This week in recruiting: Keeping score in the Pac-12 after Oregon lands Franklin (2024)

The games may only be played from late August to early January, but college football season never ends.

Competition manifests itself every day between coaches when it comes to recruiting, where programs are doing everything to beat their competitors to set themselves up for future success.

That is why, every week, you won’t want to miss “This Week In Recruiting,” a report of the most interesting developments on the trail.

Oregon, USC doing their part to keep talent on West Coast

There has been an ongoing discussion in this column about the Pac-12 needing to keep West Coast talent on the West Coast if it is ever going to be a factor in the College Football Playoff, and Oregon has been the team that has consistently held up its end of the bargain.

The Ducks went big again this week when it landed a verbal commitment from four-star receiver Troy Franklin of Menlo Park (Calif.) Menlo-Atherton, the No. 31 overall player and the No. 2 wide receiver in the country. The Ducks now have the No. 7 class in the country and the No. 2 class in the Pac-12 behind USC.

But let’s keep score on how the Pac-12 is doing in the national picture. To remind you of some numbers, here’s a paragraph from an old “This Week in Recruiting” column:

In the 2020 recruiting class, nine of the nation’s consensus top-30 players played within the Pac-12’s geographic footprint (we’re including Nevada) — but just three signed with Pac-12 schools, with two choosing Oregon (linebackers Justin Flowe and Noah Sewell; the other was linebacker Sav’ell Smalls to Washington). Roughly 30 percent of the truly elite in 2020 were from the West Coast, but only three will play in the Pac-12. In the 2019 recruiting class, there were just three West Coast guys in the top 30, and two ended up at Pac-12 schools (Oregon and USC).

That is a joke.

In 2021, six of the nation’s top-30 players are located in the Pac-12’s geographic footprint. Of those six, two are committed to Pac-12 schools. One is Franklin. The other is five-star quarterback Sam Huard of Burien (Wash.) Kennedy Catholic, who is currently committed to Washington. Here are the other four:

• Five-star DE Korey Foreman of Corona (Calif.) Centennial — The No. 1 overall player in the country, Foreman is a former Clemson commit. He now seems to be a USC lean with Oregon trying to disrupt that.

• Five-star DT J.T. Tuimoloau of Sammamish (Wash.) Eastside Catholic — Rated the No. 2 overall player in the country, Tuimoloau seems to be an Ohio State lean, but Washington is holding on for dear life as it tries to keep this huge influx of elite talent in the Seattle area home.

• Five-star WR Emeka Egbuka of Steilacoom (Wash.) High — Egbuka is trending toward Ohio State, but Washington is trying to convince the No. 8 overall player in the 2021 class to not leave the state.

• Five-star QB Tyler Buchner of La Jolla (Calif.) Helix — Rated the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the country, Buchner is committed to Notre Dame. That’s going to happen, especially when USC has two of the best quarterbacks in the country committed in its 2021 class.

The Pac-12 will seemingly be able to keep three of those six top-30 national players. Even that doesn’t seem good enough, which begs the question: How can Washington let all these elite-level players leave when the Seattle area has three of the top-10 players in the 2021 class? If Egbuka and Tuimoloau sign with Ohio State the year after four-star receiver Gee Scott Jr. of Sammamish Eastside Catholic became a Buckeye, that would be a huge missed opportunity for Washington and the Pac-12.

Alabama picks up two influential commitments

Last month, Ohio State thought five-star offensive tackle J.C. Latham of Bradenton (Fla.) IMG was going to be a part of its recruiting class. But things had been trending toward Alabama for a few weeks, and the offensive lineman made it official last Friday when he pledged to the Crimson Tide. Then less than a week later, Nick Saban earned a commitment from four-star wide receiver Christian Leary of Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater, who is rated the No. 130 player nationally.

Latham, No. 17 overall and the No. 5 offensive lineman, became the top-rated target in Alabama’s recruiting class. Leary is also a big get.

So even though Alabama had gotten off to a slow start, Saban clearly seems to be ramping it up right now. Alabama, which had a class that ranked outside of the top 50 as recently as last month, now is up to No. 23 in the 247Sports Composite team rankings with only seven commitments. Three of those seven commitments rank as top-100 players nationally, and Leary could crack that threshold at some point.

