BALDWIN PARK, Calif. – The Pylon Los Angeles tournament was held over the weekend and two of the best 7-on-7 franchises in the country – California Power and Raw Miami – were the headliners. Plenty of news and rumors came out of the event as Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney gives the latest.
A visit to Miami for its big junior day was “great” and Bass saw UCLA and USC during his weekend trip to Los Angeles but there is a lead group in his recruitment right now. Michigan and Missouri look best with Illinois and Arkansas right there as well. The coaching changes in Ann Arbor are important for Bass to learn more about but he loves that Sherrone Moore got the head job.
Missouri’s success didn’t surprise the East St. Louis, Ill., four-star safety but it’s definitely something that’s helping the Tigers a lot in Bass’ recruitment as he’s close with his dad and the consideration of family watching him play is a big deal.
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The four-star defensive tackle from Melbourne (Fla.) Eau Gallie committed to Texas in December without seeing the campus but he loved the coaching staff from Steve Sarkisian to former position coach Bo Davis.
Now that Davis has moved to LSU there is some concern on Brown’s part but he’s more focused on getting to know new DL coach Kenny Baker quickly. Tennessee, Miami, Ohio State and Florida are pushing for a flip.
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Official visits to UCF and Clemson will definitely happen for the high three-star offensive lineman from Sanford (Fla.) Seminole as those two programs have made a big run at Buchanan, who loves the culture at Clemson and the coaching stability of Gus Malzahn and position coach Herb Hand in Orlando.
Those two look best right now but Miami, Penn State and Florida State are also expected to get trips. Buchanan promises his FSU beanie meant nothing during Saturday’s event other than it was cold.
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The four-star defensive end from Port Charlotte, Fla., has been sticking with his top 12 but changes are coming with head coaches and position coaches moving around. Florida State remains a team – maybe the team – to watch in Charles’ recruitment but the four-star has also been very impressed with Miami recently.
Out here in Southern California, Charles is getting more interested in USC since the hiring of position coach Eric Henderson (plus the California Power team visited USC on Saturday) and Florida is quickly making a major move up after the hiring of Gerald Chatman.
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A self-admitted “momma’s boy”, Miami is going to be in great shape to keep the four-star athlete from Miami (Fla.) Columbus home but there will be other major competition.
A recent visit to Florida definitely impressed Fitzgerald as he has trips to Michigan, Georgia, Alabama and then one back to Miami planned. The trip to Ann Arbor will be especially important to Fitzgerald as he gets to know the new staff there.
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Texas, Texas A&M and Nebraska are the three early standouts for the 2026 defensive end from Duncanville, Texas and for various reasons. Ford loves the program coach Steve Sarkisian is building in Austin and likened it to the glory years at Alabama plus Duncanville teammate Colin Simmons could be a pull there.
But Ford is also intrigued by the new staff in College Station and the turnaround job coach Matt Rhule is doing in Lincoln.
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Since Geralds is a 2026 prospect he’s mainly focused on June 1 to see which programs become the most involved in his recruitment but recently North Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama stopped by his school and he visited Miami, UCLA and USC during trips with California Power.
The Miami visit went really well and he sees the Hurricanes definitely going in the right direction. His father by the same name played at Ole Miss and the 2026 defensive end from Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill is originally from Baton Rouge so he’s also well-versed in LSU.
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In the end, it could be really tough – if not nearly impossible – to beat Miami for the four-star defensive back from Miami (Fla.) Booker T. Washington but Hanks is going to take other visits to see first.
Hanks visited with the Hurricanes last weekend and loved his conversations with the coaches and feels very comfortable there but Georgia, Florida and others should get trip as well.
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Mississippi State and LSU are still the two schools showing the most love and attention to the 2026 four-star defensive end from Tupelo, Miss., but Ole Miss is trying harder every day and now coach Lane Kiffin is involved and South Carolina has entered that top group as well.
Even though McCoy lives about an hour away from both Ole Miss and Mississippi State, he’s not worried about only staying in-state as every team in the country could be involved as his recruitment goes on.
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The 2026 four-star running back from Camp Hill (Pa.) Trinity committed to Penn State before his sophomore season started and it could be tough to flip him from the Nittany Lions since he loves coach James Franklin, he’s had great talks with new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki and the campus is only a few hours away.
But USC, Michigan and other Big Ten programs are trying to flip Mickens and while he’ll take other visits, Penn State looks strong.
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Miami and Nebraska have made the biggest impression on Mills so far especially after he visited with the Hurricanes recently and then Huskers coach Matt Rhule came down to see him recently as they show a ton of interest.
Those two programs are looking strong for the four-star receiver from Homestead, Fla., but Clemson, Florida State, Penn State, Auburn and LSU are in that top group as well.
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Missouri and Tennessee are the two mainstays in Simms’ recruitment but before the four-star receiver from St. Louis (Mo.) Christian Brothers shuts anything down he wants to see Michigan, Georgia, LSU and a few others this offseason. The Tigers could have the edge, though, especially after the excellent season they had plus Simms seems to know a whole lot about the team, the receiving corps and Missouri’s offense.
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Adam Gorney, National Recruiting Director
