Tag: five star recruit

Top five 2024 prospects who could get offers this season from USC football

There’s a lot to consider when USC maps out and develops its 2024 recruiting strategy and prepares for life in the Big Ten.

The USC Trojan football squad currently has commits in the 2024 class from Oregon-based tight end Joey Olsen and California-based wide receiver Jason Robinson.

Look for Lincoln Riley and USC to add more recruits to the class over the next few weeks. The Trojans’ coaching staff returned to the recruiting trail earlier this month and has been active all over the country. National signing day is arriving for the 2023 class, but as we know, the early signing period in December is now the point on the calendar when the majority of the recruiting class for the subsequent season enters a program’s doors. It’s certainly not too early to look at the big picture for 2024 and what is to come in the next recruiting cycle.

Here are a few names USC can add to the wish list of players for the 2024 class who have gone under the radar to this point:

2024 5-star DL David Stone announces USC as one of his top schools

USC isn’t the favorite for this recruit, but it is definitely in the mix and quite possibly in the top three.

Oklahoma City (Okla.) native and IMG Academy five-star defensive lineman David Stone currently holds more than 32 offers, but he narrowed his list down to 10 earlier this week.

Stone announced his top 10 schools: USC, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, LSU, Oregon, Michigan State, Miami-FL, Tennessee and Florida.

According to the recruiting prediction machine provided by On3 Sports, there’s a 96.7% chance that Stone will choose to play in his original home state and attend Oklahoma.

The Crystal Ball predictions at 247Sports also have Stone becoming a Sooner when he makes his decision.

Stone grew up in Oklahoma rooting for the Sooners, so it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see him land in Norman, but Michigan State and USC are definitely the next teams in the mix.

USC currently is ranked 11th in the 2024 recruiting class with three hard commits that include: Joey Olsen, Aaron Butler, Jason Robinson all four star recruits at their respective positions.

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Malachi Nelson, USC’s No. 1 recruit in 2023, begins the ultimate football education

Malachi Nelson begins his football education at #USC. Dean of the School of Football: Lincoln Riley. Lead professor: Caleb Williams. Time to soak up knowledge.

Malachi Nelson is the ESPN number one overall recruit in this 2023 class. The California native is also a consensus top-three quarterback alongside Dante Moore (UCLA) and Arch Manning (Texas).

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound quarterback is drawing comparisons to former Oregon Duck and Heisman Trophy Winner Marcus Mariota.

Nelson received offers from schools such as Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia, but chose to stay in his home state of California and head to USC with teammate Makai Lemon, a five-star receiver.

Nelson will sit behind Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams for a year, before taking the reins as the Trojans’ signal-caller in Lincoln Riley’s offense. It is notable that Nelson was willing to accept that his freshman season in 2023 will be a learning experience behind Caleb. His time to shine will be in 2024, when the Trojans move to the Big Ten. It will be very important for him to soak up knowledge from Caleb and Lincoln Riley next year, in words but more centrally in how they carry themselves on the field during games.

Malachi Nelson will need to study Riley’s offensive concepts, but more than that, he will need to see how Caleb Williams studies defenses and makes pre-snap reads. All of that is coming Nelson’s way in 2023, and we’re not likely to see the fruits of that process until the Trojans are in the Big Ten.

Nelson threw for more than 2,800 yards while compiling 35 touchdowns and only four picks, completing a career-high 67.1 percent of his passes and setting a career-best in yards per attempt (9.73).

The 6-foot-3, 180-pound QB has elite arm talent and has a smooth yet quick delivery. He has shown he can make all the NFL-level throws down the field.

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Five-star pass rusher, USC target Matayo Uiagalelei is down to 3 schools

Matayo Uiagalelei has narrowed his list to three schools. #USC is one of them. Another #Pac12 school is also in the hunt.

The USC Trojans are in the mix for one of the highest-profile recruits in the 2023 class. He’s from Southern California, which should help out the Trojans with his decsion. Five-star defensive end Matayo Uiagalelei announcing the final three schools in his recruitment.

USC target and Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco ATH Matayo Uiagalelei has cut his list to three schools: Oregon, USC and Ohio State. He is set for a signing day decision.

Matayo Uiagalelei is ranked the No. 28 player in the nation in the 247Sports Composite.  He’s a two-way player who would be a top-five player at his position as an edge rusher and a tight end, but is being recruited primarily as an defensive end/pass rusher. 

His brother is another former five-star player, quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, who recently entered the transfer portal and is looking to leave the Clemson Tigers. Some have speculated that D.J. could land at UCLA. It will be interesting to see if that story and the N.I.L space have a huge impact on where Matayo Uiagalelei lands in 2023.

