Commitments
It was quite the busy weekend for commitments, as recruits took their final visits before the onset of the dead period.
And the big winner was Auburn, with Carl Lawson not so much making a commitment, as he was already committed to the Tigers, but rather in sticking with his commitment to Auburn. Lawson is a five-star with a ton of talent.
Shortly thereafter, word came that Lawson's teammate at Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton High School, Peyton Barber, who visited Auburn with him over the weekend, had decommitted from Ole Miss. And a little while after that, the four-star running back did indeed commit to the Tigers.
Before that, however, Ole Miss landed Jordan Wilkins, a four-star running back out of Tennessee.
Upcoming announcements
Several announcements are scheduled to be made today, including five-star linebacker Reuben Foster, who will decide between Auburn, Alabama and Georgia, and Alex Collins, who will choose between Miami and Arkansas.
I currently project Foster to select Alabama and Collins to pick Miami.
Prediction Changes
Since the release of our National Signing Day 2013 recruiting predictions, we've already had to change 7 of the 60, while another three have gone the way we thought.
Are we exceptionally inaccurate? I don't think so. Services like Rivals, Scout, 247 and ESPN are changing at a similar rate.
This merely illustrates the craziness that is the final few days of recruiting.
In order, here are the updates from the roughly 56 hours since the release.
Update 2/1 7:45 a.m. -- Multiple Miami outlets are now reporting that Kirkland will not be a Miami Hurricane. Given that, Arkansas, Ole Miss and Florida State are the strongest contenders. I'll go with the in-state school for now and choose the Seminoles.
Miami attempted to fix the PR damage done by arranging a meeting Saturday, but Kirkland did not commit to the Hurricanes, and will still decide between Florida State and Arkansas.
Update 2/1 10:45 a.m. -- In a shocking turn of events, I am now projecting Tunsil to land at Ole Miss.
This is one of the most shocking stories of the 2013 recruiting cycle.
Update 2/1 4:45 -- With Myles Jack cancelling his visits to Georgia and Florida State, I think Cameron Judge gets squeezed and Arizona State will be all too happy to take him.
There are just too many linebackers in UCLA's class for one to not get squeezed. Judge makes the most sense, and Arizona State is very much in play.
Update 2/1 4:45 p.m. -- Jack has cancelled visits to Florida State and Georgia, and I'll project him to stick with UCLA over Washington.
Jack is a very talented linebacker recruit originally from the South.
Update 2/2 11:45 a.m. -- Multiple reports have Powell heading to USC. Some say that Florida is not willing to wait for his decision.
Update 2/2 1:15 p.m. -- Based on conversations with multiple sources, I am now of the opinion that Matthew Thomas is most likely to sign with Florida State.
This change in prediction was independent of the Denver Kirkland news.
Update 2/2 5:00 p.m. -- Multiple sources are now indicating that A'Shawn Robinson is leaning heavily to the Crimson Tide. It's enough to change our prediction.
This is huge news for both the Texas and Alabama programs.
Update 2/2 9:35 p.m. -- Jordan Wilkins did indeed commit to Ole Miss.
Wilkins is a solid pickup for Ole Miss, and is a good replacement for Peyton Barber, who seems likely to switch his commitment to the Auburn Tigers, where he visited this weekend.
Update 2/3 12:20 a.m. --Given that Foster left his official visit to Auburn and bolted for Tuscaloosa, I am now changing my prediction for him to Alabama.
How can I not change the prediction after that?
Update 2/4 9:00 a.m. -- I am changing my pick to Miami.
I traded texts with Collins and he said that he still does not know where he is going.
Usually this close to a decision (Collins decides tonight at 10 p.m.), a kid will have one side feeling more confident than the other. But here, Collins has very solid sources at both programs believing he will sign with their school.
There are a lot of factors in play. As mentioned above, the relationship with Arkansas' coaches is extremely strong. It's also no secret that Collins likes Miami a lot (he was formerly a Miami commit), and that he is receiving a lot of local pressure, including from his mother, to stay home. It is hard to go against mommas and geography.
The tiebreaker here is the easing of his concerns about Miami's potential NCAA sanctions, given the NCAA's botching of the case.