The summer is now easily the busiest part of the high school recruiting calendar. Prospects are making their decisions quicker than ever on average and commitments have been flowing day in and day out since mid-May.
There was at least one blue-chip commitment — according to the Rivals Industry Ranking — on all 30 days of June. More than 130 blue-chippers came off the board last month, leaving the board looking rather slim heading into football season.
Plenty of schools have been stacking pledges this summer, but who’s really grabbed the headlines heading into July? Rivals names seven schools that have won big on the recruiting trail over the last couple of months.
[$19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage]Texas A&M
It’s only right to start with the team that continues to sit atop the Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings. Texas A&M has been red-hot on the trail all cycle long and Mike Elko’s staff has continued to build a landmark class this summer.
Since May 15, the Aggies have landed 12 more commitments, including two more five-stars in OT Mark Matthews and LB Kaden Henderson. Matthews is the No. 5 overall prospect and No. 1 OT in the nation, while Henderson ranks as the No. 1 LB overall. Henderson committed on June 18, becoming A&M’s sixth five-star pledge this cycle.
Four-star WR Eric McFarland is the newest member of the class and he’s on the cusp of five-star status, checking in at No. 37 overall. Four-star EDGE Frederick Ards III also committed in June, and despite being the No. 62 recruit in the cycle, he’s not even one of the 10 highest-ranked prospects set to head to College Station.
Seven three-stars also committed last month. It’ll take quite the charge from another program to dethrone A&M atop the team rankings this cycle.
Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish have stormed up to No. 2 in the team rankings after doing some serious work on the trail in both May and June. There’s now eight top-100 prospects in the class and five of them have pledged across the last two months.
Five-star OT Olu Olubobola and Rivals five-star DL David Folorunsho pledged within four days of each other in mid-May. The former is the No. 2 tackle in the nation, while the latter is the No. 3 D-lineman. They were each joined by another five-star in their respective position group last month.
Abraham Sesay, the No. 3 EDGE, committed on June 16. Ten days later, Notre Dame won out for Albert Simien, the No. 2 IOL. Four-star WR Julius Jones Jr., the son of former Irish star Julius Jones Sr., was another big recent win for head coach Marcus Freeman.
When Notre Dame has gotten its hat on the table for an announcement this cycle, it has often come out the winner.
Miami
There have already been plenty of consequential flips this cycle and nowhere is that more prevalent than Miami’s current 2027 class — which now ranks No. 3 nationally.
It started on May 9, when five-star CB Donte Wright flipped from Georgia after a lengthy push from the Hurricanes. Eight days later, they flipped top-100 CB Ai’King Hall from Oregon. Wright is the No. 1 recruit in California, while Hall is the No. 1 recruit in Alabama. Both are set to head to Coral Gables.
They’ll be joined by five-star EDGE Jaiden Bryant, who made a surprise flip from LSU on June 3. He’s the nation’s No. 5 EDGE and top-ranked prospect out of South Carolina.
Miami also went to North Carolina to land the No. 5 LB AJ Randle Jr. and went back to Alabama to add Jatori Williams, the No. 9 IOL. Other blue-chippers that have chosen The U over the last six weeks include four-star safety Andre Hyppolite, four-star WR Eli Woodard and four-star LB Noah Glover.
Miami last signed a top-five class in the 2024 cycle. Mario Cristobal and Co. are on track to finish that high this winter.
Oregon
The Rivals Summer Signing Day recruiting special brought two huge commitments for Oregon as four-star CB Hayden Stepp and four-star athlete Tae Walden Jr. both chose the Ducks. Stepp is the nation’s No. 7 corner, while Walden ranks as the No. 3 athlete.
They give head coach Dan Lanning and his staff seven total top-100 commits, four of whom weren’t in the mix before the beginning of June. Last month, the No. 7 WR Dakota Guerrant and No. 6 LB Toa Satele also pledged.
Earlier this week on the Rivals YouTube channel, four-star TE Anthony Cartwright III committed. He and Guerrant both hail from Michigan and now have their sights set on Eugene. North Carolina, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama, Illinois, Kansas and elsewhere are featured in the class.
The Ducks continue to pursue and land top talent from across the country despite the negatives that come from their location in the Pacific Northwest.
Ohio State
After stowing some serious hay in the barn very early on, Ohio State was quieter than usual throughout the spring. It has, to no surprise, turned up the heat as of late.
The Buckeyes closed out June with two monstrous recruiting wins, landing a pair of top-50 prospects in four-star DL Marcus Fakatou and four-star IOL Caden Moss. They beat out Texas and Georgia for Fakatou earlier this week. Ole Miss was trending just days before Moss’ announcement, but he also opted for scarlet and gray in a surprise to some on June 26.
Adding those two potential five-stars vaulted Ohio State back up to No. 5 in the team rankings. June also brought a commitment from four-star CB Deontay Malone, the No. 11 recruit in the state of Ohio, and Rivals four-star CB Jaden Carey. In May, OSU landed top-100 EDGE Wyatt Smith and four-star LB Prince Goldsby, the No. 8 recruit at his position.
Texas
The Longhorns landed the biggest commitment of the summer thus far as Five-Star Plus+ CB John Meredith, the No. 2 overall prospect, chose Texas over Texas A&M on June 19. His decision was one of many that went in favor of Steve Sarkisian and his staff over the last few weeks.
During Rivals Summer Signing Day recruiting special, they picked up another in-state blue-chip cornerback as four-star Brandon Sherrard chose the Horns over LSU and Oklahoma.
June alone featured eight blue-chip commitments for Texas. It went back to the Golden State to land No. 5 DL Kasi Currie, went to Alabama to pluck four-star EDGE JaBarrius Garror and four-star safety Junior Tu’upo, and moseyed around its own state lines to keep the likes of four-star CB Montre Jackson, four-star OT Brian Swanson and four-star WR Briceson Thrower home.
Since May 15, the Longhorns have added 13 pledges to a class that continues to rank inside the top 10 nationally. They’ve accrued an elite group of commitments on the defensive side of the ball this summer. Their main priority now is to keep ahold of five-star WR Easton Royal.
Auburn
The Tigers also received some good news during the Rivals Summer Signing Day recruiting special as four-star EDGE Marquis Evans locked in with Alex Golesh and Co. He’s now the 10th four-star to choose AU since May 15.
Four-star CB Chance Gilbert headlines as the No. 60 recruit and No. 9 corner nationally. He pledged on June 8, six days after elite in-state LB Isaac McNeil did the same. Last month also saw the likes of four-star WR Deshawn Hall, four-star EDGE James Pace and four-star DL Nate Kamba join the fold. All are top-300 prospects.
Auburn really got the ball rolling in May after adding No. 5 OT Layton von Brandt, a former Penn State pledge. He’s now one of four top-100 pledges in the class — which now ranks 11th nationally. Of the 25 commits in the class, 21 have pledged over the last two months.
Despite not yet coaching a game on The Plains, Golesh has the AU faithful excited about the future thanks to the SEC program’s summer surge on the trail.
