JACKSONVILLE, Fla. The Rivals Five-Star, the marquee high school football event of the summer, has arrived. On Tuesday, the 100 prospects set to compete at the Jacksonville Jaguars’ facility rolled through media day.
National Recruiting Analyst Marshall Levenson sorts through some of the biggest news coming out of the event.
LSU commit Keylan Moses at Five-Star https://t.co/vGkMeA3HFj pic.twitter.com/GdHqjdAcd7
Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) June 25, 2024
Moses has been committed to LSU since late November and the Tigers have remained in a comfortable position, but things may be shifting for the Baton Rouge native. This summer, Moses took official visits to Texas A&M and Oregon, both of which were major successes.
The Ducks may be the team to watch if Moses is truly looking around. Dan Lanning left a big impression on the 6-foot-2, 210-pound inside backer. The effort that Lanning has poured into recruiting guys himself left Moses convinced the Oregon coach was among the elite in the country. Moses has not yet taken an official visit LSU, so the door could be open.
The Homestead, Fla., four-star prospect has taken five official visits this summer, but only three of them came out feeling good about their chances. Mills was all smiles talking about Oklahoma, Clemson and LSU as the standouts this summer. Those three programs are likely to remain the final contenders down the stretch.
Mills recently declared Clemson the leader in his recruitment, and while there has some buzz around Oklahoma, Dabo Swinney and his program may have the best footing moving forward.
Much of the buzz around Pettijohn’s recruitment in recent months has been around the Texas Longhorns, but the feeling coming out of Five-Star has us feeling better around Ohio State and USC following his official visits.
As the month of June closes out, he says schools are even. Pettijohn expects to have a decision made the first week of July.
Rivals250 WR Travis Smith Jr. says the race tightened up after official visits to Auburn, Georgia, Tennessee and AlabamaHe’s gaining clarity on the decision as July 13 nears. More: https://t.co/dmcLeaTyHM @travis_smith_jr pic.twitter.com/1lRSodWFv4
Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) June 25, 2024
Being one of the top prospects in the state of Georgia, Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs have commanded much of the attention in this recruitment. But Smith Jr. talked through his official visits and it appears that Alabama and Tennessee were the winners as the dust settles. Smith Jr. even added that Tennessee was his favorite official visit.
There have been five FutureCasts logged for Georgia to land his commitment, but there is a true battle taking place for the 6-foot-4, 203-pound wideout.
Rivals250 DT Malik Autry is back from a busy month of June and the recent visit to Ohio State was an eye-openerStory: https://t.co/QaECYTkYDy pic.twitter.com/7XqL3zwS3b
Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) June 25, 2024
Autry is one of the longest-tenured commits in the class of 2025, having been committed to Auburn since February 2023. There may be some interesting twists and turns coming up as Ohio State has come on strong following an official visit this month.
Buckeyes star quarterback commit Tavien St. Clair also spoke about Autry and their pursuit to add the 6-foot-6, 320-pounder to their class. This recruitment will be one to keep an eye on as the season approaches.
There is a quickly approaching commitment date of July 18 for the Newberry, Fla., four-star defensive tackle. There has been plenty of the buzz about him staying home in Florida, but after the swing of Big Ten visits, there is a chance he leaves the state. The feeling out of Five-Star is Ohio State and Penn State are in tier one of the contenders.
Ohio State, Penn State, Miami, UCF and Florida are the final group of contenders for Carter.
Rivals250 WR Taz Williams Jr. is back from four official visits in June and the race is tightening upWilliams shares the latest: https://t.co/DYivxNWiU2 pic.twitter.com/SvdVxcbSxH
Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) June 25, 2024
Taz Williams Jr. has been at Red Oak High School in the Dallas area for his entire high school career, but he is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Williams Jr. remains close to the area which has driven Penn State to being a major contender for the Rivals250 prospect, who will commit on July 13.
Texas A&M is certainly in the thick of it as is Michigan, but the Nittany Lions were admittedly a surprise for how impressive they were on his official visit. Early playing time and relationships with the staff are the driving factors as a potential favorite in his recruitment.
Singleton has been committed to SMU since the start of the season in 2023. As of right now, he remains locked in with the Mustangs, but with some recent movement in their 2025 class, there may be some who have a chance to flip. Singleton was open that Miami, Baylor and Texas A&M were after him and have stood out with their efforts.
The ultra-productive Desoto wideout says he is in the process of scheduling official visits to Miami and Baylor when the visit period opens again. There have been several unofficial visits to Texas A&M and they will also be in line for an official visit.
Sanford (Fla.) Seminole rising senior lineman Max Buchanan has now set a verbal commitment date of Aug. 3. The top-10 guard has a final group of Clemson, Florida State, Miami, Ole Miss, Penn State and UCF, and has spent time at each campus of late.
Buchanan highlighted some non-football related perks at both Miami and Penn State that left an impression on him. The food and culture in Miami as well as off-the-field hobbies such as fly-fishing at Penn State.
Things could get very interesting for the longtime Alabama pledge. Rogers, the No. 1 all-purpose back in the 2025 class plans to take four official visit during the fall. Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, and Ohio State will all get a shot at him. The Tide will obviously be looking to hold onto his commitment while the others will be aiming to take one from the Tide’s grasp.
Despite being committed to Alabama for more than a year, he is taking an open approach in the final stretch of his recruitment to finish out the year. He is committed as of now, but there is no guarantee he will finish as a member of Alabama’s class.
Editors Note: This article first appeared on Rivals.com, the leader in college football and basketball recruiting coverage. Be the first to know and follow your teams by signing up here.