Tag: 247Sports

Louisiana has 2027’s No. 1 overall recruit in updated rankings

The top player in the 2027 is a Louisiana product, giving LSU a good shot.

247Sports dropped its first top 100 recruits for the 2027 class on Wednesday and the top spot belongs to a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, product.

Quarterback [autotag]Elijah Haven[/autotag], out of the Dunham School, sits No. 1 overall. He’s yet to receive an LSU offer, but that will come in due time. Haven visited LSU with his father earlier this year and already has a relationship with LSU QBs coach [autotag]Joe Sloan[/autotag].

2027 is a ways away and Haven is just a rising sophomore, but the timeline could work out. LSU is set to sign the No. 1 overall player and quarterback this cycle with [autotag]Bryce Underwood[/autotag] committed. Haven would arrive in Baton Rouge just as Underwood was finishing up his career.

At least that’s what LSU fans will hope for.

According to On3, ESPN, and Rivals, the top player in the 2026 class is also from Louisiana in defensive lineman [autotag]Jahkeem Stewart[/autotag]. If Stewart and Haven remain on their current trajectory, Louisiana has a chance to produce the nation’s top player in back-to-back years.

Haven already holds six offers, with a notable one from LSU rival Ole Miss. With a recruit of Haven’s caliber, everyone in the country will want to get involved.

It will be tough, but LSU has good luck with Louisiana’s top players, and the Tigers now have a reputation for producing Heisman quarterbacks.

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247Sports projects Notre Dame-Ole Miss for College Football Playoff

The Irish don’t host in this projection.

Until the 2024 season begins, we’re left to make our own predictions for the newly expanded College Football Playoff. The only certainty is that Notre Dame can’t have higher than a fifth seed since the top four seeds are reserved for conference champions.

Most people think the Irish will host a first-round game, but Brad Crawford of 247Sports says not so fast. Crawford released his bowl projections for the season. While he does have the Irish in the No. 5 vs. No. 11 game, he has them as the 11th seed, traveling to Ole Miss.

The Irish and Rebels haven’t played each other much, and it’s been a long time. The Rebels were the only team the Irish lost to during their 1977 championship season, and the Irish won their only other meeting in 1985 in South Bend. Historically, this isn’t anything close to a rivalry.

Still, the Irish could use this as bulletin-board material. They know they’re good enough to host a first-round game at Notre Dame Stadium, and this should give them extra motivation to have a season that guarantees them that honor.

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Florida’s 5-star freshman labeled 247Sports’ top backup QB in 2024

Florida freshman backup quarterback DJ Lagway has taken national consideration as one of, if not the best, backup quarterbacks in the country.

Florida football’s five-star freshman quarterback DJ Lagway is considered by many as one of, if not the best, backup quarterbacks in the country.

Lagway knows that he still has plenty to learn and there’s no one much better to sit behind and study from than Graham Mertz.

When Lagway spoke with Gators Wire last July, he mentioned how Mertz has helped him a lot in terms of learning and development.

“Just being a professional, walking around the building — you can just tell that he’s (Mertz) doing it the right way,” Lagway said. “And I just look and learn from him, you know? It helped me early on, with learning the playbook and different things like that, giving me different study habits.”

Lagway went on to say, “I’ve just been so thankful and grateful to have Graham Mertz in my corner to help me with my development.”

What 247Sports says about Lagway

Sports writer Clint Brewster of 247Sports labels Lagway as the best backup quarterback in college football.

Brewster wrote, “A future Heisman winner will be one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in college football and the best Florida signal caller since Tim Tebow.”

Those are some very high expectations but it’s understandable given that Lagway had video game-like numbers during his high school career.

In his senior season, Lagway won the Gatorade Player of the Year after he threw for 4604 yards and 58 touchdowns.

Top 10 backup quarterbacks

Making up the top five, Brewster has Lagway as the No. 1 backup quarterback followed by Arch Manning (Texas Longhorns), Jayden Maiava (USC Trojans), Ty Simpson (Alabama Crimson Tide) and CJ Bailey (NC State Wolfpack).

Beau Pribula (Penn State Nittany Lions), Walker Howard (Ole Miss Rebels), Dante Moore (Oregon Ducks), Kevin Jennings (SMU Mustangs) and Jaylen Henderson (Texas A&M Aggies) round out the top 10.

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Kentucky trending as leader for UNC Basketball recruiting target

Five-star center, Malachi Moreno, was dubbed with new crystal ball predictions on 247sports.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are watching another four-star recruit that they were “warm” with on 247sports fall out of their grasp. Great Crossing’s Malachi Moreno is the No. 26 ranked player on their composite rankings.

He also is the No. 2 ranked center in the Class of 2025 and the best player coming out of Indiana in the class native to Georgetown, Indiana.

Currently, North Carolina has just four-star James Brown on the roster heading into that season at the center position and no committed center recruits in the class.

Moreno is set to “warm” with seven other programs on 247sports, but there is only one other blue blood on the list. Kentucky is currently the school selected by the crystal ball with a 100% chance of landing Moreno in the coming months.

