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admin“We’ve taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That’s no way to grow up.”
That was journalist Rikki Schlott speaking before a sold-out crowd on Monday night at a live taping of The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie podcast in New York City. Schlott, 23, teamed up with Greg Lukianoff to co-write The Canceling of the American Mind .
Lukianoff, 49, is the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and co-author with Jonathan Haidt of the bestselling The Coddling of the American Mind (2018) . Schlott is a fellow at FIRE, a New York Post columnist, and a co-host of the Lost Debate podcast .
Cancel culture, they argue, constitutes a serious threat to free speech and open inquiry in academia and the workplace, and is best understood as a battle for power, status, and dominance.
Watch the video of the full event, and find a condensed transcript below.
Reason: What’s the elevator pitch for this book? Why is it relevant now?
Rikki Schlott: Well, I think it’s twofold. On the first front, people are still saying that cancel culture does not exist, which is absolutely crazy and defies all statistics fundamentally. But also, cancel culture is not just about the people that are torn down, it’s about the epistemic crisis that it creates and the devastation of the body of common knowledge that we all share, and also the undermining of trust between people.
And for me as a young person, the undermining of being able to grow up and have the freedom to fumble and make mistakes as well. So I think it’s important on a ton of different levels.
Reason: What is the working definition of cancel culture?
Greg Lukianoff: Basically, we’re trying to give the historical era that we’re in a name. I’m a First Amendment lawyer. I’m big on the history of freedom of speech. And a lot of what we call mass censorship events have names. So Alien Sedition 1798, the Red Scare One in the 1920s, Red Scare Two, also known as McCarthyism, the Comic Book Scare, etc.
So basically we’re proposing more or less that this be a historical definition of a unique and weird period where there’s been a lot of people losing their jobs because of their opinion. That’s really one of the things we’re trying to show, is that this is on par with any of these previous moments of mass censorship, and actually exceeds them in terms of the numbers of professors fired.
Reason: Can you elaborate more on the number of firings you are referring to?
Lukianoff: So real quick through the stats. Our definition is: the uptick of campaigns beginning around 2014 to get people fired, de-platformed, expelled, and the culture of fear that resulted from that. And I think it’s always important to root numbers in comparisons.
When I started at FIRE, I actually landed in Philadelphia at 9:10 in the morning on 9/11. All of my first cases were involving people who said jerky or insensitive things about the attacks or people who said, “Let’s go get those terrorists.” So it was a bad period for academic freedom. There was a moral panic, and it actually followed the normal M.O. of mass censorship events in history. There was a national security crisis. That’s usually the way it goesit’s either a national security crisis or a large-scale war that you have these mass censorship events. And 17 professors were targeted for being canceled, as we would say, which basically means punished for their speech. There were more students as well, but we were pretty small at the time, so we know that we probably only know a fraction of the students who got in trouble. Three professors were fired. That’s really, really bad historically. All three of those professors, by the way, were justified under things that weren’t related to speech.
For the cancel culture era, we’re talking over 1,000 attempts to get professors fired or punished in some way. About two-thirds of them resulted in someone being punished. About one-fifth of them, so about 200, resulted in them losing their jobs. During McCarthyism, the number of people who lost their jobs due to being a communist is about 63. They count other people who lost their opinions in this massive study that they did right towards the end of McCarthyism, and there were about 90 fired for their opinion overall, which is usually rounded up to 100.
We now think that they’re probably somewhere between 100 and 150 fired from 2014 to mid-last year, July. We know this is a crazy undercount as well. According to our survey, one in six professors say that they’ve either been threatened with investigation or investigated for their academic freedom. That means the numbers are absolutely colossal. Students, about 9 percent of them, say that they’ve actually faced sanctions for their speech. That’s an insanely huge number. And about one-third of professors say that they’ve been told to avoid controversial research. So we know that we’re only seeing a portion of it.
Reason: The first case study in your book is at Hamline University. Can you remind us what happened there and why it exemplifies cancel culture?
Schlott: There was a professor named Erica Lpez Prater who decided to show an image of the prophet Muhammad in one of her courses, which is considered sacrilegious by some people who follow Islam. And so she said in her syllabus that that was going to be in a class. She told people that you could get an excuse from class if it’s untenable for you to see that. She warned them multiple times ahead of time. She gave ample warning in every way, shape, and form, and also just told everyone that, “The only reason I’m showing you this is because there are some sects of Islam that do not find this offensive. This is a piece of art that was commissioned by a Muslim king.”
She ended up being squeezed out of her job for doing that because one student did show up to that class and decided afterward that she was offended. And the president of the university came out and said, “This is beyond freedom of speech, this is just offensive.” And it was a perfect example of cancel culture just defying common sense, defying just pluralism and democracy on a very fundamental level. And so that’s why we decided to call this one out as our opener because pretty much everyone condemned it in the end. It was unbelievable. And Hamline did have to reverse course.
