4-star ATH Arlis Boardingham announces Top-2 of Oregon Ducks, Florida Gators

Boardingham is expected to visit the Oregon Ducks this coming weekend, which will likely play a big part in his final decision.

A day after 4-star CB Jahlil Florence announced that he was down to a decision between the Oregon Ducks and USC Trojans, 4-star ATH Arlis Boardingham joined the mix, releasing a top-2 that includes both the Ducks and the Florida Gators.

Boardinham, who is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound athlete from Van Nuys, California, was scheduled to visit the Eugene campus this past weekend but had to delay the visit a week, and will instead be coming next weekend.

Boardingham is listed by 247 Sports as the 30th best athlete in the nation and No. 478 overall.

The Gators have been recruiting Boardingham hard as of late as National Signing Day draws nearer, going out to California to visit him in his home this past week. However, Duck fans should feel confident that Boardingham included them in his top-2 despite missing last week’s visit.

If there’s anything that Oregon holds as a trump card over 99% of schools, it’s the facilities. Time and again, we see recruits leave their visits with the Ducks and rave about how amazing it was to see the stadium, the sports performance center, and all of the uniforms up close. Will the same be true for Boardingham? We’ll have to wait and see next weekend.

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4-star CB Jahlil Florence narrows list to Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans

One of the best unsigned recruits in the nation, 4-star CB Jahlil Florence, is deciding between the Oregon Ducks and the USC Trojans.

As National Signing Day inches closer, one of the premier unsigned players in the nation, 4-star CB Jahlil Florence, is narrowing his list of potential schools to just two.

The Oregon Ducks made the cut.

On Sunday evening, Florence, who is the No. 18 CB in the 2022 class, the No. 154 player overall, announced that he is down to two choices in his recruiting, with the Ducks joined by the USC Trojans. Florence was committed to Oregon back in 2021 but decided to open up his recruitment when former Ducks’ head coach Mario Cristobal departed for the Miami Hurricanes.

Florence’s Lincoln High School teammate, Jalil Tucker, signed with the Ducks in the early signing period back in December, and Oregon has been recruiting Florence hard ever since.

National Signing Day is still a couple of weeks away, but we now know that the Ducks stand among the finalists to land this elite prospect out of San Diego. Now it’s time for the final push from Lanning and his team.

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Recruiting Party: An updated list of highly-rated prospects visiting the Oregon Ducks this weekend

This is shaping up to be the biggest recruiting weekend of the Dan Lanning era at Oregon, with numerous highly-rated prospects coming to Eugene.

The recruiting dead period ended before last weekend, and Dan Lanning’s staff has certainly hit the ground running as National Signing Day approaches in early February.

While the lights of Autzen Stadium were shining through the dense night fog a week ago, we can expect to see some more fireworks come from the Oregon campus this weekend, as the Ducks get set to host some of the best recruits in the nation on both official and unofficial visits over the coming days.

To keep track of all the players that will be flocking to Eugene, we put together a list of the names that you need to know. As unofficial visits aren’t tracked anywhere, we had to rely on social media for a lot of the confirmations, which makes it possible that a few players may show up that we were originally unaware of. Nonetheless, here are the guys that we know will be coming to see Dan Lanning and the Oregon campus in the coming days.

Jaden Rashada, No. 5 QB in 2023 class, schedules visit to see Oregon Ducks

Jadan Rashada, the No. 5 QB in the 2023 recruiting class, is coming to Eugene for a visit this weekend.

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A week ago, one of the best defensive linemen in the 2023 recruiting class made a visit to Eugene to meet with Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks’ coaching staff. This coming week, it will be one of the best quarterbacks in the class doing the same thing.

Jaden Rashada, a 4-star quarterback from Pittsburgh High School in California, announced on Twitter that he would be visiting the campus this weekend and meeting with the coaching staff. Rashada is currently ranked as the 5th best QB in the 2023 class, and the No. player nationally.

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To get fans even more excited, we can point out that his 247 Sports recruiting grade of 0.9812 is slightly higher than that of Ty Thompson’s (0.9808) who stands as the highest-rated QB recruit in school history.

The Ducks are set to host a ton of high-end talent on one of the biggest recruiting weekends of the year, so keep your eyes peeled as more updates continue to pour in.