Moreno is set to visit with all six of the eight “warm” programs in the next two months. He will be in Chapel Hill on September 13th and round out his tour visits with Kentucky on October 11th.

The crystal ball is not a hard commitment so there is still an opportunity for UNC to come back with a great visit. The Tar Heels could use a rim-protecting center like Moreno.

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Per ESPN, Texas A&M RB Rueben Owens ‘expected to miss the season’ with ‘lower body injury’

Per ESPN college football writers Max Olson and Pete Thamel, Aggies sophomore running back Rueben Owens will miss the entire 2024 campaign.

According to recent reports, the Texas A&M football team suffered a big loss this weekend.

Per ESPN college football writers Max Olson and Pete Thamel, Aggies sophomore running back Rueben Owens II will miss the entire 2024 campaign following a “lower body injury” that he suffered Saturday during a team scrimmage.

The news was confirmed by 247Sports reporter Carter Karels. He added that sources couldn’t provide a timeline of when Foster may be able to return.

Owens was selected to the SEC All-Freshman team last year. Among true freshmen, he led the conference in all-purpose yards (743), rushing yards (385) and kick return yards (249).

The underclassman tailback had a clean bill of health during his first season in College Station, appearing in all 13 games and making five starts. He tallied at least one rush in each contest and had a catch in eight games.

EJ Smith, the son of Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, transferred to Texas A&M this past offseason after four years at Stanford. Juniors, Amari Daniels and Le’Veon Moss, round out the RBs depth chart.

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247Sports predicts where LSU will land in Monday’s debut AP Top 25

Where will the Tigers stand in the preseason AP Top 25?

The start of the 2024 season is just around the corner, and that means it’s time for some preseason polls.

The initial US LBM Coaches Poll came out last week with the Tigers coming in at No. 12. We won’t know where LSU sits in the preseason AP Top 25 until it’s released on Monday, but 247Sports took a stab at predicting that poll, and it sees a similar landing spot for coach Brian Kelly’s in the media poll.

The Tigers are also projected to be ranked No. 12 in the debut AP poll, which would make them a consensus top-15 team entering the season despite coordinator changes on both sides of the ball and quite a bit of lost production.

Brian Kelly has back-to-back 10-win seasons in Baton Rouge, but this program intends to ascend higher under his watch. Joe Sloan takes over as the mastermind offensively following Mike Denbrock’s departure to Notre Dame and the schedule gets cooking in the national spotlight early thanks to an opener against USC. If Garrett Nussmeier produces at quarterback on the same wavelength as last year’s Heisman winner at the position, LSU has a chance to make noise in November.

The Tigers still have high hopes for the offense in 2024, and the defense is expected to at least be improved under new coordinator [autotag]Blake Baker[/autotag] after it was one of the worst in the SEC last season.

Despite all the changes, LSU is expected to compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff this season now that it has expanded to 12 teams.

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Duke basketball offers four-star 2026 forward Miikka Muurinen

Duke basketball extended an offer to fast-rising 2026 prospect Miikka Muurinen.

2026 feels like the distant future, but considering that it’ll be 2025 on the calendar once Duke basketball reaches the ACC portion of its schedule this season, the future will be here before we know it.

That said, Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils will likely focus considerable recruiting resources on the Class of 2026, and there are some terrific prospects for them to choose from. One of them, power forward Miikka Muurinen, received an offer from Duke over the weekend, according to 247Sports’ Travis Branham.

Muurinen, who plays for Compass Prep in Arizona, is originally from Finland. He stands 6-foot-10 and currently ranks as 247Sports’ 44th-ranked player in the Class of 2026, but many recruiting insiders expect him to receive a boost on all recruiting services. Branham named Muurinen the ‘biggest riser’ from Peach Jam, where he averaged 18 points and four rebounds per game for Bradley Beal’s Elite 16U squad.

He shot 62 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range (14-for-28 over six games) as he helped his team win an EYBL championship.

“Muurinen was oozing with talent and upside and looked every bit like a top-10 recruit in the 2026 class,” Branham wrote.

With his stock rising, expect Muurinen’s recruitment to reach astronomical heights in the coming months. Kentucky has also offered him thanks to his Peach Jam performance. His mother played college basketball for the University of North Carolina, so it shouldn’t come as a shock if UNC is a significant factor in this recruitment in the future.

Oklahoma basketball earns commitment from 2025 four-star wing Alec Blair

Oklahoma lands elite dual-sport athlete in Alec Blair.

[autotag]Porter Moser[/autotag] has had an incredibly fun end of July. On Tuesday evening, Moser’s July grew a bit brighter as the Sooners landed a commitment from four-star wing Alec Blair.

The top-50 junior is one of the best dual-sport athletes in the country. Alec plays at De La Salle High in Concord, California. He is a bit of a rarity as he is a top-notch baseball player and a star on the basketball court.

He’s an intriguing prospect on the court who uses his length and advanced knowledge of the game to attack defenses and create opportunities for others. It would not be shocking to see him play point forward or point guard in college. He’s that much of a talented facilitator.

He chose Oklahoma over offers to play at California, Clemson, Notre Dame and USC.