Reason: The happy ending there is that the university president kind of got pushed out. What was the reaction of other academics?
Lukianoff: This was a positive case in the sense that people really came to her defense. The idea that she wasn’t rehired in the face of it is really stunning. Penn America was involved, of course, FIRE was involved, the American Association of University Professors came out and condemned it. So it was a moment of some amount of unanimity, but it somehow wasn’t enough at the same time.
Reason: What role do psychotherapists play in cancel culture?
Lukianoff: This is near and dear to my heart because my experience with Coddling of the American Mind started with me being hospitalized for depression back in the Belmont Center in Philadelphia back in 2007. The idea that you would actually have psychotherapists who think they should intervene if you have wrongthink in your mind when you’re talking one-on-one with them is about as horrifying as I can imagine. It’s no exaggeration to say I’m not sure I’d still be here if I actually had a psychotherapist who corrected me.
As far as a chapter that we could easily expand into its own book, and maybe we should, the psychotherapy stuff scares the living hell out of us. I know we talked to a number of practitioners. In terms of what I’ve heard from the existing clinical psychology programs is that they will pain over the nightmare scenario of, “What if it turns out the person I’m treating is a Trump supporter or a Republican?” And of course, the answer is, “Then you treat them compassionately,” not, “You have to drop out.”
Reason: Rikki, you were coming of age in the era that you guys are writing about. Have you experienced th mindset of “If you are a bad person, you have bad ideas”?
Schlott: Well, for me personally, I was in high school in the lead-up to the 2016 election and we just had a scourge of cancel culture explode even though we were still teenagers. I, at the time, was more worried about boys and acne than Trump, but I saw that en masse scale for the first time. It was really frightening to me. And frankly, as a result, I self-censored for a while, and by the time I got to NYU, I knew I was in an ideological minority as a right-leaning libertarian here in New York City. I actually started hiding books under my bed when I moved in because I was a new freshman and trying to make friends. Thomas Sowell and Jordan Peterson were under the bedbanished.
I think it’s so important to realize that there is a crisis of authenticity with young people who are growing up, who were supposed to explore different ideas and be an anarchist one day and a communist the next day and figure it out in the end, but we’ve taught young people that any of their missteps or any of their heterodox opinions are grounds to tear them down. That’s no way to grow up. You cannot be a young person and grow up in a graceless society.
I think it’s important to realize that there are a whole host of young people who did not come from this squeaky wheel, the tyranny of the minority group of people who do show up in institutions and scare the life out of everyone. But the fact of the matter is, whether it’s young people or American people at large, 80 percent of Americans think political correctness has gone too far. The vast majority of people do not want to live in a world where they’re tripping over tripwires at every turn or censoring their speech or biting their tongue for fear that someone will give them the worst possible interpretation of what they said. This is a tyranny of the minority, and courage is contagious, and there is strength in numbers, and I think that we really can fight back with that knowledge
Reason: Can you explain what the Woodward Report was?
Lukianoff: It was so terrific, and Yale specifically disavowed it in court. The Woodward Report was this wonderful report that came out in the 1970s. It was a stirring defense of the importance of freedom of speech, even for speech that we find deeply offensive. It was supposed to be kind of one of the things that really set Yale apart, and they haven’t been living up to it for a long time. But one thing that was kind of sobering to see is them actually going to court in a case where actually it was more of an attack on the right, that they were in a litigation against this one professor, and they specifically disowned the Woodward Report, basically saying in court that, “That’s just puffery. We didn’t really mean any of that.”
Reason: What is the right wing version of cancel culture?
Schlott: Yeah, actually, it surprises most people to hear that about a third of attempts to get professors censored or fired are coming from the right and are attacks on professors to the left of the students. That tends to happen less in the really shiny institutions that garner the headlines and more at smaller schools, but it’s still meaningful.
There’s intergroup cancel culture in a way that I think is really frightening on the right. We talk about David French, for example, who’s maligned for having some different views about Trump and conservatism. I think, especially in the post-MAGA era, there’s a reflexive response to anyone who might be critical of Trump or to doubt Trump to cancel them or to squeeze them out. We talk about Megyn Kelly as an example of that, who gave me my first job in media, and was squeezed out from the right and then from the lefta demonstration of how one person who is or at the time was in pretty much the center right area could be canceled by both sides.
Reason: Where does right-wing cancel culture come from?
Schlott: I mean, I would say as someone who is right-leaning, and who grew up in a context where I now realize I wrongfully associated illiberalism with liberalism just because of the context of the years that I grew up in. I’ve realized that the left completely left freedom of speech, which used to be a fundamental principle of theirs, up for grabs. And anyone could grab that mantle and say, “Here’s the restorative, pluralistic democratic vision to move forward.” But instead, I think that we’ve seen quite a lot of people on the right just fight illiberalism with illiberalism and fists with fists in a way that is just so infuriating.