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Five-star LB Anthony Hill sets summer visit schedule

Texas will get a summer visit from the top linebacker in the state.

Five-star linebacker Anthony Hill will be all over the place this summer. The Denton Ryan product announced he is set to visit some of the premier programs around the country.

Hill will check out Oklahoma, Alabama, USC, Texas and Texas A&M this summer. Each school was named in Hill’s top six back on Feb. 14.

Recruiting analyst Gabe Brooks sees Hill as a future NFL athlete in his scouting report:

Capable of consistent sideline-to-sideline pursuit with proven blitzing ability. Tone-setter for an FBS-loaded Texas 5A D-I state championship defense as only a sophomore. Produced good numbers despite playing on a unit with a lot of mouths to feed, so to speak. Adequate in-space athleticism in coverage but at his best playing downhill. Owns valuable offensive reps as a short-yardage battering ram with the ball. Shows promising pass-rush instincts despite primary role being off-ball. Main question is position in the long term, but physical tools suggest highest ceiling as an edge player. Regardless, one of the most dynamic defensive prospects in Texas and the country for his class through the 2020 season. Projects as an impact high-major starter with long-term early-round NFL Draft potential.

Texas has built a strong connection with Denton Ryan High School over the years which will play to the Horns advantage in this recruitment. Fighting off the other big names who are battling for Hill’s commitment will be no easy task.

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Where Devon Campbell ranks among Texas offensive line signees since 2000

Talents like Devon Campbell are difficult to come by.

Texas made a huge splash in the second signing period landing five-star offensive lineman Devon Campbell over rival Oklahoma.

The importance of landing a player of Campbell’s pedigree can not be understated. He is the type of talent who could be anchor on the offensive line for the next 3-4 years. Something Texas has been desperately missing for a long time.

Offensive line coach Kyle Flood has built one of the nation’s elite offensive line classes. The Horns locked up seven talented big men, headlined by five-stars Campbell and Kelvin Banks.

The Campbell and Banks duo marks the first time Texas has signed two five-star offensive linemen since 2009. Needless to say, the future of Texas’ offensive line is in great shape.

Campbell instantly becomes the highest-rated player in Texas’ No. 5 ranked recruiting class and will have the chance to make an early impact on the Texas offense.

Let’s take a look at where Devon Campbell ranks among Texas offensive line signees since 2000.

Five-star 2022 center Enoch Boakye commits to Michigan State basketball

Boakye is the third five-star prospect to commit to Michigan State in the last month.

Tom Izzo’s heater continues.

Michigan State has secured the commitment of five-star class of 2022 center Enoch Boakye. Boakye is the third five-star prospect to commit to Izzo and the Spartans in less than a month, joining top overall 2022 prospect Emoni Bates and Max Christie, the No. 12 player in the class of 2021.

Boakye announce his commitment on Instagram Live. He chose MSU over offers from Arizona, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and a number of others.

In his Instagram video he thanked the MSU coaching staff and said he’s ready to come in and compete from day one to try and win a national championship. Boakye is the first Canadian prospect to join MSU since 2005 and cited Izzo traveling to see him in Canada a number of times as a big reason he chose the Spartans.

The six-foot-ten big man out of Mississauga, Ontario is rated as the No. 18 player in the entire class of 2022 and the No. 3 center by 247Sports. Boakye is a player considering re-classification into 2021 so his path to MSU isn’t quite set in stone yet.

MSU’s 2022 class was already ranked No. 1 in the country with Bates as its sole member. That lead will grow with the addition of Boakye when the class ratings are updated.

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Texas football now has a five-star commit in 2021 recruiting class

Texas commit Ja’Tavion Sanders recently received his five-star rating by 247Sports Composite.

Texas is off to a hot start with the 2021 recruiting class.

Head coach Tom Herman is on pace to end the recruiting cycle with another top ten finish. The 2021 class currently includes talented four-star quarterback Jalen Milroe, four-star athlete Billow Bowman and newly-designated five-star athlete Ja’Tavion Sanders.

According to 247Sports Composite, Sanders is now the No. 1 athlete in the nation and the No. 21 overall prospect. With the recent updates of the Top247 and other industry rankings, Sanders is now labeled as a five-star prospect.

He is now the highest-rated commit in the 2021 class. In 2020, Texas signed two five-star prospects in running back Bijan Robinson and defensive lineman Alfred Collins.

The 6-3.5, 220 pound playmaker played both ways at Denton Ryan and earned first-team all-District 4-5A D-1 at defensive end. He also excelled at wide receiver, compiling 47 receptions for 763 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Sanders committed to the Longhorns last September, is one of the top commitments under Herman amidst his four-year tenure with the program.