Wayne Eliminates More Than Two-Dozen Schools from his Recruitment
College football's version of Power Ball on Wednesday revealed 11 winners for this month's big prize.
A spot in the final of the Jayden Wayne sweepstakes.
The 6-foot-5, 245-pound edge rusher from Tacoma's Lincoln High School and a valued member of the Class of 2023 didn't choose his final sporting destination.
He just eliminated 27 schools from the competition.
The survivors include five SEC schools and one that will soon join the conference — Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Texas.
Wayne next saved a spot for his Pac-12 pursuers — Oregon, USC and Washington.
For good measure, he threw in a Big Ten and an ACC school — Michigan State and Miami.
Fifteen minutes after posting his 11 schools, Wayne took time out to thank Duke, not one of his finalists, for providing a new scholarship offer.
Wayne, who actually doesn't have to decide on a school and sign a national letter of intent until a year from now, has had much of the college football hierarchy in hot pursuit of him because of his blend of size and speed.
This past weekend, he took in the sights of South Florida and toured Miami, having previously established a recruiting relationship with Mario Cristobal's staff.
Before that, Wayne visited Oregon and posted a promotional graphic involving him and Washington. He gives everyone an equal opportunity to fawn all over him.
Throughout the process, Wayne has been cordial wherever he's gone and offered no clues as to what he's thinking, though he did retweet fellow edge rusher Zion Tupuola-Fetui's recent disclosure that he will return to the UW for another season.
Locals would like to see the highly regarded Wayne enter the UW once Tupuola-Fetui exits.
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