Reason: How has cancel culture erupted in the last few weeks in response to the war between Israel and Hamas? Do you think that Harvard students should lose their jobs over their opinions on Israelis and Palestinians?
Lukianoff: It is still cancel culture. I mean just the fact that it’s cancel culture that many people agree with doesn’t make it not cancel culture and I don’t like blacklists. I like to actually deal with people individually, find out what they really think about something, and give the benefit of the doubt.
Now to be clear, do companies have the legal right to hire who they want? Yes, and I oppose laws actually saying that they have to hire, but I do want people to take a deep breath, take some distance and say to themselves, “What if we live in a country where every company was also not just a widget shop, but also a political shop, and the boss’s politics decided who got to keep their job?” And it’s not that fanciful because that’s what it started to look like in 2020 and 2021 where people were getting fired for just having mildly critical Black Lives Matter statements. So I want people to consider what the world would look like if essentially you have a First Amendment, but you can’t have a job if you actually honestly say your political opinion.
I will give one caveat though to the Harvard students. I think that a big part of the problem we have as a country is that we too reflexively hire elite college graduates. I think this creates serious problems. I think you should try to find out when you’re hiring from elite college campuses by asking, “Okay, no, I understand you have a view that I find abhorrent. Can you work with people who disagree with you?”
Reason: Universities love to shoot their mouths off about all kinds of things. In your perfect universe, would universities never talk about anything other than higher education? Is the problem that they’re making too many statements, or that they are not making the right statements, or that they’re just hypocritical?
Lukianoff: In my perfect universe, every university would adopt a 1967 University of Chicago C Report, which is a very strong admonition not to take political positions. We are not the speakers, we are the forum for the speakers and the thinkers, which I think is the right attitude to have about higher education.
Reason: What can we do about cancel culture?
Schlott: Yeah, this is the conclusion of our book where we really make the case that we all need to buy into this free speech culture. That the only way we can supplant cancel culture is by going back to the old idioms that so many Americans were raised with, like, “to each their own.” This is a free country, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. Because I think we’ve underestimated just how far we’ve drifted away from that. Parents have not realized that they need to be aggressively mindful in instilling those values into a generation of young people who’ve been taught the absolute opposite, whether it was in K-12 or on college campuses, that words can wound and always trust your feelings, and that you can insulate yourself. You need safe spaces and trigger warnings.
We all need to buy-in to fight back against this tyranny of the minority of people who want to tear other people down to exercise cheap ad hominem attacks and dodge actual meaningful conversation. Because that’s the only way, if we actually want to move forward in a diverse and pluralistic society, we need to be able to have civil conversation and dialogue about the touchiest and most contentious issues. And unles we actually, mindfully fight back against cancel culture, we are just going to slump down into dangerous and illiberal tendencies.
This interview has been condensed and edited for style and clarity. Video Editor: Adam Czarnecki

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At least 13 people confirmed dead and more than 20 missing from girls camp in Texas flooding
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July 4, 2025By
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How every five-star college football recruit fits at his new school
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July 4, 2025By
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Jul 4, 2025, 02:50 PM ET
College football’s Class of 2026 features a record 23 five-star prospects atop ESPN’s latest top 300 rankings for the cycle. Among that group, only seven remain uncommitted, including No. 1 overall prospect Lamar Brown and top running back Derrek Cooper, No. 7 in the ESPN 300. After nearly one-third of the 2026 five-star class made their commitments between May 1 and June 30, a handful more are set to come off the board in July.
For each commitment, recruiting reporter Eli Lederman and scouts Craig Haubert and Tom Luginbill will look at how recruits landed at their school and what we can expect in college:
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 2
School/Hometown: St. Frances Academy/Baltimore, Maryland
Committed to: Maryland Terrapins
Background: Once ranked as the cycle’s No. 1 defender, Elee committed to Maryland on Dec. 7, 2024, after logging 120 total tackles and 23 sacks across his sophomore and junior seasons. If he ultimately signs later this year, Elee will join the Terps as the highest-ranked recruit in program history.
Despite his December pledge, Elee stayed in touch with other Power 4 programs in January and initially scheduled spring official visits to Auburn, Ohio State, Penn State, South Carolina and Texas A&M before canceling those trips and formally shutting down his recruitment in late February. As things stand, Elee is still locked in with the Terps with his June 20 trip to Maryland standing as the only official visit on his calendar this spring.
Scout’s take: Good recruiting starts at home. If Maryland holds on to Elee, he’d be the first No. 1 prospect from the area to reach Maryland in the ESPN 300 era, and the first time in five cycles the Terps landed the top in-state prospect. At roughly 6-foot-4 with an 80-inch wingspan, Elee is a lean, lengthy and disruptive edge rusher. That length blended with an excellent first step and a strong motor wreaks havoc off the edge. Maryland ranked last in sacks (14) in the Big Ten in 2024. The Terps hope signing Elee and 2025 ESPN 300 defensive end Zahir Mathis will remedy that situation. They could emerge as one of the conference’s most formidable pass-rushing duos. — Craig Haubert
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 3
School/Hometown: Nixa High School/Nixa, Missouri
Committed to: Miami Hurricanes
Background: Cantwell is the son of two Olympic shot putters — including a silver medalist at the 2008 Beijing Games — and his commitment to the Hurricanes marks perhaps the biggest recruiting win in Mario Cristobal’s tenure leading Miami.
