The first full week of June brought about plenty of recruiting activity across the country, both with high-end prospects and high-profile programs.
Let’s take a look at some of the most notable events.
Note: All rankings are per the 247Sports Composite.
1. The biggest move of the offseason coaching carousel — and one of the biggest ever — was Kalen DeBoer replacing Nick Saban at Alabama. DeBoer has proven himself on the field, at multiple levels of the sport, but there were obvious questions about how he would do on the recruiting trail. DeBoer spent two seasons at Washington, and neither of his two full classes, in the 2023 and 2024 cycles, ranked in the top 25.
We won’t have a full assessment of DeBoer’s recruiting at Alabama until December, but the Crimson Tide’s first-year head coach is off to a great start.
Over the past 10 days, Alabama has garnered commitments from two prospects who are ranked in the top 150 nationally and a third who is in the top 200. First, DeBoer flipped four-star quarterback Keelon Russell from SMU. Then, four-star corner Chuck McDonald committed this weekend. And Monday morning, four-star offensive lineman Michael Carroll announced his pledge to the Tide.
— Keelon “Dot em” Russell (@Pres1dential) June 4, 2024
DeBoer has a great track record with quarterbacks, so it’s not a big surprise he was able to attract a top-50 national prospect like Russell to run his offense.
McDonald is a Southern California prospect. The Crimson Tide also hold a pledge from four-star linebacker Abduall Sanders Jr., McDonald’s teammate at Mater Dei in Santa Ana, Calif. Alabama is still in the mix for five-star corner Dijon Lee Jr., who is the top-rated prospect in California, so DeBoer is still using his ties to the West Coast.
Carroll, the No. 186 overall player in the class, is a Pennsylvania product. His father, Michael, played for Penn State, but Alabama’s appeal is still strong post-Saban.
The Crimson Tide’s 2025 class ranks third nationally, and their average player rating is 93.59, which ranks fourth. That’s impressive for a coach who is an SEC newcomer.
2. Ohio State has had the best class in the country for a while but officially grabbed the No. 1 spot in the 247Sports Composite rankings over the weekend. The commitment of four-star safety Faheem Delane pushed Ohio State past Notre Dame, which held the top ranking for a couple of months.
Delane is the No. 34 overall prospect in the country and the third top-50 defensive back in Ohio State’s class, joining corners Devin Sanchez and Na’eem Offord. So it’s been a tremendous cycle for Buckeyes secondary coach Tim Walton, who plucked Sanchez from Texas, Offord from Alabama and Delane from Maryland.
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Ohio State now has an average player rating of 95.14, which is more than a point higher than Oregon’s, which is second at 94.00.
3. A week ago, Rutgers shot up the national rankings with a flurry of commitments — 10, to be exact. This past week, another Big Ten program did the same. Minnesota moved up 21 spots — from 40th to 19th — after picking up 11 commitments over four days.
P.J. Fleck has a good track record of developing receivers so it should be no surprise the headliner of this recent wave was four-star wideout and Florida native Bradley Martino, who was committed to Toledo but recently reopened his commitment. Martino is the second blue-chip prospect in the Golden Gophers’ class.
Fleck’s highest-ranked class during his time at Minnesota is No. 36, in the 2024 cycle. We’ll see if he can improve upon that with the 2025 class.
4. Following the departure of Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12, there is some obvious curiosity as to which program can rise to the top of the Big 12’s recruiting food chain. TCU seems like it’s well-positioned to do so.
Sunday, the Horned Frogs received a commitment from four-star offensive tackle Logan Schram. Earlier this month, during the first week of summer official visits, four-star edge rusher Chad Woodfork committed to TCU. Woodfork is a top-100 prospect and one of three blue-chippers in the Horned Frogs’ class.
TCU didn’t receive a recruiting bump after appearing in the national championship game in 2022. In fact, its 2024 class (34th nationally) ranked lower than its 2023 class (21st). Sonny Dykes has the Horned Frogs sitting in a good spot right now — 16th nationally and second in the Big 12. Arizona State is No. 1 among Big 12 teams, but the Sun Devils have four more commitments and a lower average player rating than TCU.
