June is finally upon us and official visits will be happening in earnest across the country. Instead of taking a look at 10 prospects who are taking big trips this weekend, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney highlights 10 programs that have big weekends ahead.
ALABAMA
Over the last couple of days, Alabama had a massive group of elite prospects on campus that were underclassmen and then this weekend coach Kalen DeBoer and his staff are bringing in an even bigger and more impressive group of recruits for official visits. This feels like the old days under coach Nick Saban when the best of the best flocked to Tuscaloosa, oh, only a few months ago.
Five-star running back Jordon Davison is a major target for the Crimson Tide but maybe the most important visitor will be four-star SMU quarterback commit Keelon Russell as Alabama is rumored to be the favorite program to flip him. Georgia LB commit Jadon Perlotte, Davison’s Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei teammate Chuck McDonald, surging tight end Andrew Olesh and powerful offensive lineman Ty Haywood are some others coming.
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ARIZONA STATE
There might not be five-star firepower coming to Arizona State this weekend but it’s still a massive recruiting opportunity for coach Kenny Dillingham and his staff especially with some major pass-catchers coming to Tempe. It’s exactly this kind of recruiting momentum that’s needed to get the Sun Devils back to national relevancy.
Top receivers Quanell X Farrakhan Jr. and Tavian McNair will be at Arizona State along with Fullerton (Calif.) Troy tight end Vander Ploog, who could end up being one of the best in the country.
On both sides of the ball, the Sun Devils are bringing in major talent so this is a big chance for Dillingham and his staff to load up early in the month.
*****
CLEMSON
Clemson does not regularly have massive recruiting weekends, but this will be one of them.
The Tigers are bringing in five-star offensive tackle David Sanders Jr. as they, along with Ohio State, Georgia and others are battling it out for the No. 2 prospect in the 2025 class.
Marion Nash, Bryce Davis, Jordan Young, Max Buchanan, Josh Petty and a whole host of others are coming as offensive line coach Matt Luke and many other position coaches will have a full list to attend to in the coming days.
*****
FLORIDA
It’s a major weekend in Gainesville as a ton of regional and in-state prospects are coming to town. Billy Napier and his staff will look to flip Javion Hilson from Florida State, get even higher on the list for four-star offensive lineman Ziyare Addison and four-star defensive end Myron Charles and close on four-star quarterback Antwann Hill.
There have been some negative headlines coming out in recent days about Florida around Jaden Rashada’s lawsuit. June could be a time for Napier and his staff to turn the tide back in their favor and a major recruiting weekend like this could be a fresh start.
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GEORGIA
Kirby Smart is the Recruiting King and it will show again this weekend as the Bulldogs had a bunch of elite underclassmen on campus on Thursday and then will have a great group of official visitors over the weekend. From officials to the Scavenger Hunt to Smart hitting the road down the stretch, nobody does it better than this staff.
Florida State and others keep coming after four-star tight end commit Elyiss Williams but he continues to say he’s locked in with the Bulldogs so it will be important to get him back to Athens this weekend. The Bulldogs lead for Zayden Walker, five-star USC commit Justus Terry will be back on campus as Georgia is clearly trying to flip him back and Trojans pledge Isaiah Gibson (who might not visit USC in June) will be there as well. It’s a major weekend – again – at UGA.
*****
INDIANA
Welcome to the Curt Cignetti era of Indiana football where there is, dare I say, some excitement about the first weekend in June.
The No. 1 prospect in the Rivals250, five-star quarterback Julian Lewis, will be in Bloomington. His Georgia visit got canceled and he decided to go see the Hoosiers and close friend Tino Sunseri, the position coach there. It would be an all-time shocker if Lewis ends up at Indiana but it does give the Hoosiers some juice and publicity over the weekend.
Many other big prospects are expected in town as well including Jaylen Bell, Kolbe Harmon and Jhrevious Hall, as Cignetti looks to put his stamp on a major recruiting weekend.
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LSU
The big guns are coming to Baton Rouge. There is quality and quantity at LSU this weekend and some huge targets as five-star DJ Pickett, who has the Tigers, Miami and Oregon among his front-runners, will be there along with Florida State offensive line commit Solomon Thomas, four-star receivers Kaliq Lockett and Jaime Ffrench, four-star cornerback Dorian Brew, Texas defensive line pledge Brandon Brown and so many others.
Ohio State, USC and LSU are the only programs right now with multiple five-star commitments and more could be coming to Baton Rouge if this weekend goes well. It’s an elite group that coach Brian Kelly and his staff will have in town and closing on some of these major names would be huge.
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MISSOURI
Could the future of Missouri’s offensive line be coming to town this weekend? That’s sure what coach Eli Drinkwitz and his staff hope as the Tigers are bringing in elite prospects across the line and closing on them would be huge. There is probably some work to do there but getting them on campus again is a huge first step.
Offensive line coach Brandon Jones is going to have a busy weekend as some heavy-hitters – Andrew Babalola. Lamont Rogers. Michael Fasusi. Carius Curne. Julian Marks – coming to Missouri in the coming days.
*****
OHIO STATE
Ohio State has a major opportunity this weekend because the Buckeyes trail for some of their weekend visitors – that might be a first – and could really close a lot of ground on some major targets along the way.
Five-star receiver Dakorien Moore is expected there and while Texas now leads, the receiver history and production in Columbus is pretty great. Florida and Florida State could be battling it out for Vernell Brown but Ohio State has always intrigued him so a big visit there could change things. Texas is up there for the No. 1 inside linebacker in the class – Riley Pettijohn – but the Buckeyes have done so well recruiting that state.
There is some ground to make up but are we going to bet against Ohio State in any recruitment? Don’t think so.
*****
UCF
Two major SEC commits – Alabama’s Darrell Johnson and Auburn’s Malik Autry – are expected at UCF this weekend on a long list of elite prospects who have either committed to the Knights or are seriously considering them in their own recruitments.
Gus Bus? Gus Malzahn will need a few buses to transport these players around because there is plenty of quality and quantity coming to Orlando. UCF has a top-25 recruiting class right now and a lot of the big targets are coming in over the next few days. Malzahn and his staff are getting a big jumpstart on June with this weekend’s massive list.