Leary is yet another talented receiver Alabama has taken out of Florida, joining a list that includes Amari Cooper from Miami Northwestern, Calvin Ridley from Coconut Creek Monarch, Jerry Jeudy from Deerfield Beach High, Xavier Williams from Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna and Thaiu Jones-Bell from Miami Carol City. The Crimson Tide also have two other Florida receivers who rank in the national top 100 committed for 2021: four-star prospect Agiye Hall of Valrico Bloomingdale (in the Tampa suburbs) and four-star Jacorey Brooks of Miami Booker T. Washington.

Alabama is also the favorite to sign five-star offensive tackle Tommy Brockermeyer and four-star center James Brockermeyer, twins who play at Fort Worth (Texas) All Saints Episcopal. Tommy is rated the No. 5 overall player and the No. 1 offensive tackle in the country, and James is the No. 1 center in the 2021 class. Now with Latham on the fold, Alabama has a chance to piece together a loaded offensive line class if Saban can land the Brockermeyer twins.

Ohio State currently has 12 commitments rated among the top 104 nationally, and the Buckeyes seem within striking distance of signing the best class in the history of modern-day recruiting rankings. The Buckeyes view losing out on Latham as a temporary blow and still hold out hope of getting him on campus for an official visit in the fall. And that would no doubt add some drama late in the cycle.

But for now, don’t say you haven’t been warned: Alabama is coming for the top of the recruiting rankings.

Texas adds two top-200 players on same day

Tom Herman’s recruiting plan at Texas is as simple as every other college football coach’s plan in America: Keep top talent home. But Texas’ quest to do that is tougher because the Lone Star State is the most competitive state to recruit in America.

Yes, there are a handful of other Power 5 schools in the state — Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Baylor — and there are other capable programs in Texas from a recruiting standpoint in SMU and Houston.

And every major powerhouse in the sport recruits Texas. Some from afar (Ohio State) and some from not so far (Alabama, LSU and Oklahoma).

Texas’ success in its own state has been kind of a mixed bag under Herman. In 2017, Ohio State landed three of the top-six players in Texas, and the highest-rated Texan to pledge to the Longhorns that year was the No. 19 player in the state, quarterback Sam Ehlinger. The following year, Texas landed six of the top seven players from the state.

If Texas is ever going to be “back,” all of Herman’s recruiting classes have to be similar to the 2018 class, which finished No. 3 nationally while signing 19 in-state players. The Longhorns are the only team in the country that could routinely sign top-five classes without leaving their own state.

Which brings us to this week: Texas earned commitments from two top-200 players from its own state when four-star cornerback Ishmael Ibraheem of Dallas Kimball (No. 171 in the country) and four-star safety J.D. Coffey of Kennedale High (No. 173) pledged Monday.

Texas currently ranks No. 9 in the recruiting rankings, and 11 of its 13 commitments are from Texas. That’s a good start in replicating what Herman did in 2018.

But it’s all about how the Longhorns finish. Because as things stand right now, Herman may land only one of the top-five players in Texas and three of the top 10.

Can Texas pull a rabbit out of its hat and stop the Brockermeyers from going to Alabama? Can Herman convince four-star offensive tackle Savion Byrd of Duncanville High, who is currently leaning toward SMU, to go to the big in-state school?

Herman needs to finish.

Miami lands elite local WR

In a quest for Miami to become “The U” again, the Hurricanes have to land the elite talent from South Florida. Yes, that is a process because Miami has been down, but the Canes turned to Manny Diaz to try and turn that tide.

Miami made some nice headway this week when it landed a commitment from Romello Brinson of Miami Northwestern, who is rated the No. 131 overall player and the No. 23 receiver in the 2021 class. Brinson immediately became the top-rated player in Miami’s class, which currently ranks No. 10 in the country. Of Miami’s 16 commitments, 15 are from Florida. You love to see that if you’re a Miami fan.

As stated above, Alabama has absolutely raided Florida for receiver talent in recent years, and the Crimson Tide stealing Brooks out of South Florida was a major blow to the Hurricanes. Though Miami will undoubtedly continue to try to flip Brooks, getting Brinson eased the blow quite a bit.

