-
ESPN staff
College football‘s 2023 recruiting cycle is nearing its end with national signing day. Wednesday is the final day high school recruits are able to sign their national letters of intent to lock them into the schools they choose.
The early signing period in December brought plenty of chaos. Three five-star recruits flipped their commitments in one week — one of whom flipped his commitment twice in two days.
Since then, though, some coaches are mulling the possibility of changing the recruiting calendar. In early January, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey told reporters, “There has not been a coach with whom I visited around our bowl games who hasn’t said this has just become crushing for us.”
What future signing periods look like remains to be seen, but for the 2023 class, this is it. We provide you with the latest news, analysis, class rankings movement and player announcements throughout Wednesday.
coverage:
Latest class rankings: Top 75 schools
Breaking down the early signing period
Recruiting winners, sleepers, top classes
Alabama finishes with top-ranked class
The Alabama Crimson Tide finished with the No. 1-ranked recruiting class for the eighth time since Nick Saban took over as head coach, and this class could be his biggest yet: five five-star recruits, 13 prospects ranked in the top 50 and 23 ranked in the ESPN 300. Check out the winners, sleepers and top classes.
Pair of four-star brothers pick UCF, Maryland
Brothers Andrew and Michael Harris, who both played inside linebacker at Lake Brantley High School in Altamonte Springs, Florida, announced their commitments, but they’ll be splitting up.
Andrew will stay in-state and play at UCF, while Michael will head to Maryland to play for the Terrapins.
Penn State adds four-star offensive lineman
Chimdy Onoh, a four-star offensive lineman from Baltimore, committed to play for the Nittany Lions.
Michigan lands four-star flip from Stanford
Big Blue got a little bigger by adding Cameron Brandt, a four-star defensive lineman who flipped from Stanford. Brandt visited Ann Arbor in January.
2024 five-star CB picks Georgia
Cornerback Ellis Robinson IV (No. 5, 2024 ESPN Junior 300) committed to Georgia on Wednesday. He was choosing between Miami, Colorado, LSU and Alabama.
Oregon lands four-star CB recruit
Rodrick Pleasant, the No. 100 recruit in the 2023 ESPN 300, committed to Oregon. Pleasant, a four-star cornerback, was choosing between Boston College, California, UCLA and USC.
Nyckoles Harbor (No. 39 overall), a four-star athlete from Washington, D.C., committed to South Carolina. He was choosing from among LSU, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Oregon and USC.
USC lands four-star TE
Walker Lyons, a four-star tight end out of Folsom, California, committed to USC on Wednesday. Lyons, who is 6-foot-5, will be a big target for quarterback Caleb Williams and fellow incoming freshman Malachi Nelson. He had offers from Georgia, Florida State and Oregon, among others.
BYU flips four-star RB
L.J. Martin decommits from Stanford and signs with BYU. Martin, who originally committed to Texas Tech, is the No. 266 recruit in the ESPN 300.
Less than two weeks after he was released from his national letter of intent with Florida, Rashada, the seventh-ranked quarterback and No. 31 prospect overall, committed to Arizona State.
Rashada, who flipped from Miami to Florida in November, signed with the Gators in December, but was granted a release Jan. 20 after a reported $13.5 million name, image and likeness deal with the school’s Gator Collective fell through.
New Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham started signing day ranked No. 59 in the recruiting class rankings, and with Rashada on board, Arizona State will move up to 46.
Kentucky flips four-star defensive lineman
In one of the first moves of the day, Kendrick Gilbert flipped from Purdue to Kentucky. The Wildcats had been in the equation for a while, but coach Jeff Brohm left Purdue for Louisville, which made the decision to join Kentucky easier for Gilbert.
His commitment gives the Wildcats eight four-star commitments in the class.
Houston signs first ESPN 300 recruit
Mikal Harrison-Pilot, ranked No. 184 in the ESPN 300, signed with the Cougars. The four-star athlete out of Temple, Texas, held offers from Texas, California, TCU, among others.
Arkansas lands four-star TE
Shamar Easter signed with the Razorbacks on Wednesday morning. He’s from Ashdown, Arkansas, and is the No. 198-ranked prospect in the ESPN 300 and the No. 6 tight end overall. He received offers from Arizona State, Auburn, Florida State, among others.
What to watch for
Wednesday will unofficially mark the end of the 2023 recruiting cycle in college football. Our analysts break down the prospects who are still available, the recruits who will make a difference and the teams with the most to gain this time around.
Who are the best prospects this cycle?
Each recruiting cycle, the best recruits in the country are ranked in the ESPN 300. Entering signing day, 293 of the top 300 prospects this cycle are committed. Following our final rankings update, here is how the top 10 stacks up:
-
Malachi Nelson, QB (USC)
-
Dante Moore, QB (UCLA)
-
Jackson Arnold, QB (Oklahoma)
-
Peter Woods, DT (Clemson)
-
Arch Manning, QB (Texas)
-
Francis Mauigoa, OT (Miami)
-
Zachariah Branch, WR (USC)
-
David Hicks, DT (Texas A&M)
-
Jaquavious Russaw, OLB (Alabama)
-
Kadyn Proctor, OT (Alabama)
See the full ESPN 300 rankings here »
Rashada, the seventh-ranked quarterback and No. 31 prospect overall, signed his national letter of intent with Florida in December. However, he was granted a release in mid-January after a reported $13.5 million name, image and likeness deal with the school’s Gator Collective falling through.
As the top uncommitted recruit and quarterback left on the board, where will he go?
Breaking down the 2023 recruiting cycle
We broke down the 2023 recruiting cycle in many different ways. We analyzed the strengths of the recruits who are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 at each position.
Craig Haubert and Tom Luginbill also went pick-by-pick in trying to draft the best all-22 team of 2023 recruits. See who got picked and vote which team is better
