Category: Recruiting

2024 Offensive lineman Ashton Funk commits to Texas A&M

2024 Offensive lineman Ashton Funk commits to Texas A&M

On Sunday afternoon, 2024 3-Star offensive lineman Ashton Funk pledged his commitment to Texas A&M, as the Aggies add their second commit to the class as Funk joins 4-Star defensive lineman Dealyn Evans. Fun fact, Ashton is an Aggie legacy as both of his parents are Texas A&M graduates.

Ashton Funk is listed as 6’7″, 285 pounds, and is in the midst of his junior season at Tompkins High School in Katy, Texas. As one of the top targets for the Aggies in the 2024 recruiting cycle, Funk has also received offers from the likes of Alabama, Auburn, LSU, and Michigan, but after his unofficial visit to College Station during the annual recruiting pool party on July 30th, Funk has officially found his new home after graduation.

As a versatile offensive lineman, Funk plays primarily at tackle but has the size, strength, and footwork to play both guard positions as well. For Texas A&M, this is a huge pick-up to add to their already elite 2023 O-line class, meaning that the future in the trenches is as bright as it’s been in a number of years. Congratulations! Gig ’em, Ashton!

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Wisconsin offers 2024 three-star S LeonTre Bradford

Wisconsin football offers a 2024 three-star S out of Illinois:

Madison, Wis. –Ā On Friday, Jim Leonhard and his coaching staff extended a scholarship offer to 2024 three-star safety LeonTre Bradford out of East Saint Louis, Illinois.Ā 

Per the 247Sports Composite, he’s the No. 507 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, the No. 40 S in the country, and the No. 13 player in Illinois.

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound S currently holds offers from Arkansas State, Illinois, Iowa State, Missouri, Nebraska, Ole Miss, and now, Wisconsin.Ā 

Bradford, a standout at East Saint Louis High School, finished his junior season with 86 tackles, two sacks, one interception, and a touchdown as a junior, according to MaxPreps.

You can watch his HUDL film here.Ā 

The Illinois native announced his scholarship offer from the University of Wisconsin via his Twitter account:

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Sooners gaining momentum in race for California defensive lineman Ashton Sanders

Oklahoma continues to be the school with the most momentum to land three-star defensive tackle Ashton Sanders. From @thatmanbryant

Oklahoma has spent the last week and a half issuing offers for the 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes. One of the late 2023 offers went out to California defensive lineman Ashton Sanders. Sanders, a three-star defensive tackle who was once committed to California. He backed off that commitment in August and re-opened his recruitment.

He received his offer on Halloween and, in short order, received a prediction from Sooner Scoop’s Josh McCuistion.

If that wasn’t curious, more recruiting insiders have also logged predictions for Oklahoma to land the disruptive interior defender. Memphis Publisher’s Bryan Moss and Badger Blitz’s Jon McNamara have each flipped their predictions from Cal-Berkeley to Oklahoma in the last two days.

Oklahoma has seemingly positioned itself in a great spot for Ashton Sanders’ commitment. Todd Bates has locked in on another player as they continue to makeover the defensive line.

He looks more like a straightforward nose tackle in a four-man front akin to current Sooner Jeffery Johnson. In that scenario, he’d line up right over the center and try to collapse the interior from there. He’s got the size and strength to play in multiple defensive schemes.

With Early Signing Day in December, Oklahoma could have an answer soon on Sanders. Sanders told 247Sports’ Greg Biggins he plans to sign at Early Signing Day and graduate high school early.

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HOOKED: Texas lands 2023 five-star PF Ron Holland

Chris Beard and the Texas Longhorns strike gold again on the recruiting trail.

Chris Beard and the Texas Longhorns strike gold again on the recruiting trail.

2023 five-star power forward Ron Holland announced his commitment to Texas on Saturday morning. He chose the Horns over the likes of Arkansas, Kentucky, UCLA and others.

Holland is listed as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Texas and a top 10 player nationally in the 247Sports composite rankings.

The Duncanville product is uber-athletic and can play on both ends of the court. He helped lead Duncanville on a state championship run in his junior season. With room to improve his outside scoring ability, Holland has the potential to be a future NBA lottery pick.

Texas landed five-star Arterio Morris and Dillion Mitchell in the class of 2022. Coach Beard is having no issues getting big-time talents to Austin.

Holland’s commitment sparked a massive reaction on social media. Here is a look at some of the best tweets following the news breaking.

