College Football's No. 1 Recruit Remains in Touch With Four Programs

These four college football programs have remained in contact with the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2027 in the months after his commitment.

Dec 6, 2025; Arlington, TX, USA; A view of a tv camera and the ESPN college football logo before the game between the Texas Tech Red Raiders and the BYU Cougars at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The competition to land the top prospects in the 2027 college football recruiting cycle has stiffened in early May of the 2026 offseason.

A large number of prospects will make official visits to the schools they find most appealing over the next two months before announcing their college commitments.

Many prospects have already announced their commitments, but they leave other programs with plenty of time to flip them away from their current commitments.

Five-star defensive lineman Jalen Brewster is one of those who could be flipped away from his current commitment. The 6-foot-3, 300-pounder from Cedar Hill, Texas, ranks as the No. 1 defensive lineman, No. 1 prospect in Texas and No. 1 overall prospect in the class of 2027, per Rivals.

Brewster plays both on the defensive line and at running back in short-yardage situations for Cedar Hill High School. He participated in both the Polynesian Bowl and Under Armour All-America Game in 2026. He is the son of former Ball State and Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Robert Brewster, who was selected in the third round of the 2009 NFL draft.

247Sports scouting analyst Gabe Brooks referred to Brewster as a "strong, explosive front line defender with an impressive combination of size and athleticism" and said that he "flashes sudden redirection that fosters playmaking in the trenches" in a scouting report from September of 2025.

Brewster announced his commitment to Texas Tech on Oct. 4, 2025, over a year before the early signing period for 2027 prospects will begin. If the Red Raiders hold onto Brewster's commitment, they could sign both a five-star defensive tackle and a five-star defensive end in Anthony Sweeney.

Texas Tech still has a long way to go and a lot of competition to fight off in order to get Brewster to the finish line. Steve Wiltfong of Rivals reported on Thursday that three other programs are actively attempting to lure Brewster to their cause.

Indiana

Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti during the Indiana football spring game at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, April 23, 2026. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The reigning national champions are among those working to flip Brewster from Texas Tech. Indiana offered Brewster his scholarship in May of 2025, and he has visited the Hoosiers on two occasions since then, the latest of which was an official visit on April 24.

If Indiana manages to flip Brewster away from Texas Tech, he would become the program's first-ever five-star commit. The Hoosiers built a national championship run out of strong transfer portal evaluations in 2025, but they have yet to make a similar impact in high school recruiting.

Florida

Seven of Florida's 10 2027 commitments made their decision in the month of April. Some of the more notable additions to the class in that stretch include No. 1 offensive tackle Maxwell Hiller, four-star quarterback Davin Davidson and four-star interior offensive lineman Peyton Miller.

The Gators extended their offer to Brewster in May of 2025, but he has remained interested in them despite the coaching change from Billy Napier to Jon Sumrall. Brewster visited Florida at the beginning of March, and Gators' defensive line coach Gerald Chatman visited him at school near the end of April.

SMU

SMU Mustangs head coach Rhett Lashlee hoists the Holiday Bowl team champion trophy after victory over the Arizona Wildcats | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Even though he has already committed to a school within his home state of Texas, SMU is the closest school to Brewster's hometown of Cedar Hill. The Mustangs pitched their offer to Brewster in January of 2025, and he has visited on multiple occasions, the latest of which was an official visit on Friday.

The potential addition of Brewster to SMU's class would bring about a seismic shift to a program looking to establish its footing in the power conference ranks.

Class of 2025 offensive tackle Dramodd Odoms ranked in the neighborhood of a five-star, but the Mustangs' exclusion from the power conferences for nearly three decades has hurt them in the years when recruiting rankings were first popularized.