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Oregon Ducks zero in on 3-star RB Andrew Paul, the fastest-rising prospect in the nation

The Oregon Ducks have offered and visited 3-star RB Andrew Paul, who is described as the ‘fastest-rising prospect’ in the nation.

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For everything you could possibly want to know about the monumental rise three-star running back Andrew Paul has experienced over the past month, check out this piece from The Athletic’s Ari Wasserman.

He’s described as an SEC player who has been overlooked by recruiting rankings. He rushed for 2,616 rushing yards and 41 touchdowns in his senior season with Parish Episcopal School in Texas, leading it to a state championship. He has been described as a Bo Jackson Lite who will make whichever college gets him very happy.

The Oregon Ducks extended him an offer on Jan. 13, and head coach Dan Lanning flew to the Lone Star State over the weekend to meet with him, accompanied by running backs coach Carlos Locklyn.

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It’s a potentially big meeting for Lanning and the Ducks, who have seen their depth at the RB position,  which was the strongest on the team, wane over the past couple of weeks.

Last week, Travis Dye entered the transfer portal, which came as a shock to many. On Tuesday, Trey Benson announced his transfer to Florida State. We are still unsure about the future of CJ Verdell, who could stay in the 2022 NFL draft or return to Oregon for one final season. In other words, the future of Oregon’s RB spot is up in the air.

Byron Cardwell, Sean Dollars and Seven McGee are back for certain. But should Verdell leave and Dye choose a landing spot other than Eugene, that’s a thin depth chart. It looks a lot better if Paul commits to Oregon.

We know Lanning and his staff are trying to make that happen. With a few weeks before national signing day arrives, Paul is one of the bigger names to watch in Oregon recruiting circles.

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2023 5-star forward Mookie Cook lists Oregon Ducks in top-9

Mookie Cook is a 5-star SF and the No. 4 player in the 2023 class. The Oregon native cut his list to 9 on Tuesday and included the Ducks.

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The two main storylines dominating Oregon Ducks sporting circles over the past couple of weeks are recruiting and basketball. If you merge those two things together, this story fits perfectly.

Coming fresh off of a pair of top-5 ranked wins over UCLA and USC, Dana Altman scored another small victory on Tuesday morning with 2023 5-star small forward, Mookie Cook, included the Ducks in his top-9.

Cook is a 6-foot-7, 200 pound forward out of Compass Prep in Chandler, Arizona, and is ranked as the No. 4 player in the 2023 recruiting class. Along with Oregon, Cook is also considering Arizona, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Memphis, Michigan, Texas Tech, and UCLA.

Cook is also teammates with Kylan Boswell, a 5-star PG who recently included the Ducks in his top-8. 

While Cook plays for Compass Prep, he is an Oregon native from the Jefferson area. According to 247 Sports, he has an official visit scheduled to Eugene in early February.

The Ducks have gotten a solid jump on the 2023 recruiting class, where they’ve already received a verbal commitment from Jackson Shelstad, a 4-star PG out of West Linn, OR.

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QUACK: Ducks secure commitment from 3-star Justius Lowe, No. 4 player in Oregon

One of the best players in Oregon is staying close to home. Lake Oswego’s 3-star ATH Justius Lowe committed to the Oregon Ducks in the 2022 class.

Dan Lanning and the Oregon Ducks secured a great commitment on Tuesday evening, with Lake Oswego star Justius Lowe announcing that he would be coming a couple of hours south on I-5 to play in Eugene.

Lowe, who is a 3-star ATH that is ranked as the 4th best player in the state of Oregon, recently de-committed from the Utah Utes and decided to open up his recruitment once again. It didn’t take long for him to find a new home and decide to stay in the state.

Lowe is ranked as the No. 55 athlete in the nation, No. 832 overall. He holds offers from some other big-name schools, including Notre Dame, Arizona State, Florida and USC.

What will be interesting to see is how the Ducks plan to use him in 2022 and beyond. Lowe has experience playing as both a receiver and in the secondary, but he was recruited primarily by Oregon offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham and wide receiver’s coach Junio Adams.

If the Ducks do end up sticking him on offense, it will be a huge help for the depth at the WR position. Regardless of where he lines up, though, it’s great for the Ducks to be keeping one of the best Oregon players in-state.

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WR Chase Cota, son of Oregon legend Chad Cota, to transfer from UCLA Bruins

As the son of Oregon legend Chad Cota, WR Chase Cota could likely be a target for the Ducks after entering the transfer portal and leaving UCLA.

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It feels like you can make an argument that just about every player to enter the transfer portal nowadays has a connection to the Oregon Ducks, and is potentially a target to be recruited to Eugene. When you have the reach that Dan Lanning and his staff do, as well as the legacy that Oregon has on the west coast, it’s hard to argue against, though.

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That is certainly true for one of the newest additions to the NCAA Transfer Portal. UCLA Bruins wide receiver Chase Cota announced over the weekend that he will be leaving the Los Angeles area and looking for a new school. Cota, who was a 4-star prospect coming from South Medford High School back in 2018, has a unique tie to the Ducks.

His dad, Chad Cota, is Oregon royalty. He was inducted into the Ducks’ Hall of Fame in 2012 after a career that left him being described as the “backbone of the ‘Gang Green’ defense” back in the early 1990s, paving the way for Oregon’s first Rose Bowl appearance in 37 years. Cota went on to have a successful NFL career with the Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts, and Saint Louis Rams.

So it’s safe to say that Chase Cota would be a recognized name if he were to come to Eugene. Heck, the Ducks heavily recruited him when he was coming out of high school and held offers from Alabama, Cal, Georgia, Louisville, Notre Dame, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Utah, and several others. it even led to this remarkable recruiting graphic from the Ducks’ which featured him lining up against his dad out on the numbers.

The Ducks don’t go to that length for everyone, nor do they have the opportunity to.
From an X’s and O’s standpoint, recruiting Cota to Oregon makes a ton of sense, as well. The Ducks are currently thin at the wide receiver, and could desperately use the experience of a veteran pass-catcher who has 883 yards and 6 touchdowns in his 4 years with the Bruins.
We will see how heavily Oregon ends up recruiting Cota to come back to Eugene, but it is undoubtedly a story that would have Duck fans fired up about their newest player on the outside.
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No. 3 player in Hawaii, Kawika Rogers, commits to Oregon for 2022 class

Kawika Rogers, the No. 3 player in Hawaii for the 2022 recruiting class, has announced his commitment to the Oregon Ducks.

The Oregon Ducks landed a big—quite literally— commitment on Monday afternoon, with OT Kawika Rogers announcing that he would be coming to Eugene in the 2022 class.

Rodgers, who stands at 6-foot-6, 327 pounds, is the No. 3 prospect from the state of Hawaii and is coming off of a state championship win at Kapaa High School.

Oregon has two offensive line commitments in the class of 2022, as Rogers joins December signee and California product Michael Wooten (6-foot-6, 290 pounds).

Before committing to the Ducks, Rodgers also had offers from Arizona State, Fresno State, and Hawaii. He will now come in and join an Oregon offensive line that is returning 4 of 5 starters from 2021, but will provide some great depth.

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Justius Lowe, 3-star ATH from Lake Oswego, de-commits from Utah Utes

Lake Oswego’s Justius Lowe, the No. 4 player in Oregon, has de-committed from Utah. Will we see Dan Lanning and Co. try to bring him to the Ducks?

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After the early signing period, the Utah Utes had what was considered one of the better recruiting classes in the Pac-12, ranked No. 3 in the conference. Unfortunately for the reigning Pac-12 champions, one of their higher-rated recruits has recently de-committed and will be opening up his options again going forward.

Justius Lowe, a 3-star ATH from Lake Oswego, Oregon, recently took a visit to Utah once the recruiting period opened back up and announced that he would be reconsidering just days later. This is an interesting player for the Oregon Ducks coaching staff to consider, not only because of his proximity to the school but also because he has been offered by the Ducks but was recruited by the previous coaching staff.

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Would Dan Lanning and his staff consider going after Lowe aggressively now that he is opening back up his recruitment?

Lowe is considered the No. 4 player in the state of Oregon, and the No. 55 ATH in the nation—No. 832 overall. He currently holds offers from some other big-name schools, including Notre Dame, Arizona State, Florida, and USC.

We’ve seen over the past week how aggressive Lanning’s staff can get when they set their sites on a recruit. Look no further than how close of contact they’ve kept with 4-star CB Jahlil Florence.

Could we see the same type of treatment for Oregon’s own Justius Lowe? It’s unclear how badly they want him, if at all, just yet. But if Lanning sets his sites on a player, you know they’ll go full force in trying to get him.

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