The Sooners offered him back in September 2023, and his relationships with Clayton Custer and head coach Porter Moser, along with his chats with the OU baseball team, led him to Norman.

He is a rangy outfield prospect with power to all fields on the diamond. As he continues to get stronger and matures physically, his upside as a lefty power bat should skyrocket. The MLB is always looking for lefty power, so it’s easy to see why he’s becoming a coveted prospect.

In January, Blair Blair spoke with Brandon Jenkins of 247Sports (subscription required) about his future as a two-sport athlete. “I have not made a decision in terms of if I want to play both sports or if I just want to play baseball,” Blair said. “I love basketball. Playing both sports would be a cool opportunity because it is very unique when discussing the sports I am playing.”

By landing Blair, Oklahoma has the No. 19 recruiting class for 2025. Blair is the No. 10 prospect in the 247Sports composite and the 38th-ranked overall prospect according to 247Sports 2025 basketball rankings. He is the No. 4 prospect in the state of California prospect.

It seems things are going to work out either way for Oklahoma athletics. The Sooners landed one of the nation’s best athletes, who will play basketball, baseball, or both in Norman, Oklahoma.

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247Sports thinks Billy Napier survives 2024 hot seat

Following the 2024 SEC Media Days, 247Sports has a hot take on head coach Billy Napier’s future at Florida.

Following an 11-14 start to the [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] era in Gainesville, the Gators coach enters Year 3 at Florida on the hot seat. With the toughest schedule in the nation ahead, few are projecting Napier will make it to 2025, but the folks at 247Sports aren’t buying into that narrative.

“Say what you want about the Gators’ all-time tough slate this season; Napier will be the leader of the program in 2025,” college football analyst Brad Crawford said in an article aiming to provide hot takes for every SEC team.

Crawford has plenty of reasons for that prediction, but he doesn’t mention the Gators improving on the field this season. Instead, his two main pieces of support are the remaining money left on Napier’s contract and the fact that another failed football coach could mean the end of athletic director Scott Stricklin’s tenure at the university.

Napier would be owed more than $25 million if let go after this season. He signed for seven years and $51.8 million in the fall of 2021. Stricklin has been around since November 2016, but he is the one who brought in Dan Mullen. Several athletic programs have dealt with scandal during Stricklin’s time at Florida — women’s basketball (abuse) and football (NIL).

There is some light at the end of the tunnel for Napier, though. Signing [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag] has provided some optimism for the future of the program. Napier’s fate may rest in the true freshman’s hands. He’ll take over the starting job in 2025, which should be the true make-or-break season for Napier.

Crawford is also projecting a Gators loss to Texas A&M in September, as he expects Aggies head coach Mike Elko to start off strong.

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Graham Mertz takes a dip in 247Sports’ SEC quarterback rankings

Graham Mertz’s return to Florida was a big decision, but experts view him as a borderline top-10 quarterback in the SEC heading into the fall.

Florida quarterback [autotag]Graham Mertz[/autotag] fell three spots to No. 10 in the most recent SEC quarterback rankings from 247Sports.

Mertz’s drop is less about him and more about first-year quarterback [autotag]DJ Lagway[/autotag], a five-star recruit out of high school. On national signing day, head coach [autotag]Billy Napier[/autotag] mentioned that Florida would find time to get Lagway into games early on, but the feeling is that he’ll get more snaps than initially expected after the SEC media days.

“A healthy share of Graham Mertz’s playing time this season could be gobbled up by five-star freshman DJ Lagway,” college football analyst Brad Crawford said. “… Billy Napier helped Mertz develop into a formidable signal caller who’s coming off a 20-touchdown season. Napier said in Dallas that the Gators’ most critical offseason personnel decision was Mertz deciding to give it another go in Gainesville. It’s clear, however, Lagway is the future and he’s going to play a bunch this fall in the QB2 role.”

Mertz is looking to make an NFL draft push, but Napier is going to play the best quarterback for the team in a season where Florida faces the toughest schedule in the country.

LSU‘s Garrett Nussmeier, Texas A&M Conner Weigman and Oklahoma‘s Jackson Arnold all passed Mertz in the Nos. 7-10 spots, respectively.

Take a look at the full list below.

247Sports SEC QB Rankings

Rank Name School Class Last
1 Jaxson Dart Ole Miss Senior 3
2 Carson Beck Georgia Senior 1
3 Jalen Milroe Alabama R-Junior 4
4 Quinn Ewers Texas Junior 2
5 Brady Cook Missouri Senior 5
6 Nico Iamaleava Tennessee R-Freshman 6
7 Garrett Nussmeier LSU R-Junior 9
8 Conner Weigman Texas A&M Sophomore 8
9 Jackson Arnold Oklahoma Sophomore 10
10 Graham Mertz Florida Senior 7
11 Blake Shapen Mississippi State Senior 12
12 Brock Vandagriff Kentucky R-Junior 11
13 Payton Thorne

Auburn

 Senior 14
14 Taylen Green Arkansas R-Junior 13
15 LaNorris Sellers South Carolina R-Freshman 15
16 Diego Pavia Vanderbilt Senior 16

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