Category: College Football Recruiting

Florida freshman’s alma mater seeking massive new high school stadium

Everything is bigger in Texas, including high school football stadium projects.

It wasn’t that long ago that current Florida Gators starting quarterback DJ Lagway was turning around the misfortunes of his high school football team.  As a freshman Lagway and the Willis High School Wildkats were just a meager 2-8 and would eventually lead them deep into the Texas State 6A Division II playoffs before DeSoto took them down.

Less than a year after Lagway graduated and moved on to the collegiate level, his Houston-area high school is looking to get a new stadium in a $115 million bond that would earmark more than half of that total for the project.

According to Texas High School Football, the $68.8 million proposal is going to be voted on in November.

This project would place the new stadium among the most expensive high school football facilities in Texas. It follows recent trends, such as Katy ISD’s $72 million Legacy Stadium and McKinney’s $70 million venue. Voters in nearby districts, like Prosper ISD, have also considered costly sports facility upgrades.

What can we say, they just do things a little differently in the Lone Star State. We shall soon find out if this goes through with Willis ISD looking to make substantial changes to their district to keep up with the ever-growing population.

Five-star quarterback backs off commitment to the Georgia Bulldogs

On Thursday, UGA received some not so good news on the recruiting front.

The Georgia Bulldogs are preparing for a massive showdown with the No. 1 ranked Texas Longhorns on Saturday. Before they get to the game the team learned that top 2026 commit Jared Curtis has backed off his pledge to the team.

The five-star prospect had been committed to Kirby Smart and UGA since Mar. 23. Curtis announced his decision on his social media account, X.

“This morning I spoke with Coach Smart and Coach Bobo and let them know that I still love Georgia, but would like to take some more time to explore all my options so I can make the best, most informed decision for my future. Curtis continued, “I let them know it just doesn’t seem right or fair to stay committed while checking out other programs. I want people to know where I stand and I’ve learned that making big decisions takes time.

“My focus now is taking care of business during the rest of our high school season and being a great teammate and leader. I look forward to making the most of an open recruiting process in the months ahead.”

Curtis is the No. 1 quarterback in the nation for the 2026 class and No. 6 overall prospect in the country according to 247Sports composite rankings. The Tennessee native has an impressive list of offers that any prospect would be jealous of.

Curtis should receive plenty of attention in the coming months, especially after the early signing period for the 2025 cycle ends in December.

Auburn moves up in 2025 recruiting class rankings after flipping four-star QB

Auburn now has its highest rated recruiting class under coach Hugh Freeze after landing four-star quarterback Deuce Knight.

After weeks of speculation, four-star quarterback Deuce Knight flipped his commitment from Notre Dame to Auburn on Wednesday.

Knight is the No. 5 ranked quarterback in the 2025 class, and his commitment to Auburn lifts the Tigers over LSU for the No. 3 ranked recruiting class in the 2025 cycle, just behind Ohio State and Alabama. Notre Dame fell to No. 13.

The Mississippi native drew interest from Ole Miss, Alabama, and Colorado before committing to the Irish last fall. It had long been rumored he’d end up going elsewhere, however, and Auburn emerged as a serious threat after Knight visited for the team’s Week 1 win over Alabama A&M.

The 6’4 left-hander is an elite athlete, one who is arguably already among the top athletes at the quarterback in the world according to 247Sports recruiting analyst Cooper Petagna.

“If you were to drop him in the NFL scouting combine, he’d be in the top 1 percent especially of that quarterback room,” Petagna said. “The biggest thing with Knight is can he develop as a passer? With what we’ve seen this offseason, the answer is more than likely yes. He had a really strong three days at the Elite 11 finals. Every time I have seen him he has gotten better and better.”

Knight is the 25th commitment in Auburn’s upcoming recruiting class, joining four-star wide receiver Nathaniel Marshall and four-star running back Alvin Henderson in Hugh Freeze’s electric offensive class.

Deion Sanders flips four-star cornerback out of Penn State commitment

Coach Prime flipped another high profile recruit in safety Antonio Branch, who was previously committed to Penn State.

Coming off a big win over the Baylor Bears in Week 4, Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes picked up another victory Monday, this one coming on the recruiting trail.

Antonio Branch Jr, a four-star safety prospect from Miami, took an official visit to Colorado this weekend and left having flipped his commitment from Penn State to the Buffaloes. Branch becomes the eighth commitment for Sanders and the Buffs in the 2025 class.

Branch’s mother Trina spoke about Antonio’s experience on his visit, and what went into his decision to flip.

