Recruiting Rumor Mill: High school football season is underway
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The high school football season is underway with many more games coming up this week but there is still a ton of news for this week’s Recruiting Rumor Mill.
MORE GORNEY: Comparing five-star QBs in the 2025 Rivals250 to NFL standouts | The most tenured CFB players who – somehow – are preparing for yet another college season
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After an early commitment to Tennessee, Arnoux backed off that pledge in February and then pledged to USC this summer at the Rivals Five-Star.
The Trojans have him and Carrollton, Ga., teammate Julian Lewis committed and while Arnoux is planning to visit USC this fall, the four-star defensive back also plans to see Auburn, Colorado and Florida State before signing day.
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An early Iowa commitment from that state, Brooks backed off that pledge and has moved around recently landing at Loganville (Ga.) Grayson for his senior year.
Alabama, Georgia and Texas have emerged as the final three for the massive four-star offensive lineman and while the Bulldogs are less than an hour away the word is that Texas has the edge now in his recruitment.
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Ohio State beat out Florida and others in July for the four-star defensive tackle who lives right down the road from Gainesville and the Gators among others aren’t giving up.
Florida, Miami, UCF and Tennessee are all showing renewed interest in Carter, who’s planning to be at the Miami-Florida game in a few weeks and then at UCF when it hosts Colorado in late September as the local programs are still working to flip him.
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The 2026 four-star running back from Carthage, Texas had a lot of great things to say about coach Steve Sarkisian and position coach Tashard Choice when he visited the Longhorns this summer and they’re still one of the biggest contenders in his recruitment.
But Georgia is definitely high along with Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Nebraska, Miami, Ohio State and USC so far.
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Oklahoma is now trending heavily for the five-star offensive tackle from Lewisville, Texas but the Longhorns are definitely not giving up and Texas A&M has ramped up their interest even more in the closing days here.
The Sooners seem like they have a healthy lead to land Fasusi’s recruitment but the Aggies are definitely trying to give the five-star something to consider down the stretch.
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After a big summer of visits and a whole lot to consider, the word is that Texas still has the edge in his recruitment over Miami, LSU and Tennessee although those three programs are still very involved in his recruitment.
The Longhorns were believed to be the front-runner heading into the offseason for the new five-star receiver as Texas’ high hopes were landing Kaliq Lockett, Ffrench and then flipping Dakorien Moore.
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The 2026 four-star quarterback from Cocoa, Fla., committed to Michigan in June and has deferred to others to work on recruiting a lot of the 2025 class but Hart has a bunch of prospects he’s working on hard to join him in Ann Arbor.
Corey Sadler, Leo Delaney, Savion Hiter, Gregory Patrick and Jaylen Pile are mainly the 2026 prospects on his radar. Hart is still going after four-star receiver Andrew Marsh and four-star offensive lineman Andrew Babalola in 2025.
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Even though things have seemingly quieted down a little bit after what looked like flip watch, the feeling is still that the high four-star quarterback who’s been committed to Notre Dame since last September will eventually flip to Auburn.
Ole Miss has made this more interesting with the Lucedale (Miss.) George County standout and Notre Dame is not letting go of this one easily but the Tigers have made Knight it’s one and only target at this point.
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Indiana continues to heavily pursue the five-star quarterback who’s been committed to USC since last August and a source said things “change every day” but another source remains confident the Trojans still look strong in his recruitment.
Colorado is still in this one as well but a lot of chatter has surrounded Indiana in recent days since Lewis has such a strong relationship with position coach Tino Sunseri for years.
Still, it would be a major surprise if USC doesn’t keep him at this count since there are still so many factors to consider.
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The 2026 four-star cornerback from Los Angeles Loyola has been committed to USC since October and even though things went quiet with the Trojans for a while, Lockhart has picked things back up with the new defensive staff there and things remain solid. But many others are making a major push as Oregon and Georgia have been the most involved and now Miami, Notre Dame, Michigan and Michigan State are also reaching out.
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Folsom, Calif., five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons has warmed up to Ole Miss after visiting this summer and it sounds like Powell is very high on the Rebels as well.
The four-star receiver has now been to Oxford twice and has loved both visits as Washington, Auburn and Arizona are the other early standouts in his recruitment.
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Rutgers has been doing a phenomenal job in recruiting and the Scarlet Knights are involved with another 2026 in-state four-star that could end up staying close to home. Illinois, Pitt, Duke and Boston College are also involved with the Toms River (N.J.) Donovan Catholic four-star offensive lineman but Rutgers could be the team to watch here.
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Last month, the four-star offensive lineman from Mesquite (Texas) Horn committed to Missouri over Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas, Florida State, SMU and others. And while Rogers has given no serious indication that he’s looking around, at least the Aggies and maybe others are still working hard to flip him.
Oklahoma could re-engage if it loses out on Fasusi (not expected) but the Aggies would be the one to watch here.
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A handful of programs have emerged as the front-runners for the McDonald (Pa.) Fort Cherry standout as Penn State and Wisconsin could end up battling it out with USC, Rutgers and West Virginia as the other programs to watch.
From suburban Pittsburgh, Sieg is closest to Morgantown but the Nittany Lions and the Badgers among others have definitely caught his attention as well.
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Alabama, Oregon, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Texas, Michigan and Washington are the early standouts for the 2026 four-star athlete from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman who is also the late Kobe Bryant’s nephew.
USC was the “dream school” growing up and former teammate Zach Branch is playing for the Trojans but the communication so far has been limited.
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Prorams have cycled in and out of the top list for Wilkes early in his recruitment but Tennessee has been the mainstay and the Volunteers continue to be a major player for him.
The 2026 four-star athlete from Wadley, Ala., has Tennessee, Texas A&M and South Carolina leading his recruitment now and a new offer from Miami could be interesting as well.
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Could Florida State be in line to land Jameis Winston’s brother? The Seminoles are one of the main programs involved with the 2026 four-star receiver from Hoover, Ala., although Auburn, Florida, Penn State and Alabama are also in the mix.
The question of whether Winston wants to follow in his brother’s big footsteps in Tallahassee are yet to be answered but FSU is definitely involved.