ESPN Football Recruiting – 300 Player Rankings
Belleville High School
Providence Day School
Saraland High School
Alabama
Committed
10/08/2022
Miami Central High School
Savannah Christian Preparatory School
A. H. Parker High School
Duncanville High School
North Shore High School
Zephyrhills High School
Schley High School
Thompson High School
USC
Committed
05/07/2023
Mandarin High School
Vigor High School
Georgia
Committed
01/16/2023
Choctaw County High School
Los Alamitos High School
Manchester High School
Georgia
Committed
01/16/2023
Bishop Gorman High School
Edwardsville High School
Charlton County High School
Georgia
Committed
04/08/2023
Bishop Gorman High School
Baylor School
Fellowship Christian School
JSerra Catholic High School
Lewisville High School
Brentwood Academy
Southside High School
Spain Park High School
West Orange High School
Saint Martins Episcopal School
Tampa Bay Tech Senior High
Oregon
Committed
01/26/2023
Maury High School
Douglass High School
Ohio State
Committed
07/29/2022
Mater Dei High School
Mission Viejo High School
Raines High School
Thomas County Central High School
IMG Academy
Buford High School
Georgia
Committed
12/08/2022
IMG Academy
Mater Dei High School
St. Frances Academy
Mater Dei High School
Summer Creek High School
Monroe High School
Charles Henderson High School
Westgate High School
Saraland High School
Woodward Academy
Northmont Senior High School
Houston County High School
Liberty Christian Academy
Imhotep Institute Charter High School
Bonita High School
Gonzaga College High School
Patricia E. Paetow High School
Elba High School
Horn High School
Ball High School
Mater Dei High School
Quitman High School
The Benjamin School
Spanish Fork High School
McKinney High School
Cass Technical High School
Jordan High School
Wayne County High School
James S. Rickards High School
Pittsburg High School
Buford High School
Evans High School
Alabama
Committed
04/02/2023
John Carroll High School
Parkview High School
Our Lady of Good Counsel High School
Bergen Catholic High
Westlake High School
Lake City High School
Moore Haven Jr-Sr High School
Florida
Committed
04/04/2023
John F. Kennedy High School
A. H. Parker High School
Westside High School
Toms River North High School
Penn State
Committed
01/30/2023
IMG Academy
Colorado
Committed
12/04/2022
Lee County High School
Billy Ryan High School
IMG Academy
Enterprise High School
Salem High School
Weatherford High School
Foothill High School
Bishop Gorman High School
Greene Central High School
Cocoa High School
Bishop Alemany High School
Fort Bend Christian Academy
Homestead Senior High School
Kamiak High School
Holmes County Central High School
Oak Grove High School
Shaker Heights High School
Abraham Lincoln High School
Grimsley High School
Hattiesburg High School
Cardinal Newman High School
Parkview Arts & Science Magnet High
Cleveland Heights High School
The Ensworth School
Washington High School
Alamo Heights High School
Ennis High School
Oklahoma
Committed
05/01/2023
Skyline High School
Pleasant Grove High School
Vashon High School
Snyder High School
Peach County High School
George County High School
Alpharetta High School
Lee’s Summit North High School
St. Joseph’s Prep School
Centennial High School
Kahuku High School
Lovejoy High School
Lake Cormorant High School
Brownsboro High School
Mandarin High School
Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School
Friendship Collegiate Academy
Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School
Michigan
Committed
12/16/2022
Catholic Memorial High School
Imhotep Institute Charter High School
Georgia
Committed
07/11/2022
Highland Home High School
Rock Hill High School
Oklahoma
Committed
03/13/2023
American Heritage High School
Lufkin High School
Millwood High School
Mater Dei High School
Jackson Christian School
Port Charlotte High School
Findlay High School
McDonogh School
Thomas Dale High School
Saint Joseph Catholic School
Osceola High School
UCF
Committed
04/14/2023
Quartz Hill High School
South Oak Cliff High
Atascocita High School
Shadow Creek High School
Pahokee High School
Central High School
Los Alamitos High School
Winton Woods High School
Booker T. Washington High School
Rabun Gap Nacoochee School
Red Oak High School
Lakota West High School
San Ramon Valley High School
Whitmer High School
Faith Lutheran High School
St. Joseph’s Prep School
Langston Hughes High School