A towering, yet athletic lineman, Cantwell kept in-state Missouri and Michigan involved in his process before cutting his finalists to Georgia, Miami, Ohio State and Oregon last month. Cantwell took a multi-day trip to see the Hurricanes in March and joins Miami as the program’s highest-ranked pledge since Cristobal took over following the 2021 season. Cantwell, a two-time state champion shot putter who holds multiple national high school throwing records, intends to continue his track and field career alongside football in college.
Scout’s take: A former offensive lineman at Miami, Cristobal has landed a key building block for that unit. The Canes’ O-Line unit looks to be strong this season, but could lose several pieces from that group after this season. Cristobal began reloading the unit in the Class of 2025, by signing the top interior offensive lineman in the country in S.J. Alofaituli, who projects to be in the mix this fall. Now the Canes has the No. 1 OT in the 2026 class.
Cantwell is a massive presence at roughly 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds and is powerful and tenacious in his play. Beyond his size, Cantwell is a flexible big body with good feet. He could have some growing pains early in his college career in pass protection, but should be expected to come in and play right away. His arrival could time well with the potential departure of 2023 five-star OL Francis Mauigoa who is projected as a 2026 first-round NFL pick. Cantwell could have a similar trajectory as Mauigoa in that he is a plug-and-play addition that experiences some early challenges but continues to develop into a key piece of the unit and an eventual NFL prospect. — Haubert
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 4
School/Hometown: Mater Dei/Santa Ana, California
Committed to: Ohio State Buckeyes
Background: The son of late Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, Chris Henry Jr. has been committed since July 2023, longer than any other prospect within the 2026 ESPN 300.
A knee injury sidelined Henry for the majority of his junior campaign, but he proved himself as an elite playmaker in his last complete season, when he totaled 71 catches for 1,127 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore at Withrow (Ohio) High School in 2023. Initially set for official visits to Ohio State, Miami, Oregon and USC this spring, Henry shut down his recruitment April 1.
Scout’s take: To best maximize his traits, the Buckeyes will need to deploy Henry on the outside. He’s a one-on-one matchup problem on 50-50 balls whom Ohio State can maximize — particularly in the red zone. Even when covered, he isn’t really covered. Few wide receivers 6-foot-5 or taller can move, shake and produce after the catch like Henry. He shows an amazing run-and-catch aspect in the vertical passing game. Henry’s long arms and ability to elevate in traffic create distinct advantages on jump balls. His twitchiness is very similar to that of Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and sets him apart from other receivers at this size. — Tom Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 5
School/Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee/Nashville Christian
Committed to: Georgia Bulldogs
Background: Initially committed to Georgia in March 2024, Curtis took a winding road back to the Bulldogs’ 2026 class after he pulled his pledge and reopened his recruitment last October.
Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and South Carolina were all involved in Curtis’ process earlier this year. Curtis narrowed his options to the Bulldogs and Ducks in February, ultimately closing his recruitment with a series of visits and in-home meetings with both programs this spring prior to his May 5 announcement. In the 6-foot-4, 225-pound passer, coach Kirby Smart once again has the cycle’s top quarterback and a potential cornerstone for the program’s future under center.
Scout’s take: Curtis will join a QB room at Georgia that is loaded with former ranked prospects and his move will likely send one or more of those players to the transfer portal. Curtis has ideal size at 6-3, 222 pounds and has tracked at 18.5 MPH Max Speed which is impressive for someone his size. His measurable standard in every category tested meets or exceeds every measure you’d like to have in a QB prospect.
He has natural arm power, which is his best trait, and he makes throws from a lot of different arm angles. He has been clocked at a 4.8 40. He can be a crafty runner and use his athleticism, smarts and arm talent to make throws in and out of the pocket. — Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 6
School/Hometown: American Heritage/Plantation, Florida
Committed to: Texas Longhorns
Background: Bell, the son of 12-year NBA veteran Raja Bell, is the longest-tenured member of the Longhorns’ 2026 class. He has been locked in with Texas since he committed in June 2024 following a series of visits with the program last spring.
A three-year starter at American Heritage, Bell threw for 2,597 yards and 29 touchdowns with a 70.6% completion percentage as a junior last fall before suffering a season-ending leg injury. Despite flip efforts from Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and LSU earlier this year, Bell’s sights remain set on signing with the Longhorns and coach Steve Sarkisian in December.
