Countdown to Signing Day - December 10, 2020
As SI All-American tracks college football's top prospects in the class of 2021, there have been spikes in movement each day leading up to the Early Signing Period kicking off December 16.
From prospect commitments to decommitments, new scholarship offers, the shuffling of top schools to deciding whether or not to sign in December or wait until the traditional period beginning February 3, there hasn't been a lack of news items to stay on top of.
In our attempt to keep our audience informed each step of the way in the race for America's top college football recruiting class, we will chronicle the latest news as it comes across our desk in one-stop shop fashion.
(All times Eastern Standard Time)
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3:45 pm - Tennessee loses another
Tennessee entered the day with 25 commitments, but is now down to 23. With SI99 TE Hudson Wolfe announcing earlier today that he was decommitting, news has just gotten worse for the Volunteers.
Long-time DB commit Jay Jones out of announced he is no longer committed to Tennessee today. Jones also holds offers from Arkansas, Ole Miss and South Alabama.
1:10 pm - Top schools coming for Lewis
SI99 linebacker prospect Terrence Lewis, who recently backed off of a Tennessee commitment, will drop his finalists after the weekend. Auburn and Miami are among the programs with the most buzz since the physical 'backer opened up the recruiting process again. He was once committed to Dan Mullen and Florida, too.
11:55 am - Maryland lands former Tennessee pledge Jackson
Maryland has a top 25 recruiting class on SIAA and it got stronger on the edge Thursday by way of Darrell Jackson, who decommitted from Tennessee three days earlier. The Terps now hold 21 commitments, a third of which may play along the defensive front at the next level. UMD has three pledges from Florida, with TE Weston Wolff and DB Corey Coley set on joining Jackson in College Park.
11:00 am - Regional battle for OL Strickland coming to end Friday
Oklahoma or Texas A&M? There are a few battles remaining between these two regional powers and the first to come to its conclusion will be that of Sugar Land (Texas) Woodlands Christian prospect Remington Strickland. Late Wednesday night he announced a verbal commitment announcement coming at 6pm local time.
Strickland, who stands 6-foot-5, 290 pounds, visited both Norman and College Station in November, not long after A&M entered the mix with an offer. OU, Texas, Baylor, Virginia Tech and Michigan each offered during a strong senior campaign.
9:54 am - SI99 TE backs off of Tennessee pledge
SI All-American got wind of more departures from the UT class over time, but the Hudson Wolfe news this morning has to sting about as much as any loss of a pledge for any program of late. The SI99 prospect had no shortage of suitors before picking the Vols including Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Ole Miss as top contenders. The immediate intel suggests fairly local program Ole Miss as a potential landing spot if a decision is to be made in short order.
Tennessee has lost four verbal commitments since landing at No. 12 in the November class ranking update.
More coverage at VR2.
8:45 am - LSU is a program to watch down the stretch
The Tigers have taken advantage of the national title season and recruited at an extremely high level of late, edging Alabama for SI99 defensive back Sage Ryan and even more big-time programs for fellow SI99 safety type in Derrick Davis over the last five weeks or so. The moves pushed LSU to No. 3 in the November team rankings, which now looks like the peak of the class given negative news surrounding the program since. Star freshman tight end Arik Gilbert recently opted out, the team self-imposed a postseason ban in football for the 2020 season and reports of Ed Orgeron and his players not being on the same page is even more cause for concern.
The Tigers have lost out on commitments from defensive lineman Anthony Hundley and pass rusher Naquan Brown, who flipped to Pitt. There is increasing chatter about other out-of-state prospects on the current commitment list, something we'll be watching closely given 14 pledges reside outside of Louisiana. Back home, they did make a move for running back Logan Diggs this week. The Metaire (La.) Rummel standout has been committed to Notre Dame since July and was in South Bend over the weekend, so it won't be as easy a flip possibility as the optics would normally suggest.
LSU Country will have you covered.
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