Florida, as a whole, has seen its top talent leave the state regularly, which is why Florida, Florida State and Miami have all been down from their glory days. In the 2021 class, four of the top five players in the state are committed, and none are going to Florida, Florida State or Miami. The No. 1 player in the state, five-star athlete James Williams of Opa Locka Western, is a heavy Georgia lean.

North Carolina adds another in-state stud

You know North Carolina is on a roll when it’s not big news when the Tar Heels land another four-star prospect. That’s what happened on Friday as four-star defensive end Jahvaree Ritzie of Kernersville (N.C.) Glenn joined Mack Brown’s already-loaded 2021 class.

The Tar Heels now have 16 commitments, and 14 of them are from the state of North Carolina. Of those 14, 10 are four-star prospects. And two of those four-stars — quarterback Drake Maye of Charlotte Myers Park and defensive end Keeshawn Silver of Rocky Mount High — are rated among the top-100 players nationally.

Brown promised that he’d keep top talent home, and he has kept his promise after sending his assistants to every high school in the state, regardless of whether that program had a recruitable prospect. Now, the Tar Heels have the No. 5 class in the country in the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Tennessee adds another crucial 2021 piece

Tennesseehas been the hottest team in the recruiting world during the past few months. It has to slow down at some point, right? The Volunteers, after all, don’t have unlimited spots. But Jeremy Pruitt is not letting up.

Four-star tight end Hudson Wolfe of Savannah (Tenn.) Hardin County committed to Tennessee on Monday over offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, LSU, Oregon, USC and many others. Wolfe is rated the No. 212 overall player in the country, and if that rating doesn’t move the needle for you, keep in mind that he’s the No. 8 overall tight end. He’s another elite-level prospect on the top end of Tennessee’s class.

The Volunteers now have 24 commitments in their 2021 class that ranks No. 2 nationally. Six of those commitments rank among the top 200 nationally, including two in the top 36.

Odds & Ends

• Three-star cornerback Kani Walker of Douglasville (Ga.) Douglas County committed to Louisville on Wednesday. Rated the No. 746 overall player and the No. 59 cornerback in the country, Walker became commitment No. 13 in Louisville’s class that ranks No. 27 overall nationally.

• Illinois earned a verbal commitment from three-star wide receiver Patrick Bryant of Jacksonville (Fla.) Atlantic Coast on Sunday. Bryant is rated the No. 929 overall player and the No. 131 receiver in the 2021 class. Illinois now has seven verbal commitments and its class that ranks No. 70 overall nationally.

• Three-star offensive tackle Devon Manuel of Arnaudville (La.) Beau Chene committed to Arkansas on Tuesday. Manuel is rated the No. 95 offensive tackle in the country and joins an Arkansas class that now ranks the No. 28 overall in the country.

• Kansas State added commitments from three-star offensive tackle Austin Weiner of Gardner (Kan.) Edgerton and three-star strongside defensive end Brayden Wood of Boulder (Colo.) Fairview. Kansas State has nine verbal commitments in its 2021 class that currently ranks No. 53 overall nationally.

• Arizona added three commitments this past week in three-star athlete Cole Batson of San Clemente (Calif.) High, three-star defensive end Kevon Garcia of Houston (Texas) Dekaney and three-star safety Dalton Johnson of Katy (Texas) High. Arizona has seven verbal commitments but only one — three-star linebacker Jackson Bailey of Red Oak (Texas) High — is rated among the top-1,000 players nationally. The Wildcats’ class ranks No. 77 in the country.

•Three-star athlete Isaiah Newcombe of Queen Creek (Ariz.) Casteel committed to UCLA on Saturday. Rated the No. 827 overall player and the No. 59 athlete in the 2021 class, Newcombe also had offers from Air Force, Army, Boise State, Fresno State, Utah, Washington and others. UCLA has nine commitments in its 2021 class that ranks No. 50 in the country.

• Greg Schiano dipped into Pennsylvania and received a commitment from three-star offensive tackle Tyler Needham of Philadelphia William Penn Charter. Rated the No. 764 overall player and the No. 63 offensive tackle, Needham joined a Rutgers class that currently ranks No. 18 overall. The Schiano impact has been real so far.

(Top photo of Mario Cristobal: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)