Tag: Nyckoles Harbor

Friday Night Notes: The Year of the Gamecock, Top 2024 recruit on the move again and more

South Carolina is on fire to start the new year.

USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.

South Carolina is on fire to start the new year. Over the last few weeks, head coach Shane Beamer has helped spearhead a recruiting surge that’s made Columbia the hottest destination in college football outside of Colorado.

The grand prize in this run has been getting the nation’s top uncommitted player to come on board. On Wednesday, top-ranked 2023 Athlete Nyckoles Harbor announced that he would attend South Carolina, dealing a blow to several other Power 5 programs in pursuit – including Michigan, Maryland and late-charging Oregon.

Harbor is just one of several blue-chip recruits that have signed on since the calendar flipped to 2023, though. Here’s who else they have picked up and where they now rank in this recruiting cycle and the next.

Woodland (SC) OT Kam Pringle

Ranked No. 46 overall and the No. 1 offensive tackle in the class of 2024, Pringle has literally been a massive (6-foot-7, 337 pounds) recruiter for the Gamecocks since committing on Jan. 22.

Here’s a look at Pringle pitching Harbor on Twitter:

Pringle had offers from 20 other schools, including Georgia, Clemson and Florida, which were the other main competitors.

Calvary Day (Ga.) TE Michael Smith

A couple days later, South Carolina also got a commitment from the No. 6 ranked tight end in the class in Smith (6-foot-4, 225 pounds). 30 other programs made Smith offers before he made his choice.

Greenville (SC) WR Mazeo Bennett

The latest recruit for Beamer and company just came in this morning when Bennett (6-foot-0, 180 pounds) announced for SC on Twitter:

Bennett is the third-ranked player in the state and is No. 31 among receivers in his class. He also had an offer from Tennessee and 22 all together, including most of the top programs in the SEC and ACC.

This all adds up to some serious momentum gained in the recruiting race. After adding Harbor, South Carolina’s recruiting class of 2023 now ranks No. 17 in the country. Their 2024 class is ranked No. 6 nationally.

Who was the top-rated recruit for each team in the SEC on signing day?

Here’s the biggest prize in each SEC team’s 2023 recruiting class.

The 2023 recruiting class is in the books, and all the teams from the SEC have received their overall ranking, which we will base on the 247Sports Composite, and they include transfers into their formula.

Per usual, the SEC had a strong outing in recruiting. Nine teams finished inside the top 25 recruiting classes including four teams in the top ten and three in the top five.

It’s no surprise that Alabama and Georgia are leading the way. Their dominance over the past few years shows how great those programs are at recruiting and developing top talent. [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] has thrown LSU’s name into the mix as he brought home a haul to Baton Rouge, and South Carolina shocked the world on National Signing Day as they signed [autotag]Nyckoles Harbor[/autotag].

Here’s the top signee for each program in the league.

Uncommitted TE Duce Robinson explains why he delayed signing

One big name who we didn’t get a decision from is Duce Robinson, who’s now the top uncommitted player in the cycle.

Now that National Signing Day has come and gone, pretty much all of the elite recruits from the class of 2023 have chosen a college. Yesterday, the nation’s No. 1 Athlete Nyckoles Harbor committed to South Carolina and the top undecided quarterback Jaden Rashada picked Arizona State.

One big name who we didn’t get a decision from is Pinnacle (Ariz.) tight end Duce Robinson, who’s now the top uncommitted player in the cycle.

In an interview on ESPN, Robinson explained that he simply doesn’t know where he wants to play yet and wants to have full conviction when he does.

Robinson (6-foot-6, 225 pounds) is the top-ranked tight end in 2023 and is No. 17 overall in this class according to the composite rankings.

28 different schools have extended offers, but Robinson has narrowed his list down to a handful of finalists. Georgia remains the heavy favorite but USC, Alabama, Texas and Oregon are also reported to still be in the mix.

More football news

4-star TE Walker Lyons commits to USC

Updated 2023 Top 100 recruit rankings

Major takeaways from Oregon Ducks strong close to the 2023 recruiting class

Oregon sits atop the Pac-12 for a fifth-straight year, and Dan Lanning’s knack for stealing players away from USC in California continues.

The 2023 recruiting cycle has officially come to a close for the Oregon Ducks, and Dan Lanning made sure that his squad finished on a high note with the addition of 4-star cornerback Rodrick Pleasant.

While the day started with an unfortunate and unexpected loss for Oregon — 5-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor committed to South Carolina when many expected him to end up with the Ducks — Oregon was quickly able to recover and land a top-100 prospect in Pleasant, stealing him away from the USC Trojans’ backyard to make it even sweeter.

So with the 2023 class behind us, and eyes now set on 2024 and beyond, we wanted to take one last look at things on Wednesday. Here are some of my biggest takeaways from Wednesday’s National Signing Day for the Ducks:

Notable quotes from Dan Lanning at national signing day press conference

“We did a great job of keeping the best talent on the West Coast.” Dan Lanning recapped another successful signing day for the Ducks.

