High 10 wildest HS recruitments amongst Tremendous Bowl stars
The Tremendous Bowl kicks off Sunday and Rivals coated the overwhelming majority of Eagles and Chiefs gamers again after they had been highschool prospects. Rivals recruiting director Adam Gorney remembers the craziest recruitments from gamers going after soccer’s largest prize this weekend.
RELATED: How Eagles starters ranked in highschool | How Chiefs starters ranked in highschool | Evaluating 2025 five-stars to NFL standouts
1. SAQUON BARKLEY (2015)
Rutgers was the dream college rising up and after visiting with the Scarlet Knights and getting the provide, Barkley dedicated there early in his recruitment. Born in The Bronx, Barkley and his father grew up followers of Rutgers and the New York Jets, as they moved to the Allentown, Pa., space, the place he performed his highschool ball.
However as Barkley’s recruitment picked up by way of his junior season and Penn State got here rather more into the image, a flip occurred and among the finest backs in latest reminiscence would now play for the Nittany Lions and never the Scarlet Knights.
The four-star would turn into a celebrity at Penn State and the No. 2 total choose within the 2018 NFL Draft. One wonders what would have turn into of him – and the Rutgers program – if he caught together with his first resolution.
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2. A.J. BROWN (2016)
The excessive four-star receiver who was on the perimeter of a five-star rating was very critical about enjoying at Mississippi State. This was peak time for the Bulldogs within the Dan Mullen period when he took them to No. 1 within the nation and Brown was a Starkville child.
However Brown selected Ole Miss over Mississippi State, Alabama and Cal on the finish of the Hugh Freeze period and into the Matt Luke years. It nonetheless labored out for him as a result of he’s so proficient and had DK Metcalf alongside him as nicely.
Brown, who was additionally signed by the San Diego Padres out of highschool, centered on soccer in Oxford, had almost 3,000 receiving yards in three years and was a second-round choose in 2019.
3. COOPER DEJEAN (2021)
DeJean camped at Iowa in the summertime earlier than his junior 12 months at Ida Grove (Iowa) Oabcig and didn’t actually stand out all that a lot. Iowa normal supervisor/chief of employees Tyler Barnes mentioned throughout a signing day interview that he was on their board as a walk-on heading into his junior 12 months.
However Barnes made the almost four-hour trek to western Iowa to see DeJean play basketball that 12 months and Barnes mentioned it took him about six performs to know he might play soccer for the Hawkeyes.
The teaching employees didn’t know if he’d be a nook, a security and even an outdoor linebacker however they wished him on the staff. So Iowa provided him and he grew to become among the finest gamers in latest reminiscence there earlier than turning into an early second-round choice.
4. CJ GARDNER-JOHNSON (2016)
Gardner-Johnson was in all places in his recruitment. The four-star cornerback from Cocoa, Fla., dedicated to Miami early solely to again off that pledge and choose Florida. However after some teaching turmoil in Gainesville, Gardner-Johnson reopened his recruitment as Miami got here again within the image together with Ohio State whereas the Gators caught round.
Then within the spring previous to his senior season, the Cocoa standout re-committed to Florida however by the autumn had 5 official visits deliberate to Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Georgia and again with the Gators. He determined to stay with Florida and he grew to become a fourth-round choose.
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5. ELIAS RICKS (2020)
Ricks was a five-star prospect and the top-rated cornerback within the 2020 class. He grew to become a nationwide title after having six pick-sixes in a single season at Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei earlier than transferring to Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy for his senior season.
USC pushed exhausting together with Alabama however this was a battle between LSU and Ohio State till dedication day when the Tigers received out. Ricks had an outstanding freshman season in Baton Rouge alongside fellow five-star Derek Stingley Jr., however there have been all the time rumors of stress that Stingley was getting too many accolades and Ricks was seeking to switch.
Ohio State seemed to be the vacation spot however Ricks selected Alabama the place he performed nicely however by no means had that magic like 12 months 1 in Baton Rouge. He ended up going undrafted in 2023 however was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles.
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6. CHRIS JONES (2013)
When Jones dedicated to Mississippi State in the summertime earlier than his junior season, the headline on Rivals was as nondescript because the information: “Bulldogs add one other dedication.”
On the time, the Houston, Miss., defensive lineman was not the five-star standout he would turn into as his recruitment completely blew up by way of his senior 12 months and particularly after an awesome efficiency on the Military All-American Bowl.
However as an increasing number of consideration got here from Ole Miss, Alabama, USC and others, so did some demise threats from all corners as Jones thought of taking different visits and seeing different faculties. Most definitely due to that scary state of affairs, Jones determined in opposition to some late visits and signed with Mississippi State earlier than turning into a second-round choose.
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7. PATRICK MAHOMES (2014)
Mahomes might find yourself being arguably the best participant in NFL historical past however when the excessive three-star quarterback was coming by way of Whitehouse, Texas, within the 2014 class, Mahomes solely had gives from Houston and Rice.
When DJ Gillins de-committed from Texas Tech, solely then did Mahomes turn into a prime choice for then-coach Kliff Kingsbury. Mahomes ended up starring in Lubbock earlier than turning into one thing of a controversial top-10 choose within the 2017 NFL Draft. Mitchell Trubisky was the one quarterback taken forward of him throughout that draft.
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8. TRAVIS KELCE (2008)
Rating Kelce as a two-star popping out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, seems like an enormous miss – and it was contemplating his Corridor of Fame profession – however it might have been inconceivable to know on the time as a result of Kelce had no need to play tight finish.
The settlement between Kelce and then-coach Brian Kelly was that he would are available in because the third quarterback within the Bearcats’ 2008 class and if it wasn’t offering outcomes then he would transfer positions. That’s precisely what occurred as Kelce grew, moved to tight finish and ended up as a third-round choose.
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9. JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER (2014)
Within the last days earlier than Smith-Schuster’s Nationwide Signing Day resolution, all the pieces was trending towards Oregon for the five-star security (who would find yourself enjoying offense for the rest of his profession as among the finest multi-position athletes in Rivals’ historical past).
The Geese seemed robust and at a Lengthy Seaside (Calif.) Poly occasion, Smith even mentioned, ‘Go Geese’ so it seemed as if Oregon was nicely forward of USC. However on nationwide tv, Smith-Schuster had a last-second change-of-heart and picked the hometown Trojans. He ended up as a second-round choose.
10. XAVIER WORTHY (2021)
In one of many wildest finishes to a recruitment, Worthy signed with Michigan and all was nicely till there was a problem together with his transcripts and by April after signing day, he wanted to search for a brand new dwelling so requested out of his letter of intent.
Greater than 30 applications tried to become involved with the Fresno (Calif.) Central East excessive four-star however he ended up at Texas the place he had an awesome profession and caught almost 200 passes in three seasons.
Worthy went on to interrupt the NFL Mix report within the 40-yard sprint and he was a late first-round choice within the 2024 NFL Draft.