“I would say it’s a good potential fit because he has an opportunity to start as a true freshman,” Trina said. “Who wouldn’t want to be coached by Deion Sanders. Someone that played the same position Antonio is playing.”

Coach Prime and the Buffs are 3-1 so far in 2024, losing on the road at Nebraska but taking down in-state rival Colorado State in Week 3 and winning their first Big 12 matchup on Saturday, 38-31, over the Baylor Bears.

Boise State beats out Oklahoma State for quarterback to kickstart 2026 class

Boise State secured a commitment from 2026 quarterback Jackson Presley, who picked the Broncos over Oklahoma State and Arkansas.

The Boise State Broncos have long been a powerhouse at the Group of Five level in college football, and that doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon.

Despite narrowly missing a preseason Top 25 nod, the Broncos are expected to compete for a spot in the CFP this season, and are already working on building competitive rosters in the future as well.

The latest addition for Boise State is quarterback Jackson Presley (Kalispell, MT) who committed to the Broncos over Oklahoma State and Arkansas on Monday.

Presley is a three-star in the 2026 recruiting class who comes in as the No. 31 ranked quarterback in the class. The 6’2 quarterback had 12 offers according to 247Sports, but chose Boise State after visiting the facilities and connecting with the coaching staff.

“The whole staff made it clear that Boise was home and the place for me,” Presley said. “I really enjoyed what Boise State has going on. They have a quarterback-friendly offense. They’ve had great quarterbacks come out of there. They have had guys who can really sling the ball. I just instantly fell in love with everything the moment I was there.”

Presley is Boise State’s first commitment in the 2026 class, and gives them a foundational piece to build around as this program looks to remain elite in the Mountain West and nationally.

Georgia Tech beats out Ohio State, Tennessee for five-star offensive lineman

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets landed five-star offensive tackle Josh Petty in a massive recruiting win for the ACC program.

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets pulled off a massive win on the recruiting trail, securing a commitment from 2025 five-star offensive tackle Josh Petty.

Petty, a native of Roswell, GA, announced his commitment to the ACC program on Monday, choosing the Yellow Jackets over finalists Florida State, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Stanford – among others.

“I know it’s the right place for me,” Petty told 247Sports. “The offensive line development at Georgia Tech is unmatched. They’ve been doing great things.”

Petty is the No. 14 ranked prospect in the 2025 class, and he becomes Georgia Tech’s first five-star commitment in the modern recruiting era. In fact, the only recruit rated higher in 247’s database is wide receiver Calvin Johnson – and that turned out quite well for the Yellow Jackets.

Staying in state and playing for the hometown team is a big part of what convinced Petty to commit to GTech – and he hopes others will follow suit:

“He’s building a Georgia-based team and Georgia has some of the best high school talent in the country,” Petty continued. “If we can keep getting high priority, in-state guys, Georgia Tech will be a great program in no time.”

Petty’s commitment is a great start for coach Brent Key and his staff.

Alabama receives first 2027 commitment from in-state prospect

The Crimson Tide are on the board in 2027.

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer officially secured his first commitment of the 2027 recruiting cycle Tuesday morning, as edge rusher Ba’Roc Willis announced he would be committing to the program.

Prior to committing to Alabama, Willis had offers from 15 different college programs.

While currently unranked according to the 247Sports Composite rankings, Willis is considered as one of the top 2027 prospects in the state of Alabama where he attends in-state Moody High School. There, Willis is coming off an impressive freshman season in 2023, amassing 79 tackles, 14.5 TFL, and nine sacks for the Blue Devils.

As mentioned previously, the commitment of Willis is the first for Alabama in the 2027 cycle. The Crimson Tide also have one commitment in the 2026 cycle, while their 2025 class currently ranks at No. 2 in the nation with 20 total commits.

While still years away from playing for the Crimson Tide, Willis is still a name to watch for going forward, one that could eventually be a prominent name in Alabama’s 2027 class when all is said and done.

Auburn continues recruiting success with numerous late-July commitments

It was an eventful weekend for Auburn recruiting.

When it comes to recruiting, it’s hard to picture a three-day span going better for a program than what was a reality this past weekend for Hugh Freeze and the Auburn Tigers.

Having already owned one of the SEC’s top 2025 classes, the Tigers landed a total of seven commitments from Saturday, July 27 to Monday, July 29, which brings their class up to No. 5 nationally, as well as No. 4 in the conference. In addition to that, Auburn’s 2026 class now stands as the nation’s best for that cycle.

