Recruiting roundup: 5 teams who landed big Tuesday commitments
Dozens of players went off the board Tuesday. Here are the five biggest commitments.
Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
Poor Kentucky. Things had been going so well for head coach Mark Stoops -- he brought in a top-25 class in 2014, led by the top two players in the state -- but Tuesday was a bit of a rude awakening for the Wildcats. Twin Ohio stars David Dowell (a four-star safety prospect) and Andrew Dowell (a three-star running back prospect) decommitted from Kentucky and reportedly pledged to Michigan State, giving the Spartans a pair of top commitments and sending the Wildcats tumbling down the recruiting rankings. A Sea of Blue is distraught:
Unlike the other recent decommitments, this is really a near-catastrophic setback for the Mark Stoops and the Kentucky recruiting class.
I have no idea if this is just a run of bad luck, or some kind of failure on the part of the staff, or just the difficulties at the end of last season coming home to roost. Whatever it is, this loss places Kentucky far out of the top 25 and almost out of the top 50 for 2015. This close to National Signing Day, it will take some kind of magical comeback to rescue 2015 from returning to the pre-Stoops depths of futility.
The Spartans also picked up a commitment from JuCo outside linebacker Drake Martinez. The 6’2, 220-pound prospect had originally signed with Nebraska coming out of high school.
California Golden Bears
Cal picked up Tuesday’s top commitment, landing four-star Dallas wide receiver Carlos Strickland. The 6’5, 194-pound prospect from Skyline High School chose the Bears over offers from UCLA, Alabama, LSU, Texas and Ohio State, among others. Previously a Texas Tech pledge, Strickland decommitted in early January and was the third highest-rated receiver available. California Golden Blogs broke down the tape of the newest Bear.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Second-year head coach Dave Clawson has done a solid job with his first full recruiting class for the Demon Deacons, bringing in a number of high three-star prospects. The most recent of the group is North Carolina running back Rocky Reid, who committed to Wake Forest Tuesday. The Concord High School standout is rated as the No. 47 running back in the country by the 247Sports Composite, and chose the Demon Deacons over offers from Arkansas, Louisville and Georgia, among others. Previously a Tennessee commit, Reid re-opened his commitment in late December. He reportedly ran for 3,355 yards in his junior year (and nearly 3,000 this year), and the folks at Blogger So Dear are excited about the addition.
I cannot stress how big of a commitment this is for Dave Clawson and the staff. Reid has the potential to be a game-changer. I would not be surprised to see him get significant playing time this fall.
Stanford Cardinal
Stanford adding a defensive playmaker is hardly new news, but the Cardinal picked up a solid linebacker from New Jersey Tuesday in Jordan Fox. Fox is rated a three-star recruit by the 247Sports Composite, ranking as the 15th-best player in the state of New Jersey. He chose Stanford over offers from Wisconsin, Louisville, Georgia and Miami, among others.
Oregon Ducks
Oregon was beat up a bit on the line by Ohio State in the national championship game, and they've added another body to help them out next year. Three-star Upland (Calif.) defensive tackle Gary Baker committed to the Ducks Tuesday, choosing the national runners-up over offers from Arizona State, Fresno State and San Diego State, among others. Addicted to Quack talked about his impact on the unit:
This will help give the Ducks some added depth on the defensive line heading forward, with Arik Armstead NFL bound, and DeForest Buckner likely doing the same after next year.
