Category: Recruiting

Auburn lands commitment from grad transfer OL Eric Wilson

Auburn added some much-needed depth at offensive line on Tuesday with the commitment of Harvard transfer Eric Wilson.

Auburn is always in need of more offensive line depth, so they went to the easiest place to find help: the transfer portal.

Eric Wilson, a graduate transfer offensive lineman from Harvard, announced his commitment to the Tigers Tuesday morning, selecting them over a list of offers that also included LSU, Florida State, Minnesota and N.C. State.

The 6-foot-4, 280-pound Wilson told Rivals.com, “I love Auburn. My parents love Auburn. It’s a great school and a great community.”

While he primarily plays guard, earning second-team All-Ivy League honors as a junior last season and was named a semifinalist for the NFF William V. Campbell Trophy this year, he can also play center.

His decision gives Auburn three commits along the offensive line for the 2021 class, 4-star guard Jaeden Roberts and 3-star guard/tackle Garner Langlo.

He will join a group that has just one senior and could return every player, since this year does not count against any player’s elgibility.

Notre Dame football adds yet another ‘21 commitment

It had been five days since anyone gave Notre Dame their commitment so local talent Jojo Johnson changed that on Tuesday.

It had been a while since Notre Dame last received a commitment to their 2021 recruiting class seeing as it’s been a whole five days.

That might not seem very long but considering the heater Notre Dame has been on in recruiting, it feels like a long time.  

The Irish received four commitments last week as their class ranking jumped into the top 10 nationally according to most outlets.

Tuesday saw them add yet another commitment, this one coming from a young man they only offered an official scholarship to days ago.

JoJo Johnson was offered by Notre Dame on Sunday and on Tuesday, the Merrillville, Indiana senior made his decision to play for Brian Kelly and the Fighting Irish official.

RELATED:  Meet Notre Dame’s entire 2021 recruiting class

Johnson becomes the 22nd commitment to Notre Dame’s class and will start his career in South Bend in the defensive backfield.

Johnson is rated as a three-star prospect by both 247Sports and Rivals and chose Notre Dame over offers from 17 other programs including Cincinnati, Purdue, Iowa, Michigan State and several MAC schools.

Johnson originally committed to Cincinnati on May 1 but reopened his recruitment by de-committing in mid-October.

Johnson is listed at 5-11, 180 pounds and becomes the fifth defensive back to join the 2021 recruiting class.

Ohio State lands class of 2022’s No. 2 rated receiver, Caleb Burton

Ohio State has landed another one of Texas’ top prospects, as 5-star receiver Caleb Burton announced a verbal commitment to the Buckeyes.

The hits just keep on coming for the Ohio State football program when it comes to hauling in the best recruits. After getting the class of 2022’s top quarterback to flip from Texas last week, the Buckeyes have now landed the No. 2 receiver and fifteenth overall prospect in the class according to the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

At 6-foot, 165-pounds, Caleb Burton out of Del Valle High School in Texas will no doubt put on more weight as he gets into a college program. But as it is, he’s a lean, fast-twitch type that will be a dangerous weapon out in space. If he can develop anything close to what we’ve seen from the OSU wideouts under assistant Brian Hartline, he should be a monster to add to a room already full of electric playmakers.

For Ryan Day and staff, it’s yet another of Texas’ top prospects leaving the state and coming to play in Columbus. The list of explosive players continues. From J.K. Dobbins to Garrett Wilson, to now Ewers and Burton, folks in the Lone Star state have to be wondering how its best prep football players keep heading out of state and up north.

You can thank Ryan Day and Brian Hartline’s offensive attack. Quarterbacks are wanting to come play in the system, and that means wide skill position players know they are going to get plenty of opportunities to showcase their talents in a dynamic offense.

The beat goes on.

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Texas Football Recruiting: Five-star prospect chooses Ohio State over Texas

Caleb Burton, once considered the top priority, has committed to Ohio State. Another in-state blue-chip prospect slips through UT’s fingers.