Ohio State makes cut for another top rated 2023 defensive lineman

Four-star defensive lineman has high praise for Buckeyes. #GoBucks

Ohio State has learned that it is in the final five for 2023 defensive lineman Jordan Hall. While the Jacksonville, Florida native has been on the radar for a while, most have him pegged for a school closer to home.

Even so, crystal ball predictions are never an exact science. Florida State was given a pick to land Hall and the Seminoles didn’t even make the top five. Hall is the No. 18 ranked defensive lineman in the country according to 247Sports composite rankings. Joining the Buckeyes in that group of five are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and LSU.

At this time, Hall has yet to take a visit to Columbus but is scheduled to take an official visit for The Game on November 26. There is no better atmosphere in which to host a coveted recruit.

When talking to On3 about what he liked about each school, Hall had this to say about OSU.

“If youā€™re looking at schools that are going to help you be the best player, other than Coach Odell (Haggins) and Coach Scott at Georgia, Coach Larry Johnson is probably the best at what he does as a position coach. Theyā€™ve got all types of great offense and offensive line for me to compete against, and they have a great set of DBs. As long I can get to the ball, make plays and get my sacks, the DBs are going to get picks from it. I just like the way they operate. Thatā€™s just the competitorā€™s spirit in me, and I want to go against the best. I feel like I fit in there, and Coach Johnson, heā€™s one of a kind. I like him a lot. Coach Day seems like a cool guy as well, and I just want to get up there and see what they have to offer and what itā€™s like.” – Jordan Hall on Ohio State

Georgia is seen as the front-runner right now as Hall has a very solid relationship with the Bulldog coaching staff. But never underestimate how much a personal visit can do, especially one with the magnitude of Ohio State vs. Michigan.

Hall is expected to finish all of his official visits by early December before trimming his list one more time to three. The four-star lineman plans to commit and sign on December 21 during the early signing period.

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Wisconsin offers 2024 three-star DE Deyvid Palepale

Wisconsin football offers a 2024 three-star DE out of Pennslyvania:

Madison, Wis. – On Friday, Jim Leonhard and his coaching staff extended a scholarship offer to 2024 three-star defensive end Deyvid Palepale out of Landisville, Pennsylvania.Ā 

Per 247 Sports, he’s the No. 39 DL in the country and the No. 18 player in Pennsylvania.Ā 

The 6-foot-3, 288-pound DL currently holds offers from Penn State, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Pittsburgh, Temple, Vanderbilt, and now, Wisconsin.

You can watch his HUDL film here.Ā 

This scholarship marks the 6th known offer extended to a defensive lineman in the 2024 recruiting cycle.

The Pennsylvania native announced his scholarship offer from the University of Wisconsin via his Twitter account:

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Alabama lands in top five for elite 2023 DL from Florida

2023 defensive linemen Jordan Hall listed Alabama in his top five.

Four-star 2023 defensive lineman Jordan Hall released his top-five schools. Alabama was one of the schools that were listed.

The Florida native recently took an official visit to Alabama on October 22 for the Mississippi State game.

When Hall was asked about Alabama, here is what he told On3’s, Hayes Fawcett:

ā€œBama is my dream school,ā€ Hall said. ā€œIt has always been a dream of mine to be there and play at Bryant Denny. The love Bama has shown me over the past few months has grown tremendously, and coach Saban and the rest of the staff want me there. They made that very clear on my official visit.ā€

It appears as if there is mutual interest between the two. Hall plans to take an official visit to Ohio State on November 25. As of right now, Georgia hold the lead at 87.5% likelihood, according to On3’s RPM.

Roll Tide Wire takes a closer look at Hall’s recruiting profile below.

5-star SF Andrej Stojakovic announces commitment date

5-star SF Andrej Stojakovic will announce his commitment in the coming days, with Oregon in the running.

Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks could be getting some big-time news in the recruiting world over the next few days, with 5-star SF Andrej Stojakovic announcing that he will be making his commitment on November 7.

Stojakovic, who is rated as the No. 17 overall player in the 2023 class, will be choosing between Oregon, UCLA, Texas, and Stanford.

StojakovicĀ attended the Oregon vs. BYU game earlier this month, getting a sideline pass with his dad, former NBA legend Peja Stojakovic, a three-time NBA All-Star and NBA Finals winner in 2011 with the Dallas Mavericks.

After the game was over, video surfaced of both Andrej and Peja getting some shots up in Matthew Knight Arena.