Scout’s take: Hopefully Bell takes a page out of Arch Manning’s development blueprint when it comes to patience and focus. He’s going to only get bigger, stronger and more mature without being thrown into the fire right away. Bell’s fit is quite similar to what Manning brought to the Longhorns. He’s a naturally gifted passer who is a better athlete and runner than Quinn Ewers and gives the Longhorns another player they can develop. Bell has continually performed at a high level against top high school competition and should be ready to make the leap to the next level. — Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 8
School/Hometown: Grimsley High School/Greensboro, North Carolina
Committed to: Tennessee Volunteers
Background: Brandon committed to the Vols last August before totaling 2,159 passing yards and 27 touchdowns with one interception as a junior at Grimsley last fall.
Brandon remains in near-daily contact with the Tennessee staff and has not engaged with other programs in 2025. He is focused instead on helping recruit a 2026 Vols class that already includes ESPN 300 pass catchers in wide receiver Tyreek King and tight end Carson Sneed. Brandon will take his official visit to Tennessee on June 20.
Scout’s take: The departure of Nico Iamaleava could allow Brandon to battle for the starting job sooner rather than later in a very quarterback-friendly system. Several recent Volunteers quarterbacks have similar stature, athleticism and arm strength. Brandon is more advanced than Hendon Hooker at the same stage and the pair share several traits. Brandon is also much more accurate than Joe Milton. While he lacks Iamaleava’s polish at this stage, Brandon throws an exceptional deep ball, which is a requirement in this scheme that loves to attack vertically. — Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 9
School/Hometown: Tupelo High School/Tupelo, Mississippi
Committed to: Florida Gators
Background: ESPN’s No. 2 defender in the 2026 class has logged 18.5 sacks and more than 140 total tackles over three varsity seasons. If he signs with the Gators in December, he’ll represent Florida’s highest-ranked defensive addition in more than a decade.
McCoy initially committed to LSU earlier this year before reopening his recruitment in February. He trimmed his list of finalists to Florida, LSU and Texas last month, then sealed his commitment to the Gators across a pair of visits with the program between May 30 and June 14. McCoy will join former No. 10 overall prospect L.J. McCray as the program’s second five-star defensive end when he arrives on campus in 2026.
Scout’s take: The Gators finished last season strong, creating optimism for 2025 and beyond in the Billy Napier era. Part of the strong close was improved defensive play, and while further improvement and more consistency is needed among its front, Florida is stacking some excellent young talent to further fuel the excitement.
Former ESPN 300 edge rusher signees Tyreak Sapp and Kamran James should help fuel their ascension, but defenders more recently added can boost this unit to another level. The hope is that McCray, a five-star in the 2024 class, will break out and several new high-ceiling D-line signings — including No. 6 DE Jalen Wiggins — can get involved.
Florida is stopping there and now add to the mix another five-star defender in McCoy. A breakout performer during the Under Armour All-America week this past January, that setting showcased his impact ability. He has elite length with a big frame and has demonstrated a competitive “alpha dog” nature and plays with a motor. He has also shown good practice habits and all those traits are accentuated with his excellent physical tools. He moves well with good flexibility and has excelled in combine testing situations. He can develop into an disruptive, top pass rusher but can also play the run and be a factor in pursuit with his mobility.
McCoy has shown all the tools, that with continued positive progress, would align with past top SEC defenders. With his build, size and competitiveness, he can offer versatility as he can pair with McCray at the Edge spot initially but could also play inside at DT.
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 10
School/Hometown: Hattiesburg/Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Committed to: LSU Tigers
Background: Keys, ESPN’s No. 2 wide receiver prospect, committed to LSU over Alabama, Tennessee and Texas A&M on March 19. He enters late spring as the Tigers’ top-ranked commit and the leader atop one of the nation’s deepest wide receiver classes alongside fellow ESPN 300 pass catchers and LSU pledges Jabari Mack, Jakai Anderson and Kenny Darby.
However, Keys’ recruitment might not be over. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound receiver followed his commitment to LSU with visits to Ole Miss, Auburn and Miami, and Keys is still expected to take a handful of officials later this spring as perhaps the top flip candidate among the committed five-star prospects in the 2026 class.
Scout’s take: Even if he’s not an elite runner, Keys’ combination of size, range and ball skills is unmatched. Former LSU receiver Brandon LaFell is a favorable comparison. The Tigers can use Keys’ length, long arms and physicality to create matchup headaches for defenses either inside or outside. Keys has great body control and coordination on jump balls, making him a dangerous threat even when covered. He won’t win a lot of open-field foot races, but Keys could develop into a go-to option if utilized in the slot against zone coverages or on the outside for deep balls. — Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 11
School/Hometown: Reidsville/Reidsville, North Carolina
Committed to: Oregon Ducks
Background: Harrison kept a recruiting profile after he committed to Oregon over Tennessee, North Carolina, Miami, Penn State and Florida State before officially shutting down his recruitment in March.