When five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers committed to Texas in August, it seemed as if the Longhorns were going to have a historic recruiting class. Not only were top players from in the state targets but some of the best prospects across the country thought about playing in Austin.

Everything changed when Ewers, the No. 2 overall player on the 247Sports composite decommitted from Texas and instead chose to head north to Ohio State. Ryan Day and the Buckeyes have been known to enter the state and steal blue-chip players from Tom Herman. On Monday afternoon, they did it again.

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Five-star Caleb Burton, once considered the top priority after Ewers, has committed to Ohio State. Coming out of Del Valle High School, Burton ranks in the top 15 nationally and is the No. 2 wide receiver on the 247Sports composite.

Outside of Texas and Ohio State, 36 other schools have offered Burton, making him a hot commodity. He had released a top 12 consisting of schools such as Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, LSU, and Oklahoma.

Ohio State now has nine commits in their 2022 class, with the top two being from the state of Texas. More could even be on the way with prospects such as cornerback Denver Harris drawing attention from the Buckeyes.

Tom Herman’s past two recruiting cycles have been nothing short of a dumpster fire. Losing in-state blue-chip talent to other elite programs year in and year out is an excellent way to make your seat warmer than it already is.

While Texas does have time to respond, things are not looking great. Other schools are going to have the opportunity to steal even more top in-state talent over the next year.

Michigan makes ‘final five’ for in-state 2022 5-star target

The Wolverines appear to be in the thick of it for the legacy defensive back, but some big time schools made his final cut.

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Considering what he told WolverinesWire back in August, there are no surprises when it comes to 2022 Grosse Pointe (MI) South five-star cornerback Will Johnson’s final group.

The Michigan legacy appears to be narrowing down his list of suitors, and with his ‘final five’ being released on Monday morning, four of the schools he mentioned at the SMSB camp in Detroit months back have made the cut.

In order to procure his services, the Wolverines will have to overcome some stiff competition, as Ohio State, USC, Arizona State and Oklahoma have all made the cut. But the good news is, Michigan has as well — though that was anticipated.

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From various reports, it appears that Johnson and fellow 2022 five-star CB Domani Jackson, from Santa Ana (CA) Mater Dei, intend to be something of a package deal at the next level. Jackson hasn’t dropped a top 5 as of yet, but according to 247Sports, Michigan, Ohio State and USC are his top three schools. If both things hold true, then those would be the teams to beat for the duo’s services.

As for Johnson, there’s been increased optimism that he’ll follow his father’s footsteps and end up in Ann Arbor. Currently, there are five 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions, and all of them indicate that Johnson will eventually end up a Wolverine.

Johnson is rated by the 247Sports Composite as the No. 8 player in the country, regardless of position, as well as the No. 4 corner. His compatriot Jackson is rated No. 3 and 1, by the same metrics, respectively. Both visited Ann Arbor for the Wisconsin game this year.

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Notre Dame football: Irish offer local ’21 prospect

Could Notre Dame have just extended a scholarship offer to their next commitment to the 2021 recruiting class?

Notre Dame has been riding a heater in the recruiting game of late, gaining four commitments over the last week as their 2021 class has climbed into the top ten nationally.

Now might Brian Kelly and the Irish be about to add 22nd commitment to that list?

That isn’t certain by any means but Notre Dame did extend another offer to a 2021 prospect on Sunday, extending an offer to JoJo Johnson of Merrillville, Indiana.

Johnson is listed as a wide receiver on 247Sports but Notre Dame would be looking for him to be a defensive back.

Johnson is listed at 5-11, 180 pounds and is graded as a three-star prospect.

Johnson has 16 offers, largely from MAC schools like Northern Illinois, Ball State, Central Michigan, Miami (OH), Toledo and Western Michigan.

Big Ten schools Iowa, Michigan State and Purdue have all offered as well Cincinnati, Washington State, and a handful of others.

