Tag: Oregon recruiting

Oregon Ducks take big jump up in national recruiting rankings following commitment of OT Josh Conerly

The Ducks ranked No. 24 in the 2022 recruiting rankings heading into Friday. Where do they now stand after the addition of 5-star OT Josh Conerly?

After running the risk of having the worst recruiting class in recent memory just a few months ago, Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks have turned the ship around quite nicely.

On Friday night, five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly, the No. 1 unsigned player left in the 2022 class, announced he was committing to Oregon, spurning the USC Trojans, who many people thought he was a lock to join.

The addition of Conerly is arguably the biggest recruiting win for Lanning yet and puts a cap on the 2022 recruiting class for the Ducks.

Heading into December, Oregon was in a great place, ranked prominently in the nation. However, the departure of Mario Cristobal led to a school-record 16 players decommitting, and the Ducks’ recruiting ranking fell into the 70s. After the additions of top-ranked players Jahlil Florence, Jordan James, Dave Iuli and Conerly, the Ducks built the class back and have one of the best 2022 classes in college football.

Where does that ranking stand after Conerly’s announcement? Let’s take a look.

Where Josh Conerly ranks among the highest-ranked recruits to ever join the Oregon Ducks

Josh Conerly is the highest-ranked OL the Ducks have ever pulled, but where does he rank among the best overall recruits in Oregon history?

The Ducks shocked the college football world on Friday night when 5-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly announced that he would be committing to Oregon, choosing to play his college ball in Eugene rather than travel further down south to join Lincoln Riley and the USC Trojans.

After almost looking past the Ducks in his top-5 back in December, Conerly was obviously drawn to the program by Dan Lanning and Adrian Klemm, and a last-second visit to the Oregon campus over the past weekend looked to have sealed the deal.

With the commitment, the Ducks now have the No. 1 recruiting class in the Pac-12 for 2022, and the No. 16 class in the nation.

Conerly also takes the throne as Oregon’s highest-ranked offensive line recruit in school history, replacing Kinglsey Suamataia and Penei Sewell. However, where does he rank when it comes to the highest-ranked recruits to ever commit to the Ducks? We took a look…

Note: All recruiting grades according to 247Sports. 

With another recruiting flip, Dan Lanning asserts dominance over Lincoln Riley and USC

When Lincoln Riley went to USC, everyone thought he would dominate recruiting on the west coast. Then Dan Lanning came to Eugene, and everything has turned up Ducks.

There was an expectation that the Oregon Ducks were going to land 4-star cornerback Jahlil Florence back in January. He had previously committed to come to Eugene, but after the previous coaching staff left, decided to open up his options. Dan Lanning getting Florence back to Oregon was a major win, but nothing too shocking.

Nobody can say they saw this coming.

On Friday evening, the Ducks landed 5-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly, the No. 1 lineman in the 2022 class. Conerly was said to be a lock to the USC Trojans, with On3 giving him a 98% chance to land in Los Angeles as recently as this week.

Instead, Lanning convinced him to come to the Ducks, and he will be lining up for them starting this fall.

While is is a massive win for the current roster, it is even a bigger victory when it comes to asserting dominance on the west coast in the recruiting world. With only a few months to work after coming over from Georgia, Lanning as planted his flag in Eugene and made it known that they are after some of the top talent in the nation, and capable of landing them.

When Lincoln Riley went to USC, people thought that the Trojans would take over as the premiere place for talent to land on the west coast. Lanning had other ideas.

If you’re a blue-chip prospect who is considering a future out west, the Ducks are going to be after you. And if we’ve seen anything so far, it’s that they will likely have a good chance to land you as well.

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Breaking: 5-star OT Josh Conerly commits to Oregon Ducks, spurning USC Trojans

Josh Conerly to Oregon. Flipped from USC Trojans late. Massive win for Dan Lanning over Lincoln Riley once again.

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It certainly wasn’t predicted to happen, but the Oregon Ducks scored a massive win over the USC Trojans on Friday night with the surprising flip of 5-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly.