A two-sport star who is committed to play basketball with the Ducks, Harrison remains the top-ranked member of an Oregon recruiting class that has lost four top-150 pledges since mid-February. Harrison, North Carolina’s second-ranked recruit in 2026, will be back on campus for an official visit with the Ducks in June.
Scout’s take: The tight end position played a pivotal role in Oregon fielding one of college football’s best passing attacks in 2024, with Terrance Ferguson hauling in 43 catches. While Harrison won’t arrive for another season, he’ll help the Ducks reload at that spot and could supply even greater big-play ability.
For Ferguson, the presence of Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart opened up more room to operate. Oregon’s high-level recruiting should allow Harrison to enjoy a similar situation playing alongside No. 1 wide receiver Dakorien Moore. An excellent basketball player, the 6-foot-6 Harrison has elite height, length and a massive catch radius. Much like former basketball-to-football standouts Jimmy Graham, Antonio Gates and Julius Thomas, Harrison can high-point the ball and box out defenders in contested situations, giving Oregon another dangerous playmaker in the passing game. — Haubert
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: No. 13
Committed to: Oregon Ducks
Background: Initially set to announce his decision on Aug. 5, Iheanacho moved up his commitment and joined Kendre’ Harrison and safety Jett Washington as the Ducks’ third five-star pledge in 2026.
Iheanacho, the 6-foot-7, 350-pound prospect from North Bethesda, Maryland, is ESPN’s second-ranked offensive tackle in 2026. He took visits to each of Auburn, LSU, Oregon and Penn State this spring before solidifying his place as the second-ranked pledge in the Ducks’ incoming class. After losing four-star pledge Kodi Greene (No. 38 overall) and missing on Miami commit and No. 1 offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell (No. 3) this spring, Ihenacho gives coach Dan Lanning and Oregon a much-needed cornerstone on the offensive line this cycle.
Scout’s take: The five-star is a huge addition for the Ducks, literally, as Iheanacho is a massive physical presence consistently measuring in at roughly 6-foot-6 and around 350 pounds. At this past January’s Under Armour All-America game, mixed with many of the nations top juniors and seniors, Iheanacho physically stood out among that offensive line group. His large frame also comes with elite arm length and he uses it well with violent hands.
His ranking though goes beyond just physical measurables as he also possesses good flexibility and not surprisingly is a powerful player. He is listed at tackle, but during that UA All-America week he worked at left tackle and left guard and could find a home, at least initially, at guard. At that spot, his size and power can be utilized while he further refines his footwork, but in the long run, he has exhibited to the tools to develop into an NFL-caliber lineman.
The Ducks are utilizing the portal to build their O-Line for 2025 with several notable transfers added to that unit. Youth will play a role in the future though. In the 2025 class, the Ducks signed five-star OT Douglas Utu and now have Iheanacho and ESPN 300 guard, and former Cal commit, Tommy Tofi. — Haubert
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 14
School/Hometown: Mount Miguel High School/Spring Valley, California
Committed to: Texas A&M Aggies
Background: Considered among the fastest prospects in the 2026 cycle, Arrington landed as the cornerstone pledge of an increasingly deep Texas A&M recruiting class.
Arrington, a 6-foot-1 sprinter from outside of San Diego, visited Penn State, Washington, Texas A&M, Alabama and Oregon before narrowing his recruitment to the Aggies and Ducks. With a combination of height, length and speed that Texas A&M coaches have compared to the build of former All-SEC cornerback Will Lee, Arrington carries the potential to develop into a first-round caliber defensive back at the next level. If he ultimately lands with the Aggies later this year, he’ll join as the program’s highest-ranked signee under coach Mike Elko and its top addition since defensive tackle David Hicks (No. 8) in the 2023 class.
Scout’s take: Arrington brings a lot of the same traits that Jaylen Mbakwe brought to Alabama last fall. He’s a dynamic athlete who could play multiple positions but projects best on defense because of his length and elite level speed. Texas A&M is getting a smooth, fluid playmaker with excellent ball skills that should be able to find him a spot in the rotation sooner rather than later given his mature skill set and the fact he plays at a premium position that every program in America covets.
Outside of Dezz Ricks, the majority of the depth, including starters at corner, are all upperclassman. Arrington is going to have to fight and scrap to prove that he’s mature enough to make the jump because he’s more than ready from a talent perspective. — Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 15
School/Hometown: Archbishop Hoban/Akron, Ohio
Committed to: USC Trojans
Background: ESPN’s No. 1 cornerback prospect followed five-star offensive tackle Keenyi Pepe as the second five-star pledge in Trojans coach Lincoln Riley’s star-studded 2026 class.
Hill grew up two hours northeast of Ohio State and visited the in-state Buckeyes along with Alabama, Oregon and USC earlier this spring. But no program pushed harder to land Hill than the Trojans, who secured his pledge after a second spring visit to Southern California over the last weekend of April. As things stands, Hill is the highest-ranked pledge in the nation’s deepest recruiting class and sits as the top prospect committed to an impressive USC defensive class in 2026.