Alabama
Committed
04/13/2023
Sachse High School
Bethel High School
Buford High School
Berkeley Prep
St. Frances Academy
Geneva High School
Quince Orchard High School
Monsignor Donovan High School
Cy-Fair High School
Lexington Christian Academy
DeSoto High School
Plant Senior High School
Lamar High School
Booker T. Washington High School
North Catholic High School
Boerne High School
Saint Joseph Regional High School
Shadow Creek High School
Chapel Hill High School
Notre Dame De La Baie Academy
Valley Christian High School
Notre Dame Prepatory
Bellville High School
St. John’s College High School
Weiss High School
Orange Lutheran High School
Opelousas High School
Jasper High School
Blue Valley Northwest High School
American Heritage High School
Oak Ridge High School
Miami Central High School
Bishop Verot High School
Vandebilt Catholic School
University Laboratory School
Fenwick High School
DeMatha Catholic High School
Brainerd High School
North Crowley High School
Memorial High School
Arbor View High School
Newton High School
Warner Robins High School
Bishop McDevitt High School
Groves High School
DeSoto High School
West Bloomfield High School
IMG Academy
Maury High School
Imani Christian Academy
Murrieta Valley High School
Calhoun High School
Calvary Baptist Academy
Sierra Canyon High School
Eastern View High School
Siegel High School
Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory School
Robinson High School
Saraland High School
David Lipscomb High School
Osceola High School
St. Frances Academy
Miami Central High School
Gautier High School
Ben Davis High School
DePaul Catholic High School
Dyersburg High School
IMG Academy
Acadiana High School
Derby Senior High School
Belen Jesuit Prep
The Hun School Of Princeton
Mill Valley High School
Cardinal Ritter College Prep
Archbishop Spalding High School
Red Oak High School
Carl Albert High School
St. Frances Academy
Auburn-Riverside High School
Brandeis High School
Cheltenham High School
The Woodlands High School
Penn State
Committed
04/16/2023
Jefferson High School
The Woodlands High School
Saint Thomas Aquinas High School
Palm Beach Central High School
Saguaro High School
Andy Dekaney High School
David Lipscomb High School
Palatine High School
Simeon Career Academy
Legacy The School of Sport Sciences
Checotah High School
De La Salle High School
Richland High School
Orange Lutheran High School
Columbia High School
Pittsburg High School
Jesuit High School
Rabun Gap Nacoochee School
Clear Lake High School
West Broward High School
Eau Gallie High School
Sierra Canyon High School
Mount Tabor High School
Saint Joseph Regional High School
East Forsyth High School
Somerset Academy
Sultana High School
Ball High School
Jule F. Sumner High School
Milton High School
Seminole High School
Highland Home High School
Matoaca High School
Estacado High School
Martin Luther King High School
Winslow Township High School
JSerra Catholic High School
Millard North High School
Nebraska
Committed
04/20/2023
Trinity Episcopal School
Seminole High School
Wynnewood High School
Vanderbilt
Committed
04/08/2023
Miami Central High School
Warren Central High School
Warren High School
East St. Louis High School
Isidore Newman School
LSU
Committed
12/21/2022
Carroll High School
IMG Academy
Cahokia High School
Greer Senior High School
Slinger High School
Stanford
Committed
Buford High School
Woodward Academy
San Juan Hills High School
Dade Christian High School
King Drew Medical Magnet High School
Aliquippa High School
Germantown High School
Belleville High School
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Dan Wetzel
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel was on the team bus Saturday morning as it pulled in front of Neyland Stadium for the annual spring game. It was the end of a tumultuous, and potentially career-defining, week.
The Volunteers had just split with their star quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, after an attempted renegotiation of Iamaleava’s compensation for the 2025 season fell through.
Heupel and Iamaleava had always had a strong relationship, but when the QB didn’t report to practice Friday, there was little choice. “We’re moving on as a program without him,” Heupel would say later.
After all, how can you run a college team when your leader is holding out?
“There’s nobody bigger than the ‘Power T,'” Heupel said.
