In terms of college football recruiting, this past weekend was simply a frenzy: A number of big names made their college choices, a few flipped their pledges, and the nation’s No. 1 recruit got the royal treatment as his home state school.
With Signing Day now just two days away, here’s everything that happened this weekend in recruiting:
Oregon Gets Their Man:
Last week, Crystal Ball Run told you about the saga of the Armstead brothers– USC’s Armond and his younger brother Arik, one of the nation’s top recruits. At the time the pair were believed to be a package deal, with Armond considering transfer options, with Arik uncommitted as a college recruit.
Well on Sunday, one half of the Armstead equation came into play, with Arik electing to play his college ball at Oregon. He picked the Ducks over USC, Cal, Auburn, Notre Dame and just about every other college football program in the country.
Armstead’s commitment was one of the biggest (literally and figuratively) of Chip Kelly’s time in Oregon, with the Eugene Register-Guard’s Rob Moseley calling it a “sign of the times” in Eugene.
Your Daily Dorial Beckham-Green Update:
The top player left on everyone’s big board continues to be Dorial Green-Beckham, a mammoth 6’6 wide receiver out of Springfield, MO. Green-Beckham has long been thought to be an Arkansas lean, but visited home-state Missouri over the weekend, where he took in the Tigers basketball game against Texas Tech.
And to the surprise of no one, Green-Beckham quickly became a bigger attraction than the game itself.
Urban Gets Another At The Sake Of Penn State:
In a college football season that was filled with scandal, no program has seen a direct correlation between off the field problems and recruiting struggles like Penn State has.
And on Sunday, things continued to get worse, when the Nittany Lions lost formerly committed cornerback Armani Reeves to Ohio State. Penn State is now at just 19 commits, with Reeves the third player to opt for Ohio State over Happy Valley alone.
Tennessee Loses One Too:
Another program that can’t receive any more bad news did on Sunday, when former Tennessee commit Dalton Santos chose Texas over the Vols. Santos had been committed to come to Knoxville since the summer, and now leaves a big hole that won’t easily be filled in Tennessee’s recruiting class.
One has to wonder if that perfect head of hair on Derek Dooley’s head is getting a bit gray right now.
A Big Weekend For Texas A&M:
Call it the “Weekend of Decommitment” as along with Reeves and Santos, TCU also lost one of the key cogs in their recruiting class. Four-star Edward Pope has switched his college choice from the Horned Frogs to Texas A&M, a school which also got a commitment four-star defensive end Polo Manukainiu over the weekend. Manukainiu had previously been committed to Oklahoma, but re-opened his recruitment earlier this fall.
A Chester Brown Update:
Last week, Crystal Ball Run told you about the plight of Chester Brown, an offensive lineman that re-opened his recruiting after being previously committed to Georgia. At the time Brown cited “personal reasons” for the decision, and we later found out those “personal reasons” were problems with his immigration paperwork, and Georgia’s refusal to accept him school because of them.
Well on Sunday, Brown found a new college football home, choosing to attend Central Florida instead.
New And Notes:
The hotly contested battle between Auburn and Georgia for JaQuay Williams took a surprising twist this weekend, when the top wide receiver in Georgia took an unexpected visit to Auburn. The Tigers have been viewed as long-time favorites, but the Bulldogs made a late pitch last week, when Mark Richt and most of his staff showed up at Williams’ high school.
Miami continues to appear unaffected by the continuing NCAA investigation into their program, and on Sunday got a commitment from defensive back Antonio Brown. Brown had previously been committed to Georgia Tech.
One of the top defensive linemen in the country, Aziz Shittu of California took a visit to UCLA this weekend and liked what he saw ($). The Bruins have firmly thrown themselves in the Shittu sweepstakes along with USC, Cal and Stanford.
Alabama is already starting in on the class of 2013, and over the weekend got a commitment from one of the top juniors in the country, Louisiana wide receiver Raheem Falkins. The Tide also continues to address any unfixed kicking woes, as the top kicker in the country will come to Tuscaloosa next year.
For all his opinion, insight and articles on college football and beyond, please follow Aaron Torres on Twitter @Aaron_Torres.
