WR Murph, No. 2 uncommitted in ’25, picks S.C.
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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
South Carolina beat in-state rivals Clemson and other finalists Colorado, Ole Miss and Tennessee to the pledge of four-star wide receiver Donovan Murph, the top remaining uncommitted skill position player in the 2025 class.
Murph announced his decision Thursday afternoon on ESPN2 during the 2025 Under Armour All-America Game in DeLand, Florida, leading the cast of top high school prospects who made verbal commitments at the annual high school football showcase.
A 6-foot-2 pass catcher from Columbia, South Carolina, Murph is the No. 182 prospect in the 2025 ESPN 300 and entered Thursday as the No. 2 uncommitted prospect in the 2025 cycle. With his pledge, Murph becomes the sixth ESPN 300 prospect to join a 2025 Gamecocks recruiting class that began Thursday at No. 23 in ESPN’s team rankings for the cycle.
“South Carolina was the school that stayed consistent with me,” Murph told ESPN. “All fall they were showing me love and letting me know they believed in my talent. That played a big role in my recruitment.”
Murph lands with South Carolina after catching 96 passes for 1,328 and 12 touchdowns in his final season at Irmo (South Carolina) High School, and joins a deep Gamecocks wide receiver class in the 2025 cycle. Along with Murph’s pledge, South Carolina holds signatures from fellow top-300 pass catchers Jordon Gidron (No. 129 overall), Malik Clark (No. 178) and Lex Cyrus (No. 292). Four-star wide receiver Brian Rowe and three-star pass catcher Jayden Sellers also signed with the program during last month’s early signing period.
Initially a member of the Class of 2026, Murph took unofficial visits to Ohio State, North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama during the fall before announcing his intention to reclassify into the 2025 cycle on Oct. 1. Murph’s decision to enter college early attracted significant Power 4 interest in the final months of 2024, but ESPN’s No. 22 wide receiver prospect limited his official visits in November to South Carolina and Clemson before Murph returned for an unofficial visit with the Tigers on the final weekend of the college football regular season.
The pair of in-state powers battled hard for the No. 4 overall prospect in the state of South Carolina, and Murph pointed to the Gamecocks’ rising trajectory as a key factor in his decision. South Carolina reached nine wins for the first time since 2017 this fall, emerging as a dark-horse College Football Playoff contender behind breakout star quarterback LaNorris Sellers in coach Shane Beamer’s fourth season in charge of the program.
“I like the direction they’re heading in,” he said. “They’re trending up. They continue to get better and better. I think I can add to that and be a playmaker who makes an impact early.”
For the first time in the 17-year history of the Under Armour All-America Game, team rosters for the 2025 showcase event included high school juniors. Among the Class of 2026 prospect who made up roughly 30% of the player pool, several followed Murph with commitment announcements on Thursday, still 11 months from the 2026 early signing period.
The most high-profile of those decisions came from four-star defensive end JaReylan McCoy (No. 94 in the ESPN 300), who announced his pledge to LSU during the fourth quarter of the all-star game, picking the Tigers over USC, Tennessee and Alabama.
McCoy is ESPN’s No. 9 defensive end prospect in the 2026 cycle and has logged 140-plus tackles and 18.5 sacks in three seasons at Tupelo (Mississippi) High School, where he was a key member of a team that finished 14-0 team on its way to a Class 7A state title this fall.
McCoy now stands as the top-ranked prospect in a 2026 LSU recruiting class that holds pledges from three other top-300 pledges from in-state defenders Aiden Hall (No. 108 in the ESPN Junior 300), Jakai Anderson (No. 152) and Richard Anderson (No. 171).
McCoy told ESPN that he remains undecided on taking visits to other schools in 2025, but emphasized that the timing of his commitment was part of a plan to find a home early in the cycle in favor of a quieter recruiting process. While USC pushed hardest in the final days of McCoy’s recruitment, he credited Tigers defensive line coach Bo Davis and a handful of unofficial visits to the program as two elements that ultimately helped pull his commitment to LSU.
“I felt ready to lock in with somebody so I can play for my family in my senior year,” McCoy said. “It’s a new year — this was the right time to slow down my recruitment and the right time to pick my new family.”
Earlier Thursday, four-star 2026 wide receiver Carnell Warren (No. 203 in the ESPN Junior 300) announced his commitment to Virginia Tech, landing with the Hokies over Georgia Tech, Duke and Wake Forest.