A great line. And a true one that would ring out as a rallying cry to NIL-weary coaches across the country: “If they want to play holdout, they might as well play get out,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal echoed.
Still, this is the SEC. This is major college football with all the expectations and pressure. This is a coaching profession where careers can turn on a single game, let alone season. “Do it the right way” tends to work only if you win.
As Heupel was about to step off the bus to face a crowd of Volunteers fans, his team was, at least on paper, less of a contender than two days prior. The reaction could have gone in any direction.
He was greeted with roaring cheers.
Iamaleava’s legacy as a quarterback remains unknown, a work in progress for the 20-year-old with three years of collegiate eligibility remaining.
In terms of his impact on the early days of the NIL era in college football though, he is a seminal figure, somehow representing both ends of the pendulum swing of player empowerment.
In the spring of 2022, Iamaleava, then just a high school junior, agreed to a four-year deal worth approximately $8 million with Tennessee’s NIL collective, Spyre Sports Group. It included a $350,000 up-front payment, per reporting by the Athletic, with money paid out during his senior season at Warren High School in California.
It was a bold, and strategically smart, play by Tennessee. While other schools were wading cautiously into NIL and the NCAA was feverishly trying to set up so-called “guardrails,” the Vols smartly saw where things were headed. When the NCAA eventually challenged the deal, the state’s attorney general stepped in and won an injunction.
Now, however, the player who was once cheered and who was paid millions before becoming the full-time starter is the poster child for NIL backlash. Rather than play out the final season of his deal — which would pay him about $2.2 million — Iamaleava reportedly wanted some $4 million that was commensurate with what other quarterbacks who transferred this year were getting.
Asking for more was Iamaleava’s right, but with rights comes risk. As with any negotiation, you can push too far.
Iamaleava is a promising and tough player, but 11 of his 19 touchdown passes last season came against lesser competition. He has great potential, but something didn’t sit right in Knoxville with how the process has played out.
This felt obnoxious.
“It’s unfortunate, just the situation and where we’re at with Nico,” Heupel said. “I want to thank him for everything that he’s done since he’s gotten here … a great appreciation for that side of it.”
That said, if being the starter and cornerstone at Tennessee — with its rich history, its massive fan base, its QB-developing head coach, its SEC spotlight and years of familiarity — isn’t enough without a few more bucks, then so be it.
It can’t all be about money, even these days.
“This program’s been around for a long time,” Heupel said. “A lot of great coaches, a lot of great players that came before, laid the cornerstone pieces, the legacy, the tradition that is Tennessee football. It’s going to be around a long time after I’m done and after they’re gone.”
Whatever games Tennessee might lose without Iamaleava, it gained in dignity by drawing a line in the sand. That’s what the fans were rightfully cheering; a boomerang that saw the school claw back some power.
Just as Iamaleava had the right under current rules to walk away if his demands weren’t meant, so too could the Volunteers. If it’s all business, then let it be all about business.
Iamaleava will be fine, mind you. He has already made more money than most Americans ever will, and he can’t legally drink yet. And this isn’t the first of these kinds of disputes, just the first that was so public and messy.
Iamaleava might or might not get $4 million next season. Negotiations were poorly managed, costing the player leverage and reputation. The market for a guy with questionable commitment, especially during the late transfer cycle, could be limited, what with big-time schools mostly set at QB.
He will still get plenty though. Would he have developed better long term under Heupel playing for the Vols? Well, Iamaleava didn’t think it was worth finding out.
Again, his career, his choice. It’s all fair game.
As for Tennessee, it might not even take a step back this season. Having a QB focused on his next deal rarely works in the first place. This might even be a boost for team chemistry.
Long term, it’s still Tennessee. It’s still Rocky Top. Heupel still has the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the Class of 2026 — Faizon Brandon of North Carolina — committed.
Most importantly, the Vols served a very public reminder that spending cash doesn’t assure anything. Money matters, but it has to be on the right guys — just as it is in the NFL or NBA. Think of how some of those big-budget Texas A&M recruiting classes worked out.
Ohio State is believed to have had the largest NIL budget last season. If it had gone to players who cared only about their deals and not each other, the Buckeyes would have collapsed after the loss to Michigan. Instead they got stronger.
