No. 7 Ranked Player in Arizona Delivers Bad News to Three Top College Football Teams

This 2027 running back prospect has delivered bad news to three Power Four college football programs vying for his commitment.

O'Connor running back Jeremy Adeyanju runs a route during a 7-on-7 high school football passing tournament at Arizona Christian University on June 3, 2025. | Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The 2027 college football recruiting cycle has heated up in the first two months of the 2026 offseason.

Many of the top recruits in the cycle are cutting down their lists of schools, scheduling visits and setting commitment dates. While most are still weighing options, a sizable group of prospects in the class has already announced their commitments.

One of the most recent decisions in the 2027 recruiting cycle came from running back Jeremy Adeyanju, who committed to Washington on Sunday. The 6-foot, 210-pounder from Phoenix, Arizona, ranks as the No. 7 prospect in Arizona, No. 33 running back, and No. 407 overall player in the class of 2027, per Rivals.

Adeyanju is coming off a season in which he ran for 1,167 yards and 15 touchdowns to go along with nine receptions for 54 yards and another touchdown at Sandra Day O'Connor High School. Adeyanju has run track in addition to playing football, posting an 11.59-second 100-meter dash and a 24.28-second 200-meter as a freshman in high school.

Washington offered Adeyanju his scholarship back in January, and he has an official visit scheduled to Washington on May 29. Adeyanju marks the ninth overall commitment and third offensive commitment in the Huskies' 2027 class, joining wide receivers Zerek Sidney and Braylon Pope.

While Washington ultimately won out on Adeyanju's commitment, other schools were in pursuit of his commitment. Hayes Fawcett of Rivals reported that three other Big Ten programs were in the mix to land Adeyanju.

USC

UCLA Bruins interim coach Tim Skipper (left) shakes hands with Southern California Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley after the game | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Of the four programs Adeyanju was reportedly down to, USC was the earliest to offer him back at the beginning of January.

USC is bringing back its two most productive running backs from 2025 in King Miller and Waymond Jordan. In the 2026 recruiting cycle, the Trojans landed four-star running backs Deshonne Redeaux and Shahn Alston.

Michigan

Michigan underwent a coaching change from Sherrone Moore to former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham in December of 2025. The Utes had offered Adeyanju a scholarship in November of 2025, and the same staff offered him a scholarship at Michigan in early February.

The Wolverines' most prized commitment from the 2026 recruiting cycle came from five-star running back Savion Hiter. Other recent running back additions include three-star freshman Jonathan Brown and Oklahoma transfer Taylor Tatum.

UCLA

UCLA Bruins head football coach Bob Chesney is introduced during the basketball game against the Indiana Hoosiers | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Bruins were last to offer Adeyanju among the final four schools, extending that offer near the end of February. Like Michigan, UCLA underwent a coaching change; it parted ways with DeShaun Foster in September of 2025 to hire James Madison head coach Bob Chesney at the end of the season.

Among the several transfers following Chesney from James Madison to UCLA is running back Wayne Knight, who ran for 1,373 yards and nine touchdowns in his last season with the Dukes. Three-star freshman Jayden Fox is the only other new running back joining the Bruins' 2026 roster.