The 6-foot-4 pass catcher from Bluffton, South Carolina, caught 58 passes for 846 yards and 14 touchdowns during his junior season this fall and joins four-star quarterback Peyton Falzone (No. 200 in the ESPN Junior 300) as the second member of Virginia Tech’s 2026 class. The pair of top-300 commits represent a strong start for the Hokies in the upcoming cycle, and Warren referenced his connections with coach Brent Pry and Virginia Tech assistants Fontel Mines and Stu Holt as prominent forces in his decision.
“The relationships I have there were important,” he said. “Everything that’s going on at Virginia Tech and the bond that I’ve built with them over the last couple of months was something I couldn’t break. I knew Virginia Tech as the place.”
Three-star 2026 cornerback J.J. Dunnigan of Manhattan, Kansas rounded out the series of 2026 pledges on Thursday with his commitment to Kansas over Kansas State, Nebraska, Stanford. The top-ranked member of the Jayhawks’ 2026 class, Dunningan wrapped an impressive week of practice performances in Orlando with a fourth-quarter interception in Thursday’s game.
LOS ANGELES — Veteran forward Evander Kane made his season debut for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.
Defenseman John Klingberg also returned from a lengthy injury absence as the Oilers attempted to even the series.
Kane is a 15-year NHL veteran who hasn’t played for the Oilers since Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final last June. He had surgery last September to repair a sports hernia, and he underwent knee surgery in January.
Kane was slotted on to the Oilers’ second line alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman.
Klingberg hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury while blocking a shot March 27 in Seattle. The Swedish veteran signed with Edmonton in January after going unsigned early in the season, but he played in only 11 games while dealing with multiple injuries.
The Oilers are hoping Klingberg can help their blue line, which frequently struggled in the Kings’ 6-5 victory in Game 1.
Jeff Skinner was scratched by the Oilers to make room for Kane. The 15-year NHL veteran forward made his Stanley Cup playoff debut in Game 1, recording an assist.
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Ryan S. Clark
Chris Drury and the New York Rangers agreed to a multiyear contract extension on Wednesday, keeping him at the helm of the team’s hockey operations after missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season.
“I am pleased that Chris will continue to lead the Rangers hockey operations in his role as president and general manager,” Madison Square Garden chairman and CEO James Dolan said in a statement. “Over his tenure, Chris has shown passion for the Rangers, relentless work ethic and a tireless pursuit of excellence.
“While we are all disappointed in what transpired this past season, I am confident in his ability to guide this organization to success.”
Drury, 48, took over as general manager and president of hockey operations at the start of the 2021-22 season. The Rangers reached the playoffs in his first three seasons.
His future was one of a few items that remained in question, with the intent that the Rangers would use this offseason to reload in their bid to return to the playoffs. The team also is facing a third coaching search in four seasons after firing Peter Laviolette following his two seasons.
“I am honored to sign this contract extension and continue in this position with the team I grew up supporting,” said Drury, a former Rangers captain who played four seasons with the team. “As I said when I began in this role nearly four years ago, there isn’t a more special organization in hockey, and I look forward to continuing our work this offseason to help us reach our goals for next season and in the coming years.”
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the Eastern Conference finals under Laviolette in the 2023-24 season, the Rangers started 12-4-1 this season, only to lose the next five games. That started a chain reaction of inconsistent play that ultimately led to the Rangers finishing six points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
While the Rangers sought to make the playoffs, Drury also made it known they were open for business in December. That’s when they traded captain Jacob Trouba, who still had a year left on his contract, to the Anaheim Ducks. A few weeks later, they traded Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL draft, to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, who would then sign an extension with the Rangers.
A month before the trade deadline, the Rangers reacquired J.T. Miller in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers also traded defenseman Ryan Lindgren to the Colorado Avalanche and forward Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights while adding defensemen Carson Soucy in a separate deal with the Canucks.
Still, the Rangers lost four consecutive games in early March before having two three-game losing streaks that further damaged their chances in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.
Now that Drury has a new contract, he’ll be charged with trying to improve a roster that PuckPedia projects will have only $9.67 million in available cap space. K’Andre Miller, Zac Jones and Matt Rempe are part of the club’s eight-player restricted free agent class, while the Rangers have only two unrestricted free agents in Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Calvin de Haan.
Drury will be looking for a coach in what is expected to be a competitive market. Anaheim and Seattle also fired their coaches, and three other teams — Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia — ended the season with interim coaches. The Canucks declined the option on coach Rick Tocchet, but they have offered him a new, more lucrative contract.
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