Related:  Meet Notre Dame’s 2021 Recruiting Class Commitments

Notre Dame’s 2021 recruiting class currently has four defensive backs committed in Philip Riley, Ryan Barnes, Chance Tucker and Justin Walters.

Texas Football Recruiting: Four-star wide receiver puts Longhorns in top eight

Four-star wide receiver J.J. Henry has released his top eight, with UT making the cut. TCU is the only other Big 12 school to make the cut.

One thing Texas has been trying to add to its 2021 class has been another receiver. Specifically an in-state one. Three-stars Jaden Alexis and Casey Cain are the two wideouts in the class, but they are from Florida and Louisiana, respectively.

Four-star J.J. Henry out of McKinney, Texas, could be the answer for the Longhorns. During his junior season, Henry recorded 71 receptions for 1,419 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Texas has made the DFW area standout’s top eight list. TCU is the only other Big 12 school to make the cut, and in-state schools SMU and Texas A&M are still in contention.

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 3 – 111 118
Rivals 3 – 77 91
ESPN 4 254 44 48
247 Composite 3 446 65 69

Vitals

Hometown McKinney, Texas
Projected Position Wide receiver
Height 5-10
Weight 165

Recruitment

  • Offered on May 25, 2020
  • No visit yet

Offers

  • Arkansas
  • Florida State
  • Louisville
  • Ole Miss
  • SMU
  • TCU
  • Texas
  • Texas A&M

Crystal Ball

Film

Twitter

WATCH: MSU Football commit Audric Estime breaks multiple tackles for insane TD run

Watch Michigan State Football recruit Audric Estime shed multiple tackles for a major touchdown run.

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In case you didn’t know, Audric Estime is good. The Michigan State Football running back commit is one of the top players in their 2021 recruiting class. In his current season with St. Joseph Regional, Estime has looked like a man amongst boys, putting up insane stats and highlights on a weekly basis. Because of his performance this year, 247Sports recently bumped his recruiting score up to a 4-star grade.

Over the weekend, Estime had another huge weekend that included an insane touchdown run where he seemingly broke tackles from every defender on the field. You can watch it below:

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Michigan State Football: Spartans land commitment from 3-star offensive guard

Gavin Broscious has given his pledge to Michigan State. The second member to join the class of 2022 for Mel Tucker’s program.

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Michigan State has earned its second commitment of the 2022 class. Head Coach Mel Tucker and offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic have struck again, getting a commitment from another offensive lineman in offensive guard Gavin Broscious.

Broscious is a product of Desert Edge High School in Goodyear, Arizona. Gavin is a big-bodied offensive guard standing at 6-foot-5 and 290 pounds. He is projected as an interior offensive lineman, but his versatility to move to tackle if need be is something that the coaching staff surely noticed.

The Spartans fended off other members of Broscious’ top 8 list to earn this commitment, the list included Minnesota, Nebraska, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Cal. A huge recruiting win for Mel Tucker and his staff.

Broscious is the first Michigan State commit from the state of Arizona since quarterback Brian Lewerke gave his pledge to coach Dantonio in 2015. Broscious is the second member of the 2022 class joining fellow offensive lineman Kristian Phillips.

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Tennessee lands commitment from top JUCO running back

Tennessee lands commitment from top JUCO running back.

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Tiyon Evans committed to the Vols in April.

He decommitted from Tennessee in September. Evans has since announced that he has recommitted to the Vols. He made the announcement on Twitter ahead of Tennessee’s matchup with Auburn.

Evans stands at 5-foot-9, 210 pounds and is the No. 1-ranked JUCO running back from Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Hutchinson running backs coach Greg Cross previously discussed what type of player Tennessee is getting with Evans.

“Tiyon is special,” Cross told Vols Wire. “If I had to describe the type of back he is, he is versatile and is able to make defenders miss and has power to lower his shoulder.”

Vols’ 2021 commitment tracker

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