Scout’s take: Hill is a total football player and very dynamic. He has grown almost two inches over the last few years, and is now 5-11, which has greatly enhanced his value on the perimeter. He’s a leaper as well allowing him to mask some height deficiencies. He plays on both sides of the ball with tremendous ball and playmaker skills. Hill also has elite speed, posting a 4.4 laser 40 and 21.3 mph max speed. He reminds us of former USC standout Adoree Jackson, another smooth and quick footed shutdown corner. He could even be an option on offense. He’s a premier player at a premium position and USC is continuing to make strides on defense. — Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 16
School/Hometown: Legacy the School of Sports Sciences/Spring Creek, Texas
Committed to: Houston Cougars
Background: Henderson stands among the most intriguing quarterback prospects in the 2026 cycle and remains the subject of flip efforts from some of the nation’s top programs despite his long-standing pledge to Houston, situated roughly 28 miles from his home.
Committed to the Cougars since May 27, 2024, Henderson has repeatedly emphasized his intention to stick with Houston this spring. But those public rebuffs have not stopped programs such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, Ohio State and Oregon from keeping in touch in recent months, and Henderson’s recruitment certainly remains one to watch as the 2026 quarterback market plays out from now to the early signing period.
Scout’s take: It’s unclear whether Henderson pans out at quarterback or another position. His fundamentals are raw, but he’s very competitive and productive. Henderson is similar to Duke transfer quarterback Darian Mensah, who was recruited by coach Willie Fritz to Tulane before Fritz took the Houston job. Landing Henderson is a significant pickup for the Cougars, even if he’s not polished enough to make an immediate impact. He’s a developmental player who needs more consistency in the passing game and more downfield arm strength. Henderson builds toward his top-end speed as opposed to being initially explosive. He has hit 20.6 mph on tape, which is a great time for a quarterback. Henderson has a high ceiling regardless of his position. — Luginbill
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 17
School/Hometown: IMG Academy/Bradenton, Florida
Committed to: USC Trojans
Background: Originally from Long Beach California, the 6-foot-7, 325-pound offensive tackle from Florida’s IMG Academy is set for a return to Southern California as the top-ranked pledge in coach Lincoln Riley’s 2026 class at USC.
Pepe is one of four offensive tackles among 2026’s five-star prospects. He took over as the starting left tackle at IMG Academy during his junior season last fall and stiff-armed the likes of Florida, Georgia, Miami and Texas to join the Trojans’ incoming class, where he projects as a potentially foundational piece for the future on the offensive line.
Scout’s take: Now a member of the Big Ten, USC is working to strengthen its roster in the trenches. The Trojans’ 2026 class already has double-digit commitments along the offensive and defensive lines. Now, Pepe becomes the highest-ranked player in the class. There will be some turnover of the offensive line heading into the 2025 season with redshirt sophomore Elijah Paige returning at left tackle. Aaron Dunn and Alex Payne, both 2025 linemen ranked in the ESPN 300, come in with the 2025 class to provide young depth at least. Combine them with Pepe in the 2026 class, and USC has retooled its offensive line with some impactful recruits.
Coming out of IMG, Pepe is a prospect who has faced strong competition in practice and games. He gives the Trojans a big man who can play a key role early in his career much like Paige, who stepped in as a starter as a redshirt freshman last season. Pepe is a massive presence at roughly 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds with excellent arm length. He is more than just a big body as he is also light on his feet for his size and has good flexibility. He can continue to work on and be more consistent in some technical areas but demonstrated as a junior at the Under Armour All-America game that he is competitive, wants to learn and get better and can match up and battle against elite edge rushers. Pepe has the tools to be a starter and anchor the Trojans OL and could end up being a nice replacement for Paige at left tackle in the future. — Haubert
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: 18
School/Hometown: Sierra Canyon High School/Chatsworth, California
Committed to: Texas Longhorns
Background: Briefly committed to Oregon in May, Wesley found a new home when he committed to the Longhorns on June 22 shortly after wrapping an official visit with the program. Wesley, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound pass rusher from Chatsworth, California, entered the ESPN 300 as a five-star prospect and the nation’s No. 3 defensive end upon reclassifying from the 2027 cycle in March. He made unofficial visits to Ohio State, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and USC this spring before scheduling officials with Oregon and Texas in June. Upon his commitment, he joined five-star Longhorns quarterback Dia Bell (No. 6 overall) commit as Texas’ second five-star pledge in 2026.
Scout’s take: Wesley has the most impact potential of any defensive line prospect coming out of the Southern California area since Kayvon Thibodeaux in 2019. He will join a talented D-line group in Texas’ 2026 class. Headed to the SEC, he reminds us of a former disruptive defender in that conference — former Ole Miss standout Robert Nkemdiche.
Wesley has more ideal length but is a well put-together prospect with a nice blend of height and bulk. He can bring versatility in how he’s used, with the ability to play on the edge and also produce inside and exploit favorable matchups with his blend of power and quickness.
