Nearly all the storylines for the 2024 class are in the rearview mirror, especially after four-stars Gatlin Bair and Amaree Williams committed to Oregon and Florida State, respectively, but there are still some things to watch heading into Wednesday’s second signing day:
BUSSEY IS THE LAST ONE STANDING
After the commitments of Bair and Williams leading up to Wednesday, the last man standing among the Rivals250 who has not settled on a program is five-star Terry Bussey.
The Timpson, Texas, standout could play wide receiver or defensive back in college. He has been committed to Texas A&M since late September, but there has been a coaching change and other SEC powers – LSU and Georgia – that have gotten visits in recent weeks.
Bussey was back in College Station this past weekend and that’s usually a very good sign that the Aggies will hold on. But LSU is the main competitor heading into signing day and Georgia can absolutely never be counted out of any recruitment.
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WILHITE HAS HAD A WILD RIDE
Keona Wilhite was committed to Washington. The four-star defensive end from Tucson (Ariz.) Salpointe signed with Washington. But when coach Kalen DeBoer left the Huskies to take the Alabama job, Wilhite was released from his letter-of-intent and his recruitment hit the reset button.
It has been a crazy few weeks for Wilhite as Michigan State, Nebraska and UCLA have become the three front-runners ahead of his Wednesday announcement. Wilhite was looking at a decision late last week, then he was thinking Monday but now the four-star defensive end will wait to signing day to pick his final school.
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BETHEL-ROMAN HITS RESET
One of the biggest reasons why four-star receiver Ashton Bethel-Roman committed to Arkansas over many other offers was because he hit it off with position coach Kenny Guiton.
So when Guiton left Arkansas for a job on the Wisconsin coaching staff, the Missouri City (Texas) Ridge Point standout who had 49 catches for 964 yards and nine touchdowns hit the reset button just days ago and is now looking for a new home.
Bethel-Roman took a visit to Texas A&M in December and then he was back in College Station over the weekend and while other SEC schools have been showing interest it looks like the Aggies could be in very good shape here to flip the former Arkansas signee.
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THE LATE PERIOD WILL DIE OUT – OR BECOME MORE IMPORTANT
After talking with many coaches about this topic, it doesn’t seem like the current calendar really works or is suitable to have the major signing day and the major transfer portal window at the same time in December. It feels unsustainable and wasteful since juggling 100 things means some things are going to fall by the wayside.
Here are the proposals I’ve heard to remedy this situation for the ones who want it fixed: The first one would be to move the December signing period to August with the belief that a lot of prospects would come off the board then and the remainder could sign in December or totally remove the December period and have August and February windows.
The August-February model seems to be gaining more traction since the transfer portal window would remain in December and then you’d have a steady flow of high school signees, transfers and then the remainder of high school kids in February.
The second model would allow kids to sign when they chose. If a kid wants to sign in August, fine. September, good. Wait until December, OK. Wait until February once the coaching carousel stuff dies down, that would work, too. Instead of having a “signing day” it would essentially be an open window for a player to sign whenever he chooses.
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SMART IS COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S BEST RECRUITER
Now that Nick Saban has retired, coach Kirby Smart is not only now just one of three active head coaches with a national title but also stands as unequivocally the best recruiter in college football.
Unless something completely unforeseen happens, Georgia is going to finish with the top recruiting class again in 2024 and could even increase its lead in the team rankings in the unlikely chance Bussey signs with the Bulldogs.
Still, it was another incredible haul for Smart, who actually seems to love the recruiting side of the business and then has the coaching acumen to put that talent into practice on the field. Georgia is rolling and with Saban gone the path gets even a little smoother.
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Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
