Top Football Recruits Left Unsigned in the Class of 2020
The Early Signing Period in December and National Signing Day on the first Wednesday in February are each now behind the class of 2020, yet a few interesting prospects remain on the board.
This list was to begin with South Carolina commitment Jordan Burch, who did not sign a Letter of Intent on Wednesday to re-open speculation about his recruitment. But more than 24 hours later he was finally announced as an official addition by the hometown Gamecocks on Thursday night.
Some, like longtime Florida wide receiver verbal commitment Leonard Manuel, have long planned the move of waiting the process out. Also a basketball standout at Ft. Lauderdale (Fla.) Stranahan High School, he has planned to end the process between Florida, Ole Miss, Oregon and Baylor on April 1. Manuel confirmed the plans to remain on pace when SI All-American reached out this week.
Manuel took an official visit to Ole Miss on January 24 and there is some chatter about Lane Kiffin and the Rebels sitting as the top threat to the Gators for the senior's eventual signature.
Others unsigned at this point hadn't long planned it.
That conversation begins with the most talked about recruit in the cycle, Zach Evans. The Houston (Texas) North Shore running back, an SI All-American honorable mention selection and arguably the most gifted athlete at the position nationally, famously signed with Georgia in December and was let out of the Letter of Intent by the program the first week of January.
Evans' well-documented timeline will extend his recruitment, at least in terms of making a commitment, to March at a minimum. After official visits to Ole Miss and Tennessee in January, and interest drummed up from Texas A&M, Florida, Ohio State and others at various points of late. Florida added transfer running back Lorenzo Lingard but failed to pick up a prep tailback during the cycle. A&M seems all but done with Evans much like LSU and Alabama since even before Georgia backed off. Ole Miss and Tennessee looked equipped to remain in the race for Evans, who graduated high school in December.
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Marc Britt's recruitment is set to come to an end on February 20, he announced this week. His signing day celebration will feature a final decision between the Florida program he has been committed to since November 1 and Ole Miss, who has charged since Kiffin took over. Each staff hosted him for an official visit over the final two weekends of January and sent multiple coaches to south Florida to meet with the Miami (Fla.) Christian product's family.
Ole Miss didn't splash on signing day but has space and offensive targets to chase over the next several weeks. Florida missed on its top safety target, Avantae Williams, who opted for Miami. Britt plays both wide receiver and defensive back and says he once preferred playing on offense.
A few notable Power Five prospects have already announced plans to attend junior college later this year, a move that will likely become more popular for seniors who are on the academic bubble. Notables in this situation include one-time Arkansas offensive line commitment Ty'Kieast Crawford and one-time Alabama defensive back commitment Javier Morton. Crawford is headed for Kilgore College while Morton will play at Fort Scott Community College.
There is another group of prospects awaiting increased recruiting attention and/or an available spot during the remainder of the signing period that began with Wednesday's signing day and runs through Manuel's date of April 1. Several still on the board were once verbally committed to Power Five programs and others still are. Among those currently pledged, SI All-American sources indicate potential academic hurdles as the barrier between being committed and signed at this time.
Others P5 Prospects Available:
QB CJ Dixon - One-time Illinois commitment
RB/LB Jordon Ingram
RB Jordon Simmons - Currently committed to Michigan State
RB Ebony Jackson - Currently committed to Arkansas
RB Torrance Davis - One-time Kentucky commitment
DL Willie Moise - Currently committed to Miami
LB Justin Houston
DB Lorando Johnson - Currently committed to LSU
DB De'Arre McDonald - Currently committed to Cincinnati
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