Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney is joined by national recruiting analyst Greg Smith, Jed May of UGASports.com and Brandon Drumm of OUInsider.com to tackle three topics and determine whether they believe each statement is FACT or FICTION.
1. Five-star Jonah Williams just released his top seven. Oklahoma is still the team to beat.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. Oklahoma has a very good chance of landing the five-star from Galveston (Texas) Ball especially since he has such a great relationship with so many coaches on staff but I just don’t think there is a team to beat right now in his recruitment.
Jonah Williams has talked about Texas A&M being a draw because it’s closer to home and his family could see him there every weekend and with the Aggies’ coaches pushing much harder that is definitely something to watch. He’s been intrigued by Texas, Ohio State and others. The Sooners are absolutely in a very strong position to land Williams but I’d watch Texas A&M closely especially if more visits are coming up.
Drumm’s take: FACT. I’ll say this: A&M, Ohio State, USC, LSU and Texas have made this quite interesting. Williams wants to be a football and baseball player in college and with A&M getting hot and having a big-time year, it’s made the Aggies more appealing as of late. I’d say they have made the most impression on Williams.
That said, OU took four defensive coaches to see Williams last Tuesday. The Sooners’ staffers also watched Williams’ baseball game. That amount of attention was very apparent and noticeable to Williams and his family. So much so that they are now working on taking another unofficial to Oklahoma in May.
If that visit takes place, it allows the Sooners a chance to remind Williams why he loved OU so much to start and also get him in front of Sooners baseball coach Skip Johnson — who is also having a really strong year winning nine straight at the time of this writing.
Add OU safety coach Brandon Hall and DL coach Todd Bates relationship with Williams and his family and things look good for OU. Just not as sure as it was in February, with other teams making headway since then. Should be a wild recruitment until decision time and as official visits happen in June.
*****
2.
Georgia will end up with both five-star DTs – Justus Terry and Elijah Griffin – in its recruiting class.
Gorney’s take: FACT. I don’t think Elijah Griffin is going far from home – although we could get a better read after his visit to Oregon this weekend – but it sure seems like Georgia has been the front-runner for a long time and there’s no reason to think otherwise. Justus Terry is a little more complicated because the new defensive coaches at USC are a big reason why he chose the Trojans. It is very far from home, though, the Manchester, Ga., has already been committed to the Bulldogs and the feel here is that as things get closer to signing day that Terry could lean more toward Georgia.
May’s take: FACT. I’ve considered Georgia the leader for Griffin for a while. While other schools such as Clemson, Florida State, Oregon, Colorado, and a whole host of others won’t make it easy, the Bulldogs remain my pick there. As for Terry, there is optimism around the Georgia program concerning that recruitment. The Bulldogs hosted him for the spring game and will get his first official visit this summer. The goal on those visits is simple – to remind him why he chose Georgia in the first place. It’ll be a battle until signing day, but ultimately I think Georgia ends up with both of the five-star defensive linemen.
*****
3. After seeing him at an Elite 11 event, an argument could be made Tavien St. Clair is the best QB in the 2025 class.
Gorney’s take: FICTION. There is not much question that Tavien St. Clair is going to move up in the 2025 Rivals250 after numerous performances this offseason and he’s also going to be in the five-star discussion as well but it’s a pretty high bar to beat out five-stars Julian Lewis and Bryce Underwood for the No. 1 QB spot in the class. The Ohio State commit has all the size and tools in the world and if over time he proves to be the best then we won’t hesitate to move him over anyone else but Lewis and Underwood are really incredibly special and it might be tough to over take them in the five-star quarterback rankings.
Smith’s take: FACT. After seeing him in person last weekend there is no doubt that St. Clair belongs in the discussion for the top quarterback in this class. He has everything you look for in a quarterback: Great size, a strong and accurate arm and he might be best throwing the ball on the run. His throwing motion is smooth and the ball was just different when he threw compared to any other quarterback at Elite 11.
The thing that will set him apart from his peers are the intangibles. St. Clair is low-key for a quarterback. He’s steadily improved through his high school career and we likely haven’t seen his best football yet. It will be tough to overtake Julian Lewis for the top spot but there will be a conversation after camp season is over.