It was another banner day for the Oregon Ducks football program. Dan Lanning and his staff made more waves in the recruiting world with the addition of four-star cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, one of the best available players remaining in the 2023 cycle.

Lanning held his signing day media conference to discuss the new signing, touch on transfer portal commitments, look at the offseason as a whole and the give his outlook for the program entering the biggest stretch of the offseason.

Here are some of the most notable quotes from that press conference:

Where the Ducks’ 2023 recruiting class compares to the best in Oregon history

With the addition of four-star Rodrick Pleasant, Oregon’s class ranks No. 8 in the 2023 cycle. Where does that compare to the best in school history?

What Dan Lanning has done in 13 months on the job in Eugene has been quite impressive.

While the Oregon Ducks were unable to land five-star athlete Nyckoles Harbor on Wednesday, they did get a big-time commitment from four-star cornerback Rodrick Pleasant, the No. 8 CB in the 2023 class.  More importantly, the Ducks have a recruiting team score of 282.74, which is important to note, because it gives Oregon the second-highest-rated recruiting class in school history.

The top-ranked class was in 2021 with a score of 287.67, headed up by Mario Cristobal with marquee prospects Ty Thompson (quarterback), Kingsley Suamataia (offensive tackle) and Troy Franklin (wide receiver).

To get a better feel for how this 2023 class compares to the best recruiting classes in Oregon history, here are the top-10 ranked classes Eugene has ever seen:

A look at LSU football’s full 2023 signing class after national signing day

The Tigers finish with the No. 6 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.

It was a bit of an anticlimactic national signing day for LSU — expectedly so.

The Tigers signed all 25 commits (except for [autotag]Daylen Austin[/autotag], who flipped to Oregon) during December’s early signing period. After missing the cut for five-star athlete [autotag]Nyckoles Harbor[/autotag], coach [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] essentially moved on to recruiting the 2024 class.

Nothing changed for LSU’s class on Wednesday’s national signing day. It still ranks sixth nationally, per the 247Sports Composite Rankings, and that’s paired with the top-ranked transfer haul in the country.

It’s been a big offseason already for the Tigers, and with that in mind, let’s take a look at LSU’s final 2023 signing class.

Elite 2023 ATH Nyckoles Harbor makes college decision

Now we know. #GoBlue

Michigan football appeared to be leading for 2023 Washington (D.C.) Archbishop Carroll five-star athlete Nyckoles Harbor for a long time in his recruitment.

At the outset of his recruitment, Harbor was thought not to be too influenced by name, image and likeness possibilities, but that sentiment changed.

Harbor looked for a program that would utilize him more as a skill position player rather than an edge, because he’s hyper-focused on running track — something he intends to do at the college level as well.

Though the Wolverines long had an edge in his recruitment, Harbor ultimately chose South Carolina.

He made his commitment live on ESPN.

[lawrence-related id=67929,67927,67924]

For the longest time, Michigan appeared to be out front, though South Carolina made a big push. Maryland, the local school, was long a contender, while Oregon came from seemingly out of nowhere the past few weeks.

Harbor officially visited Michigan for the Maryland game in 2022, Maryland after the season, Georgia in mid-December, and Oregon this past weekend. He runs a 10.28 100-meter dash and is rated the No. 15 player in the country, regardless of position, according to 247Sports’ proprietary rankings.

[listicle id=67938]

5-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor announces commitment decision

5-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor, the top-ranked uncommitted player left in 2023, announced his commitment on Wednesday.

Nyckoles Harbor, a five-star athlete from the Washington D.C. area who has made waves in both the football and track world, announced his commitment on Wednesday morning.

Unfortunately for Oregon Duck fans, it wasn’t a commitment to come play ball in Eugene.

Harbor signed with the South Carolina Gamecocks on Wednesday, agreeing to travel south to play for Shane Beamer and run track. With aspirations of running in the 2024 Paris Olympics, many thought Oregon’s legendary track program, with the historic Hayward Field on campus, would be a major chip in getting Harbor to commit to the Ducks. In the end, it didn’t appear to be enough.

Despite missing on Harbor, the Ducks still signed a pair of five-star recruits in 2023 and have the 10th-ranked class in the nation for this cycle.

Nyckoles Harbor Recruiting Profile

5 storylines for Duck fans to follow on national signing day

Can Oregon add another 5-star to the 2023 class? Will the Ducks stay atop the Pac-12 recruiting rankings for the 5th-straight year?

The 2023 recruiting cycle is set to officially come to a close on Wednesday, February 1, with signing day taking place. For the Oregon Ducks, it has been an incredibly eventful cycle, with Dan Lanning making a huge splash during the early signing period, inking a class that ranks No. 10 in the nation, per 247Sports.

They may not be done just yet, though. With the final day of the cycle on Wednesday, there are still a couple of high-profile prospects who are left on the Ducks’ recruiting big board — 5-star ATH Nyckoles Harbor, and 4-star CB Rodrick Pleasant. Both are scheduled to make their commitment announcement on Wednesday morning.

While those two are expected to provide most of the fireworks on signing day for Oregon fans, there may be a few other things to look at concerning the Ducks. Here are the top storylines to watch on signing day.