SMU Mustangs land a commitment from On3 top-100 QB Keelon Russell

SMU’s electric 2025 recruiting class is quickly taking shape, and Rhett Lashlee wasted no time finding his blue-chip quarterback of the future.

On3 top-100 quarterback Keelon Russell, who lifted local Dallas powerhouse Duncanville (Texas) High School to a state championship last December, committed to the hometown Mustangs over Ole Miss and others to further the program’s momentum on the recruiting trail.

Russell has been to the Hilltop more than any other campus, including two pivotal visits over the summer, which really put the Mustangs in the driver’s seat with the No. 81 player in the 2025 class.

“It came down to getting close to the coaches, having a feel for the atmosphere, having a feel for being at the college,” Russell told On3. “The relationships are outstanding. They see me being the next big thing at SMU.”

Rhett Lashlee takes the lead with SMU’s QB1 Russell

Since August, SMU’s head coach went into overdrive with the push to land the top quarterback on the team’s board in the 2025 cycle.

Russell was on campus for big unofficial visits in the summer and also caught practices during the spring and in-season. He’s become very familiar with the Hilltop in the process.

“I’ve seen Preston Stone, a four-star coming out of high school, talking to him really showed me some things,” he explained. “I sat down with Coach Lashlee and we talked about how big the QB position is. Coach Lashlee is an offensive guy. He’s the head coach, but he also runs the offense. Growing up, he was a QB, so as the head coach he knows the position, he knows the roughness of it, the goodness of it and all the special parts of being a QB. It’s a mindset when you’re working under Lashlee, and as the QB, I know he knows all my flaws and all my mistakes.”

“Our relationship is great,” Russell added. “He hits me up all the time talking about being QB1, being a QB, and he loves when I come up there. Having a relationship with him so early and developing a relationship with the other coaches as well has been great all around. Coach Lashlee knows the game, he knows the position, and having that relationship with Coach Lashlee is amazing because he’s gonna take me to the next level.”

Russell becomes the centerpiece of a star-studded 2025 class

SMU was among the first to offer Russell.

The relationships strengthened over the past year and change, and as August arrived, the top-100 quarterback noticed the difference in the Mustangs’ push.

“It’s about relationships and they’ve been building it since Day 1,” he said. “They check in on me, even if it’s my family or my coaches at the school. They check on me, see how I’m doing, and one of the most important things, they want to see me grind and work. They love to hear about what I’m doing off the field, on the field, the grind and the work ethic I have, and having those relationships already describes what I’ll have the next three or four years.”

Russell is another massive piece to SMU’s top-10 2025 recruiting class, which recently added DeSoto (Texas) four-star WR Daylan Singleton. Like Singleton, Russell is another foundational piece on the offensive side of the ball.

“When I come up there, they want to make that whole offense around me,” he said. “As a 2025 QB recruit, having a relationship with the players is big as well, especially for a QB, having a chemistry with the receivers and knowing what you can do and getting me ready the next few years at SMU.”