As for those commitments, Auburn began the three-day stretch Saturday by landing five different prospects, two of which came via the 2025 cycle in Blake Woody and Antonio Coleman. Woody is a four-star cornerback out of St. Frances Academy in Maryland, while Coleman, a four-star defensive lineman who flipped from Alabama for the second time, is a four-star in-state defensive lineman out of Saraland High School in Alabama.

Also on Saturday, the Tigers added three commitments to their 2026 class, which as mentioned previously, catapulted Auburn to the No. 1 group for the cycle nationally. These names included four-star in-state defensive prospects Hezekiah Harris (Jemison), Shadarius Doodle (Cottage Hill Christian), and JaMichael Garrett (Gulf Shores).

Sunday, Auburn then added a special teams prospect to their 2025 class in in-state punter John Alan McGuire out of Thompson High School in Alabama, followed by adding two highly-touted prospects to that group Monday to finish the impressive three-day stretch.

The first of those two was highly-rated in-state four-star safety Anquon Fegans, who is a teammate of McGuire at Thompson that now becomes Auburn’s highest-rated 2025 commitment. Derick Smith, a four-star athlete, was the second of those two, as the in-state Southside-Selma High School standout flipped from Alabama where he had previously been committed since March of 2024.

As mentioned previously, these commitments certainly boosted Auburn in the recruiting rankings as well to close out July. Will they carry over this momentum into August?

Texas five-star WR target Kaliq Lockett announces decision date

One of the top targets on the Texas Longhorns’ board is set to make his decision.

The Texas Longhorns 2025 recruiting class is already one of the strongest in the country ranking No. 15 in the cycle. Head coach Steve Sarkisian and Texas have been at work on the recruiting trail earning commitments from ten four-star recruits and six three-star recruits, but no five-stars up to this point.

However, that may change as the Longhorns are square in the mix for in-state five-star WR Kaliq Lockett. According to 247 Sports, Lockett is the No. 12 ranked player in the e2024 class and the No. 2 ranked receiver. The 6-foot-2-inch and 175-pound phenom is coming fresh off a sensational junior campaign with Sachse HS where he posted 59 receptions for 1,299 yards and 13 touchdowns.

After recent visits with Texas and the Alabama Crimson Tide, Lockett has announced a commitment date of August 7. The Longhorns appear to be the front runners with Alabama on their heels, but the LSU Tigers, Texas A&M Aggies, and Florida State Seminoles are still in the mix.

Texas has seen plenty of success in the NFL draft with skill players under Sark, and Lockett has all the tools to be the next great Texas receiver. Especially with both wide receivers AD Mitchell and Xavier Worthy being selected in the first two rounds of the 2024 draft, it’s hard to turn down an opportunity on the Forty Acres.

Look: UTEP responds to Texas’ Lambo recruiting tactic with one of their own

They aren’t Lamborghinis but this certainly should garner some attention.

The battle lines have been drawn in the Lone Star State between the Texas Longhorns and the UTEP Miners. The Burnt Orange recently drew national headlines for their Lamborghini display during a recruiting event.

The UTEP Miners have opted to raise the bar with the help of some low riders. The featured some images of the event on their social media channels, even going as far as tagging the Longhorns on X, formerly Twitter.

When it comes to recruiting events, it seems that schools have to make them memorable to stand out. For Texas, it was the Lambos and for UTEP perhaps what they need is the low riders to level the playing field out west and among teams in the Conference USA.

This is one “rivalry” that the people in Texas could get behind.

The big question is who is next in the Lone Star State battle of vehicles at recruiting events? Will it be Texas A&M, Texas Christian, Texas Tech, Baylor, or even Houston? A safe bet is probably H-Town.

Current top 25 recruiting rankings per 247Sports

  1. Ohio State Buckeyes
  2. Alabama Crimson Tide
  3. Georgia Bulldogs
  4. LSU Tigers
  5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
  6. Oregon Ducks
  7. Texas A&M Aggies
  8. Tennessee Volunteers
  9. Oklahoma Sooners
  10. Miami Hurricanes
  11. Auburn Tigers
  12. Clemson Tigers
  13. Michigan Wolverines
  14. Texas Longhorns
  15. Missouri Tigers
  16. Penn State Nittany Lions
  17. Florida State Seminoles
  18. Washington Huskies
  19. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
  20. SMU Mustangs
  21. Kentucky Wildcats
  22. Wisconsin Badgers
  23. TCU Horned Frogs
  24. UCF Knights
  25. USC Trojans