At long last we will get to see where the blue-chip SF will be playing his college ball in due time.

Andrej Stojakovicā€™s Recruiting Profile

Notre Dame recruiting update: Smith decommits from Texas Tech

The stars at night, are big and bright…

Yesterday Mike Chen updated you here at Fighting Irish Wire that 2023 wide receiver target [autotag]Kaleb Smith[/autotag] was trending towards picking Notre Dame.Ā  Smith committed to Texas Tech in early February but announced a change of heart officially on Friday.

Smith took to Twitter to announce a change of plans:

ā€œFirst off, I would like to thank Texas Tech University and Coach Mcguire for giving me an opportunity to continue playing the game I love at the next level and in an amazing program,ā€ Smith wrote on Twitter. The family and culture out in Lubbock is crazy and thatā€™s why Iā€™ve been committed since February.. but the Lord has presented me with more opportunities to be great and I need to explore those without a doubt.

ā€¦ After a lot of thought and talks with God,, I will be decommitting from Texas Tech University and making my recruitment 100% back open. I havenā€™t had a full recruit experience and really want to take it slow and make sure I do it the right way. Raider Nation itā€™s all love, thank you for believing in me.ā€

Very shortly after that he announced an official offer from Notre Dame.

Smith is on campus this weekend for Notre Dame-Clemson festivities and as was pointed out yesterday, where there is smoke there is usually fire.Ā  We might not be able to see the flames yet but we can certainly feel the heat here.

Notre Dame currently has 23 commitments in the 2023 recruiting class, four of which are from Texas.Ā  Smith, a product of Reedy High School in Frisco, Texas would add to both of those.

Smith is graded as a three-star prospect by 247Sports and is listed at 6-0, 175-pounds.Ā  He would join a wide receiver class that already consists of four-star talents [autotag]Braylon James[/autotag], [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], and [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag].

Stay tuned as it feels like a commitment isn’t far off here.

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2023 three-star QB Cole LaCrue talks Wisconsin recruitment

Wisconsin football recently offered a 2023 three-star dual-threat QB out of Colorado. He gives a breakdown of his recruitment by UW:

Madison, Wis. –Ā On Monday, Jim Leonhard and his coaching staff extended a scholarship offer to 2023 three-star quarterback Cole LaCrue out of Broomfield, Colorado.

Per the 247Sports Composite, he’s the No. 1,714 overall prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, the No. 99 QB in the country, and the No. 15 player in Colorado.

“My relationship with the coaching staff [UW’s] has been pretty good,” LaCrue explained. “They were a staff that wanted to push me to get better and work on things, so I went out and did the work.”

The 6-foot-2, 190-pound QB currently holds offers from Colorado, Tulane, Central Michigan, Northern Colorado, South Dakota, and now, Wisconsin.

He visited Madison back in October and has also taken unofficial visits to Colorado State, Utah State, and Washington State.

“What stands out the most is the atmosphere, the love from the town, and Madison itself,” LaCrue told BadgersWire. “I love having a great fanbase behind me that will support me and be there for me throughout my time in Madison. Also, the town [Madison] is nothing short of amazing, and it is seriously one of the prettiest places I’ve ever visited. Finally, what’s not to love about BIG 10 football and playing at Camp Randall? It is, without a doubt, the best stadium I have ever visited.”

LaCrue, a standout at Broomfield High School, threw for 1,854 yards with 21 touchdowns and only two interceptions in nine games as a senior, according to MaxPreps. He also added an additional 627 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns on the ground.

When asked to describe his game to Wisconsin fans, he had this to say:

“I’m a gamer, a gunslinger, and a playmaker. I’m going to do whatever is necessary in order for us to win a game,” he said. “I’m not your typical 7-on-7 QB who sits in the pocket and isn’t fun to watch. I’m a guy who can do that, but so much more by using my legs and my baseball background.”

In no particular order, LaCrue’s top schools are Colorado, Tulane, and Wisconsin. However, he later clarified that he’s “pretty focused” on Tulane and UW.

For Wisconsin, and more specifically, coach Leonhard, LaCrue is now the only uncommitted quarterback in the 2023 recruiting cycle who holds an offer from UW – making this an incredibly important recruitment to follow moving forward.

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Contact/Follow usĀ @TheBadgersWireĀ on Twitter, and like our page onĀ FacebookĀ to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion, and analysis. You can also follow Dillon Graff on TwitterĀ @DillonGraff.