis Warren Central (No. 101 nationally), defensive lineman Zion Williams of Lufkin (Texas) High (No. 211) and defensive lineman Brandon Brown of Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie (No. 383).

The interior of the Tigers defensive line is a question entering the 2024 season. They are attempting to address it for future years in this cycle.

6. It’s been a very productive summer for Michigan, which added two members to its rapidly improving recruiting class on Monday. First, the Wolverines flipped four-star defensive back Ivan Taylor, a Florida native who ranks No. 54 nationally, from Notre Dame. Taylor is the second-highest-rated player in Michigan’s class behind defensive lineman Nathaniel Marshall. Later in the day, the Wolverines picked up a pledge from Andrew Olesh, a top-150 tight end from Pennsylvania.

Michigan got off to a slow start this cycle, and there were questions about how this staff would recruit, but Sherrone Moore and his assistants have done well this summer and have the Wolverines just outside of the top 10 of the national rankings.

Despite all of its success on the field, Michigan has signed only one top-10 class over the past four cycles. Can Moore break through and sign an elite class in his first go-round?

GO DEEPER

From unknown QB to Elite 11 standout: Meet emerging prospect Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele

7. Three-star quarterback Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele has generated a lot of buzz since his impressive performance at the Elite 11 Finals.

Sagapolutele, the top-ranked 2025 prospect in Hawaii, announced his commitment to Cal on Monday, selecting the Golden Bears over Oregon State, Utah State and Boise State.

That’s a really strong win for Cal, which lost three-star quarterback commit Robert McDaniel to Arizona in May. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Sagapolutele elevated to four-star status during this cycle. He’s currently at No. 493, so he’s within reach.

8. Georgia added another top-100 prospect to its third-ranked class with a commitment on Monday from four-star corner Shamari Earls, a Virginia native who was previously committed to South Carolina. The Bulldogs further bolstered the secondary on Tuesday with a pledge from four-star safety Jaylan Morgan of Rockvale (Tenn.) High.

All but two of Georgia’s 19 commitments are blue-chip prospects, and six are ranked in the top 100.

Elsewhere

• Alabama now holds the highest average player rating (94.10 on 20 commits) after it received a pledge from four-star edge rusher Justin Hill of Cincinnati Winton Woods, the No. 56 player nationally. Ohio State is now second at 93.90.

• NC State received its first blue-chip commitment of the cycle, from four-star Ohio running back Kentrell Rinehart (No. 416 nationally).

• After a recent wave of decommitments, Ole Miss added two four-stars last week — cornerback Cortez Thomas of Lexington (Miss.) Holmes County and wide receiver Samari Reed of Pompano Beach (Fla.) Monarch. The Rebels’ class ranks 44th nationally.

• Notre Dame had the No. 1 class earlier in the cycle but dropped in the rankings a bit after other schools started landing more high-end prospects. The Fighting Irish received their first commitment since May last week when four-star safety JaDon Blair of Winston-Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor picked Notre Dame over Penn State, Michigan, Florida State and South Carolina.

• Four-star defensive lineman Kamauryn Morgan of Dallas South Oak Cliff announced his commitment to Baylor over the weekend and became the highest-rated player in the Bears’ class. Morgan, ranked No. 216, and wide receiver Jacorey Watson, No. 314, are two blue-chip prospects who have joined Baylor’s class since the start of July.

(Photo of Eli Drinkwitz: Denny Medley / USA Today)