Conerly, who was predicted by many to commit to the Trojans, instead announced that he would be joining Dan Lanning and the Ducks, staying a little bit closer to his home of Seattle next year.

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Conerly came into the day as the highest-ranked unsigned player left in the 2022 class, and with his addition, Oregon’s once 24th-ranked recruiting class now sits at No. 16 in the nation, per 247Sports, sitting just behind the Miami Hurricanes.

The commitment of Conerly comes as such a surprise because many crystal ball projections had him as a near-lock to land in Los Angeles. However, the 5-star OT who ranks as the No. 15 overall player in the class took a last-minute trip to Eugene this past weekend and was apparently swayed enough by Lanning and OL coach Adrien Klemm to change his decision.

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This is the second huge recruiting win over Lincoln Riley and the Trojans for Lanning, who also scored the commitment of 4-star cornerback Jahlil Florence earlier this year. Florence is a San Diego native who was strongly considering USC after Mario Cristobal left for Miami, but Lanning convinced him to come up to Eugene anyway.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

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2023 defensive tackle Tevita Pome’e commits to Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks picked up their second commitment for the class of 2023 from three-star defensive tackle Tevita Pome’e out of Utah.

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The Oregon Ducks officially secured their second commitment in the recruiting class of 2023, following an announcement on Friday from Layton Christian Academy (Utah) defensive tackle Tevita Pome’e.

Pome’e took an unofficial visit to Eugene back in January, and was impressed by the new staff and the scheme they run on the defensive side of the ball.

“I felt really good when I went up there with my family and just seeing how everything works within the team and getting to experience their new staff was awesome,” Pome’e told 247Sports. “They told me about their defensive scheme and shared where they would put me as a big defensive tackle and nose guard. The coaches ran some plays for me and they broke things down with my movements.”

Pome’e is a three-star prospect and comes in at No. 71 among defensive tackles and No. 7 in the state of Utah for the class of 2023.

Pome’e joins four-star cornerback Cole Martin as the first two commits in next year’s class.

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No. 1 player in Oregon includes Ducks in his recent recruiting cut-down

Dan Lanning has emphasized the importance of keeping Oregon talent in-state. So far so good with the recruitment of Riley Williams.

One of the big things that new Oregon Ducks head coach Dan Lanning has tried to emphasize early in his tenure in Eugene is the fact that they need to do everything they can to recruit their home state first. That means finding the best talent in Oregon, and not letting them go elsewhere.

Early returns are good, with Riley Williams, the No. 6-ranked tight end in the 2023 class, listing the Ducks in his top-8 this past week.

Williams, who stands at 6-foot-6, 230 pounds, is the No. 96 overall player in the 2023 class, and No. 1 player in the state of Oregon. He plays for Central Catholic, in Portland, and has made visits to Eugene before.

Riley Williams’ Recruiting Profile

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 4 0.9556 OR TE
Rivals 4 5.8 OR TE
ESPN 4 86 OR TE
On3 Recruiting 4 93.05 OR TE
247 Composite 4 93 OR TE

Vitals

Hometown Portland, Oregon
Projected Position Tight End
Height 6-foot-6
Weight 230 pounds
Class 2023

Recruitment

  • Offered on February 23, 2021

Top-8

Film

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Last-second visit to Eugene has Oregon in the hunt for late flip of 5-star recruit Josh Conerly

5-star OT Josh Conerly reportedly took a last-second visit to Eugene this past weekend, raising some eyebrows ahead of his April 8 commitment.

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When it comes to the recruitment of five-star offensive tackle Josh Conerly, the top unsigned offensive player in the 2022 class, all signs point toward the USC Trojans being the eventual landing spot of the elite lineman from Washington.

However, a late development has the Oregon Ducks popping up as a potential spoiler for the Trojans when Conerly announces his commitment on Friday, April 8.

According to 247Sports Brandon Huffman, Conerly took an unofficial visit to see Dan Lanning and the Ducks this weekend, which raises a few eyebrows heading into the final days of his recruitment.

