Tuesdays with Gorney: Breaking down the 10 biggest commits from the weekend
Over the third weekend of June official visits from Friday through Sunday, 62 prospects committed to Power Four programs. Two weekends ago, there were 54. After the first weekend of June, there were 33.
Things are ramping up as the end of the month gets closer and Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney breaks down the 10 biggest pledge of the weekend in today’s Tuesdays With Gorney.
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Florida snatched the lead in Baker’s recruitment but then after taking a visit to Florida State, it looked like the Seminoles were definitely becoming a threat. That’s why it was important for Florida to land a pledge over the weekend from the four-star running back out of Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes.
Baker is big at 6-foot-2 but has great speed and does not get tackled easily. The Gators have been loading up.
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Beating SEC teams is not easy, especially for a player deep in the heart of SEC country, but that’s exactly what North Carolina did in landing Burns, who had Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi State, Miami and others high on the list.
The Monroe (La.) Neville three-star safety planned to commit in early July but after spending time in Chapel Hill, Burns canceled the remainder of his visit schedule and committed to the Tar Heels over the weekend.
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Auburn and Florida were the two standouts in Daniel’s recruitment and it would have been no surprise if the four-star receiver from Tuskegee (Ala.) Booker T. Washington picked the Tigers.
But he continually was drawn to Florida and chose the Gators over the weekend. That’s a huge win for Florida since Daniel is a big, long, rangy receiver with good hands. He is not planning a return trip to Auburn.
Coach Billy Napier and his staff are on a major recruiting heater now with 10 commitments in June alone and a top-25 class out of nowhere.
Syracuse made a valiant effort to keep the upstate New York four-star receiver home and many others were involved, but Oregon was a front-runner for some time and over the weekend he committed.
The Rochester (N.Y.) James Monroe standout does a little bit of everything from stretching the field deep to lining up in the slot to returning punts to blocking his tail off. The Ducks will find many ways to get him the ball.
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The four-star cornerback from Brownsville (Tenn.) Haywood committed to Vanderbilt in late April but that’s when Georgia and position coach Donte Williams really turned up the heat in his recruitment.
The Bulldogs got him on campus in early June and then it was only a matter of time until he flipped to the SEC power.
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Ili visited programs all across the country and at different times it seemed like Oregon, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and others were under serious consideration but his recruitment came down to USC and UCLA.
The Kahuku, Hawaii, four-star linebacker, who originally played at Orange (Calif.) Lutheran, loved everything about the Bruins – the coaches, how genuine everyone was in Westwood.
But USC turned it up. He had a great bond with director of high school recruiting relations Aaron Amaama and position coach Rob Ryan as the Trojans became the front-runner in the closing weeks.
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Oklahoma and Texas Tech were the two other programs mainly involved in Kirkland’s recruitment but the draw to stay in Waco and play for the hometown team was too much to turn down as Kirkland committed to Baylor over the weekend.
The versatile 2027 four-star from Waco (Texas) University can play centerfield as a safety, can go sideline to sideline and come up and hit when needed.
This recruiting cycle, the Bears went to Waco University for four-star WR London Smith. Kirkland’s commitment only reinforces that connection.
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After his decommitment from Ole Miss earlier this month, Florida looked like a very realistic option for the four-star receiver from Niceville, Fla., with Miami, Mississippi State and Wisconsin the others involved. Landing a commitment from Legree was huge for the Badgers, who had only one player with four receiving touchdowns last season, so someone with his playmaking ability is needed in Madison.
Was this a firm commitment or an overreaction after a great visit weekend? We’ll see if those Southeast teams – including the Gators – give up.
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Texas, LSU and Florida were the final three for the four-star defensive end from Tupelo, Miss., but all signs pointed to the Gators in the last week as McCoy canceled his Texas visit to return to Gainesville.
During a spring visit to Florida, McCoy said he was “lost for words” at how “amazing” the trip was and how he was treated there. That’s when the Gators really turned the corner as a favorite.
In February, Oklahoma State landed a commitment from Stewart and it looked like the high three-star edge rusher from Pearland, Texas, was done with his recruitment. But Stewart started taking visits, was recently at Texas and then Illinois flipped him over the weekend.
The Illini have had success developing edge rushers like him and he fits as an outside linebacker in that scheme. With 10 sacks last season, Stewart is productive. It didn’t hurt that Illinois linebacker coach Archie McDaniel is a Texas native.
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