He reclassified from 2027 class to 2026 and when you see him in-person, it is clear he is able physically to make that jump and be ready to move onto college. He could be a quick contributor as well. He can continue to further improve flexibility, but he is an explosive defender with active and heavy hands who can attack with speed and power as a pass rusher and be able to set the edge.
With national championship aspirations, the Longhorns turned to the transfer portal to restock their defensive line for 2025, but the future of this unit will be driven by youth with players like Wesley.
His arrival is set to overlap with current standout edge defender Colin Simmons, whose presence could help Wesley ease into a role while still contributing and having an impact like Simmons did as a freshman in 2024. He could also pair nicely with 2025 signee five-star Justus Terry, who is in a similar mold to Wesley and the two could form a formidable pair for a defensive line unit that is adding the pieces to become one of the most talented in all of college football over the next few years. — Haubert
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: No. 20
Committed to: Texas Tech Red Raiders
Background: The Red Raiders’ monster offseason of recruiting/transfer portal additions continued on July 4th when Ojo, ESPN’s No. 4 offensive tackle prospects, announced his pledge to Texas Tech.
After naming Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas as his finalists, Ojo came back around on coach Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders. The 6-foot-7, 285-pounder did take an official visit to Lubbock in April, and Ojo will mark Texas Tech’s highest-ranked all-time signee if he signs with the program later this year. Of note, Ojo is also set to join the Red Raiders on a fully guaranteed three-year, $5.1 million dollar revenue contract, believed to be one of the largest guaranteed deals in college football history.
Scout’s take: Of the four offensive tackles ranked within the five-star range, Ojo is the least likely to be a plug-and-play candidate when he steps onto campus. He is ranked highly because he has excellent raw tools and arguably the highest ceiling for development.
He has elite length, consistently measuring in at 6-foot-6 with over an 80-inch wingspan and has shown he can use that length to his advantage. He is also a big man that has tested well and shows good flexibility. However, he is lean — at least 30 pounds lighter than the rest of the five-star tackles and needs to pack on more mass once he gets into the Red Raiders’ strength program. He can bend but needs to develop his footwork and be more consistent with his pad level and add the size to help counter power rushers.
Joey McGuire created a buzz when he signed in-state five-star receiver Micah Hudson in 2024, and, while that big signing has not met expectations, Hudson is back in the program and there is time and a wealth of ability to utilize. McGuire now has done it again by landing another five-star prospect from within the state in Ojo. While it might take time for Ojo’s impact to be felt, it is still a statement win on the recruiting trail. On the field, Ojo won’t face the same immediate expectations that Hudson arrived with and that is good for Ojo and his development.
The Red Raiders have worked the transfer portal well and their tackle spots will likely be manned by transfers backed up by a deep pool of freshmen within that unit. A larger spotlight will shine of Ojo at Texas Tech, but the Red Raiders still look likely to be in a position to give him some time to grow before needing to push him into action. If he develops, Ojo has the tools to be an all-conference, NFL-caliber tackle and anchor on the offensive line. — Haubert
2026 ESPN 300 ranking: No. 23
Committed to: Oregon Ducks
Background: ESPN’s No. 1 safety in the 2026 class, Washington committed to the Ducks over Alabama and USC on June 19, landing as the top-ranked defender in the program’s 2026 class.
Washington is the nephew of the late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and a two-sport star at Las Vegas powerhouse Bishop Gorman High School. He recorded 38 tackles and five interceptions during his junior season last fall before leading Bishop Gorman’s basketball program to its second consecutive Nevada Class 5A state basketball title earlier this year.
Environment
Podcast: Trump/GOP go after EV/solar, Tesla, Ford, GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
Published
4 hours agoon
July 4, 2025By
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In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Trump’s Big Beautiful bill becoming law and going after EVs and solar, Tesla, Ford, and GM EV sales, Electrek Formula Sun, and more
Today’s episode is brought to you by Bosch Mobility Aftermarket—A global leader and trusted provider of automotive aftermarket parts. To celebrate Amazon Prime Day July 8th through 11th, Bosch Mobility is offering exclusive savings on must-have auto parts and tools. Learn more here.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
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After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
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Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
- Electrek FSGP 2025: New teams, new cars, same solar spirit
- Congress votes to send 2 million US jobs to China, increase deficit, energy costs
- Tesla (TSLA) confirms 384,000 deliveries in Q2 2025, right on expectations
- Tesla prototype sparks speculation: a Model Y, maybe slightly smaller
- Tesla launches Oasis Supercharger with solar farm and off-grid batteries
- Tesla unveils its LFP battery factory, claims it’s almost ready
- Here’s why Ford’s electric vehicle sales crashed by nearly a third in Q2
- The Chevy Equinox EV is GM’s breakout star, but that’s not the only surprise
- Xpeng launches G7, a new Tesla Model Y competitor for just $27,000
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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