What Iamaleava, once the poster child for players getting their value when he was still a recruit, has become is proof that a team can have values, too.
A program has to stand for something.
Tennessee showed it does, and that is why Heupel, at the end of a difficult week, found Tennessee fans standing for something as well.
To cheer.
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Bradford Doolittle
CHICAGO — At 27, Luis Robert Jr. is already a relic of sorts, the last remaining player from the White Sox’s all-too-brief era of contention.
On the south side of Chicago, that era seems like a very long time ago. That’s how a pair of 100-loss seasons, including last year’s record-setting 121-loss campaign, can warp a baseball fan’s perception of time. In fact, it was only 3½ years ago when, on Oct. 12, 2021, Chicago was eliminated by the Houston Astros from the American League Division Series.
Seventeen players appeared in that game for the White Sox. Robert had a hit that day but had to leave early with leg tightness — one of a string of maladies that have bedeviled his career. He is the only one of those 17 still in Chicago.
The irony: If Robert was playing up to his potential, he wouldn’t be around, either. And if he regains his mojo, he’s as good as gone.
Robert has the chance to be the most sought-after position player in 2025’s in-season trade market. Pull up any speculative list of trade candidates and Robert is near the top. Executives around the league ask about him eagerly. Despite a lack of positive recent results — including a disastrous 2024 and a rough start to this season — it’s not hard to understand why.
“A player like Luis Robert always gets a lot of attention,” White Sox GM Chris Getz said when the season began. “We’re really happy where he’s at, and how he approached spring training and how he’s performing. We expect him to perform at a very high level.”
Robert’s tools are impossible to miss. His bat speed (93rd percentile in 2025, per Statcast) is elite. His career slugging percentage when putting the ball in play is .661, slotting him in the 89th percentile among all hitters. It’s the same figure as New York Mets superstar Juan Soto. Robert’s sprint speed (29.0 feet per second) is in the 94th percentile. When healthy, he’s a perennial contender to add a second Gold Glove to the one he won as a rookie.
Still, the allure of Robert is as much about his contract as it is about his baseline talent. Smack in his prime and less than two years removed from a 5.3 bWAR season, Robert will earn just $15 million in 2025 and then has two team-friendly club options, both at $20 million with a $2 million buyout.
No potentially available hitter has this combination: a recent record of elite production, a right-now prime age, top-of-the-charts underlying talent and a club-friendly contract with multiyear potential but plenty of off-ramps. That such a player toils for a team projected to finish in the basement has for a while now made this a matter of if, not when, he is moved.
“I didn’t think I’d be here,” Robert said through an interpreter. “But I’m glad that I’m here. This is the organization that made my dream come true. It’s the only organization that I know.”
The White Sox could certainly have dealt Robert by now, based on that contract/talent combination alone. But the luxury of the contract from Chicago’s standpoint is that it buys the team time to seek maximum return. First, Robert has to show he’s healthy — so far, so good in 2025 — then he needs to demonstrate the kind of production that would make an impact for a team in win-now mode.
“He’s just extremely talented,” first-year White Sox manager Will Venable said. “The one thing that I learned about him, and watching him practice every day, is he practices extremely hard. He’s extremely focused. He certainly has the physical ability, but he’s the type of player he is because he works really hard.”
Certainly, the skills are elite, but the production has been inconsistent and, for now, headed in the wrong direction.
When Robert broke in with Chicago a few years ago, he was a consensus top-five prospect. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel ranked Robert fifth before the 2020 season, but in his analysis of the ranking, McDaniel noted one of the key reasons Robert is still on the White Sox five years later: “The concern is that Robert’s pitch selection is weak enough — described as a 35 on the 20-80 scale — that it could undermine his offensive tools.”
Since the beginning of last season, there have been 202 hitters with at least 450 plate appearances. According to the FanGraphs metric wRC+, only 15 have fared worse than Roberts’ 80. Only 10 have posted a worse ratio of walks to strikeouts (0.22). Only nine have a lower on-base percentage (.275).
Despite starting the season healthy, his superficial numbers during the early going are even worse than last year. As the team around him plunged to historic depths, Robert slashed to career lows across the board (.224/.278/.379 over 100 games). This year, that line is a disturbing .163/.250/.245.