One major Pac-12 contender is Oregon, which hosted Conerly for his fourth official visit, hosting him in mid-March. Reports started to surface on Sunday that Conerly took a last-minute unofficial visit to Eugene, and we confirmed with sources close to the recruitment that Conerly was in fact in Eugene this past weekend.

The Ducks weren’t even going to be in Conerly’s top five when he was set to release it on New Year’s Day but he delayed the release till the day of All-American Bowl registration and did a top six, that included the Ducks. That gave new head coach Dan Lanning and new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm a chance to work on Conerly and get the Ducks back squarely in the mix.

The fact that he visited this past weekend is certainly a big storyline added to the mix.

We will see if the last-minute trip to Eugene was enough to sway Conerly’s decision away from the Trojans, but it was at least enough to get the attention of some recruiting experts across the nation.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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Breaking: 5-star DL Lebbeus Overton commits to Texas A&M over Oregon Ducks

5-star DL Lebbeus Overton passed on the Ducks. The silver lining is that Oregon was one of the final options in the first place.

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It was certainly the expected outcome, but that doesn’t make it any less of a bummer for fans of the Oregon Ducks.

On Friday afternoon, 5-star defensive lineman Lebbeus Overton announced that he will be committing to the Texas A&M Aggies, choosing to go to College Station rather than up to the Pacific Northwest to join Dan Lanning.

Schools like the Georgia Bulldogs, Oklahoma Sooners, and Ohio State Buckeyes were also in the mix coming down the stretch.

Overton is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 5 DL in the 2022 class, and the No. 18 player overall. He was originally a member of the 2023 recruiting class but reclassified to 2022 earlier this year.

Though Texas A&M was thought to be a heavy favorite going into the announcement, Oregon was definitely in the running to land one of the best-unsigned players in the 2022 class. Overton’s relationship with Dan Lanning is reportedly strong, and he seriously considered coming out to Oregon to join the Ducks in Lanning’s first year with the team.

While it didn’t end up that way, we can feel confident about the fact that Oregon was even in the running for a player like Overton, and that in the future, more players of his status will consider coming to the Ducks.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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Mookie Cook clarifies his recruiting class and when he will join the Oregon Ducks

In an interview with @AndrewNemec, Oregon’s Mookie Cook clarified that he will be staying in the 2023 class and not joining the Ducks this season.

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The thrilling news for Oregon Duck fans that 5-star SF Mookie Cook had committed to join Dana Altman’s squad was briefly overshadowed by the report that he would be reclassifying from the 2023 class and joining the Ducks in 2022.

The original report came from The Athletic, which said that Cook had decided to leave high school a year early and join the Ducks this fall. However, Cook went on 1080TheFan with Andrew Nemec, the Director of Recruiting at SBLive Sports, and clarified that he will not be reclassified, and will stay in the class of 2023, where he is the No. 4 ranked player overall.

Cook is just the second member of Oregon’s 2023 recruiting class, where West Linn’s Jackson Shelstad stood as the lone member until Thursday. Shelstad is a 6-foot point guard who is ranked as a 4-star player, the No. 1 prospect in the state of Oregon.

Contact/Follow us @Ducks_Wire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinion.

Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.

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Commitment from 5-star Mookie Cook skyrockets Oregon Ducks near top of 2023 recruiting rankings

The Oregon Ducks were ranked No. 13 in the 2023 recruiting rankings before Mookie Cook committed. They skyrocketed after his announcement.

The Oregon Ducks landed a massive commitment on Thursday afternoon, signaling a huge win for Dana Altman and his coaching staff.

5-star small forward Mookie Cook announced that he would be coming home to the state of Oregon and playing for the Ducks in 2023.

Cook, who plays for Compass Prep in Chandler, Arizona, is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 4 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class. With him now committing to the Ducks, Oregon’s prospects for next season have gone through the roof.

At the start of the day on Thursday, the Ducks sat at No. 13 in the national recruiting rankings, with just 4-star PG Jackson Shelstad — the No. 1 player in Oregon — committed thus far. With the addition of Cook, they now stand as the No. 2 class in the nation, behind only the Duke Blue Devils.

Here is a look at the rest of the top-10 as it stands now, per 247Sports: