Dylan Raiola is ranked the No. 1 football recruit in the class of 2024, but he may be the best in the entire nation regardless of class. He is ranked a perfect 1.0000 by the 247Sports Composite, a rarefied air that only a handful of players have graduated with. Now, with his decommitment from Ohio State, he is back on the market.
News broke by several outlets on Saturday morning that Raiola has chosen to re-open his recruitment and back off the Ohio State Buckeyes commit, which he had made on May 9. His father, former NFL player Dominic Raiola, told 274Sports that “everything is back on the table” and the process is “almost like it’s restarting.”
Who can pull the 6-foot-3, 220 pound quarterback?
Raiola visited Oregon, Georgia, Ohio State, USC and Clemson in early 2022, according to on3, a recruiting outlet that predicted at the time that Ohio State and USC led the way. Hook ‘Em Headlines also reported he visited Texas in April, while on3 said in October that he visited Nebraska.
SportsGrid’s Ben Stevens pointed out that the QB’s uncle, Donovan Raiola, was retained on the Nebraska coaching staff, potentially giving the program a leg-up and playing into the junior’s recent visit to the program.
Raiola has 26 total offers, and as his father said, “It’s not close off to anybody.” Most of the major football programs have offered him, meaning schools like Alabama, Florida State, Notre Dame, Michigan and TCU — in addition to the aforementioned programs (though Clemson has not officially offered, per 247) — have a shot.
As for the two major in-state programs, he has only received an offer from University of Arizona, about two hours from his home. Though the Wildcats failed to reach a bowl this season, their 5-7 season was a success after winning one game over the previous two seasons combined.
It will be interesting to see if the new Arizona State University coaching staff puts their logo into the ring as well. New head coach Kenny Dillingham, also a local product, has had a groundswell of support from Arizona high school players and alumni, and Sun Devil Source noted that he nabbed as many transfers from Arizona high schools in one week as previous head coach Herm Edwards did in four years. If he turns the program around on the back of in-state recruiting, Raiola would be a crowning gem.
Raiola burst onto scene as a sophomore at Chandler (Ariz.) High School, leading the team to a championship game appearance after passing for 3,341 yards, 32 touchdowns and five interceptions. He had about 100 fewer passes as a junior, throwing for 2,435 yards to go with 22 touchdowns and five interceptions.
With one season left, Raiola will look to prove he’s one of the best recruits in recent years and try to lead Chandler to a title. All the while, schools will be paying attention and vying for his talents — which will he choose?