There is real evidence that Robert is trying to reform. The most obvious evidence is a walk rate (10.3%) nearly double his career average. The sample is small, but there are under-the-hood indicators that suggest it could be meaningful. For example, Robert’s early chase rate (34.2%, per Statcast) is a career low and closer to the MLB standard (28.5).
For aggressive swingers well into their careers, trying to master plate discipline is a tall task. Few established players of that ilk have had a longer road to travel than Robert. During the wild-card era, there have been 1,135 players who have compiled at least 1,500 plate appearances. Only 17 have a lower walk-to-strikeout ratio than Robert’s career figure (0.21).
On that list are 133 hitters with a career mark of 0.3 W/SO or lower, who together account for 645 different seasons of at least 300 plate appearances. Only 26 times did one of those seasons result in at least a league-average ratio, or about 4%. Only one of those hitters had two such seasons, another 24 did it once and 108 never did it.
Still, 4% isn’t zero. To that end, Robert spent time during the winter working out with baseball’s current leader in W/SO — Soto.
“It’s no secret that one of the reasons why he’s one of the best players in the game is that he’s quite disciplined,” Robert said. “And that’s one of the things I want to improve.”
That’s easier said than done, and for his part, Soto said the workouts were mostly just that — workouts, though they were conducted with Robert’s hitting coach on hand. As with everyone else, it’s the sheer talent that exudes from Robert that caught Soto’s eye.
“Tremendous baseball player and tremendous athlete,” Soto told ESPN’s Jorge Castillo in Spanish. “He showed me a lot of his abilities that I didn’t know he had. That guy has tremendous strength, tremendous power. And he really surprised me a lot in everything we did.”
In this year’s Cactus League, Robert produced a .300/.386/.500 slash line, with four homers.
“If I’m able to carry on the work that I did during spring training, I’m going to have a good season,” Robert said. “Especially in that aspect of my vision of the whole plate. I know I can do it.”
Getz — who will have to determine if and when to pull the trigger on a Robert deal — lauded Robert’s efforts during the spring.
“Luis Robert is in an excellent spot,” Getz said. “The amount of three-ball counts that he had in spring training was by far the most he has had as a professional player. So that just speaks to his determination and focus to put together quality at-bats.”
It’s a bittersweet situation. The remaining vestige of the last good White Sox team remains the club’s most talented player. He’s in his age-27 season, often the apex of a hitter’s career. Yet if he reaches that apex, it’s only going to smooth his way out of town.
For the White Sox, all they can do is make sure Robert can stay focused on the field, while tuning out the trade chatter that isn’t going away.
“We’re going to support Luis,” Getz said. “I know that oftentimes he gets asked questions whether he’s going to be traded, but I’ve been really impressed with how he’s been able to remain focused on his craft. He’s very motivated to show the baseball world what he’s capable of doing.”
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Max Olson
Cal running back Jaydn Ott entered the transfer portal on Monday, sources told ESPN.
Ott, a graduate transfer, is one of the top returning running backs in college football and is expected to be highly coveted in the spring transfer window.
The 6-foot, 205-pound rusher was a first-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2023 after leading the conference with 1,315 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns. Ott has produced 3,460 all-purpose yards over the past three seasons, third most among all FBS backs set to return for 2025.
Ott announced in December that he planned to return to Cal for his senior season, but sources said the Bears were fighting off significant SEC interest in recent weeks prior to his decision to officially enter the portal. Ott has one season of eligibility remaining.
Ott received preseason All-America recognition going into his junior season but suffered an ankle injury in the Bears’ season opener that limited his productivity over the rest of the season. He rushed for 385 yards on 3.3 yards per carry and caught 24 passes for 222 yards and another score in 2024.
As a true freshman starter in 2022, Ott earned Freshman All-America honors after finishing with 1,218 all-purpose yards — fourth best in the Pac-12 — and 11 touchdowns.
Cal has lost four running backs to the transfer portal this spring between Ott, Kadarius Calloway, Byron Cardwell Jr. and Justin Williams-Thomas. The Bears do return Jaivian Thomas, who led the team with 626 rushing yards and seven touchdowns last season.
College football’s spring transfer window officially opens Wednesday and closes on April 25.
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