5. Brent Key had a solid first season as Georgia Tech’s head coach, leading the Yellow Jackets to their first winning record and bowl appearance since 2018. His first full recruiting class ranked 33rd nationally and was one of the program’s best over the last 15 years.
That momentum has carried over to the 2025 cycle. The Yellow Jackets reeled in six commitments over the weekend, headlined by four-star corner Dalen Penson, a Georgia native who ranks No. 148 nationally. If Penson signs with Georgia Tech — and his ranking holds — he would be the highest-ranked recruit of Key’s tenure. He joins offensive lineman Justin Hasenhuetl as the two blue-chippers in the Jackets’ 2025 class.
Georgia Tech has 12 commitments, including nine in-state prospects. It’s clear that Key is emphasizing the state of Georgia.
6. As mentioned earlier, Rutgers was super active last week when it landed 10 commitments. Those were all three-star prospects, and none ranked in the top 400 nationally. The Scarlet Knights then elevated the talent level of the class the past few days
Sunday, Rutgers landed four-star safety Tariq Hayer, the No. 165 overall prospect in the country. Monday, four-star offensive lineman Joshua Blackston committed to the Scarlet Knights. Two of Rutgers’ three highest-rated commits are O-linemen. N’Kye Wynn is a three-star prospect and the No. 438 overall player in the class — not very far from blue-chip status. These are some very impressive additions for Greg Schiano and his staff.
Elsewhere …
• To no one’s surprise, the elite talent keeps flowing into Georgia’s program. Over the past week, the Bulldogs have added a blue-chip talent to every level of their defense — top-150 defensive lineman Christian Garrett, five-star linebacker Zayden Walker and four-star athlete/safety Todd Robinson. Georgia’s class has moved up to sixth nationally and is behind only Alabama in the SEC.
• USC is a program in desperate need of more talent along its defensive front. In this cycle, the Trojans have commitments from three top-100 prospects — D-linemen Justus Terry and Isaiah Gibson and linebacker Matai Tagoa’i. That’s a solid foundation for the Trojans’ new defensive staff, and they added to it this weekend with the commitment of four-star defensive lineman Hayden Lowe, ranked No. 242 overall. USC’s class now ranks fifth nationally.
• Lance Leipold signed just three blue-chip prospects in his first three full recruiting cycles as Kansas’ coach — all during the 2024 cycle — so it’s still pretty significant when the Jayhawks land one. Sunday, four-star offensive lineman Juju Marks announced his commitment to Kansas, giving the program its first blue-chip prospect of the cycle. Marks was committed to Missouri at one time last year.
• Penn State added a commitment from four-star corner Daryus Dixson out of Mater Dei on Monday morning. Dixson is the first top-100 prospect in the Nittany Lions’ class. It’s an interesting venture out West for Penn State, which hasn’t signed a high school player from California since the 2014 cycle (linebacker Koa Farmer). That was James Franklin’s first recruiting class with the program.
• It was an active week for four-star offensive linemen. We mentioned Carroll, Schram and Blackston above, but last week Auburn added Broderick Shull, the No. 192 overall player in the cycle, and Oregon received a commitment from Ziyare Addison, the No. 206 overall player, on Monday morning. Jaelyne Matthews and Shedrick Sarratt Jr. are other blue-chip offensive linemen who are scheduled to commit this week.
• It’s been a slow cycle for Michigan, which is to be expected considering how late the staff turnover took place, but the Wolverines added another piece to their class Monday with the addition of four-star defensive lineman Jaylen Williams, who is ranked 236th overall. The Wolverines already have commitments from four-star defensive linemen Nathaniel Marshall and Bobby Kanka. Marshall is ranked No. 41, just outside of five-star status.
• Texas Tech added a third blue-chip prospect to its 2025 class with the commitment of wide receiver Bryson Jones, No. 378 overall. The Red Raiders have 14 commitments in a class that ranks No. 19 nationally.
(Photo of Kalen DeBoer: Gary Cosby Jr. / Tuscaloosa News / USA Today Network)