Intel on USF Bulls football recruiting: Bay Day and latest on 2025 class

The dead period that runs in July and August took a break this past week, and USF hosted a big recruiting event Saturday called “Bay Day,” which was geared towards underclassmen recruits and served as an informational day about the program for the younger prospects. There was one notable 2025 target on campus, though.

Sarasota (Fla.) Cardinal Mooney’s Chris McCorkle, the nation’s No. 524 overall player and No. 47 cornerback per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking, was on campus with a few teammates. The former Indiana commit is being pursued by Florida, Michigan State and others, but the feeling coming off his trip to Tampa is that the Bulls are right in the thick of McCorkle’s recruitment.

Cardinal Mooney’s Da’Ron Parks was the highest-ranked player at USF Saturday. The 6-4, 305-pounder who transferred from Hurricane, W.Va. ranks as the No. 219 player and No. 16 interior offensive lineman in the land per the 2026 On3 Industry Ranking. It’s still early in Parks’ recruitment, but the Bulls are battling for the four-star recruit, and sources tell On3 that Parks’ time in Tampa went really well.

Class of 2026 cornerback Laron Dues, who holds several Division I offers and hopes to add USF to his list, made it in with the Cardinal Mooney group as well.

USF hosted one quarterback prospect Saturday, which was Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School class of 2026 passer Stephen Cannon. The Bulls offered the 6-2, 195-pounder at the end of May and look to be in really good position with him. Cannon also holds an offer from Miami (Ohio).

A high majority of the prospects on campus were from the Sunshine State, but there was one key out-of-stater in Charlotte (N.C.) William Amos Hough’s Tyran Evans, who ranks as a three-star prospect per On3 and the No. 85 wide receiver nationally per On3’s 2026 rankings. USF sources believe that Evans’ visit to campus went very well. The Bulls are on Evans’ offer sheet along with Virginia Tech, Florida and others.

Melbourne (Fla.) Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy’s Jaeden McMillan was another one of the more highly ranked recruits in town Saturday as the No. 420 overall recruit and No. 70 wide receiver in the land per the 2026 On3 Industry Ranking. USF, Penn State, Massachusetts and Marshall make up McMillan’s offers.

Riverview (Fla.) Spoto’s Jesse Harden, Sarasota (Fla.) Booker’s Dylan Wester, Gainesville (Fla.) F. W. Buchholz’s Justin Williams, Miami Central’s King Walker were the other pass catchers on campus. They are all in the 2026 class and hold offers from the Bulls. The Bulls are in good, early shape with these prospects.

There was a small group of running backs on campus, headlined by Jacksonville (Fla.) Bartram Trail’s Arthur Lewis, a USF target in the 2026 class. Lewis also holds offers from Iowa State, Western Kentucky, East Carolina and others.

At the cornerback position, one of the most intriguing 2026 prospects in the Sunshine State was at USF. Hollywood (Fla.) South Broward’s Shmar Akande committed to Toledo last month, but the likes of Florida, Auburn, Miami and LSU are also on Akande’s offer sheet. USF was one of his first offers, and the Bulls remain in the mix for him.

Clearwater (Fla.) Calvary Christian’s Cam Smith, Cocoa (Fla.) High’s Clifton Hester, Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson’s Cason Dash and Orlando (Fla.) Jones’ Lagarion Wilson were among the other notable cornerback prospects on campus. The latter two do not hold offers from the Bulls yet.

USF is really pleased with how well things went with its three safety targets who visited Saturday. Those recruits are Cocoa (Fla.) High’s Okece Battle, Tarpon Springs (Fla.) High’s CJ Cresser and Fairburn (Ga.) Creekside’s Sean Williams.

The Bulls hosted a pair of big linebacker recruits in Winter Haven (Fla.) Auburndale’s Elijah Dias, a USF pledge, and Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas’ Phillip Goodrich, who holds offers from Michigan, Wake Forest, Indiana and others.

It was a small group on the offensive line, and On3 isn’t aware of any defensive line recruits who were on campus Saturday.

What’s left for USF in the 2025 class?

USF currently has 23 commitments in the cycle and that number won’t rise too much moving forward. Much of the focus for Alex Golesh and Co. moving forward will be working on their current commits to keep them solid, but they’ll still go big game hunting down the stretch when it comes to potential flips, too. And of course, expect USF to be active in the portal in a few months.

News broke last week that programs can start carrying up to 105 scholarship players, but when that goes into effect has not been announced. This will not only affect USF’s 2025 recruiting efforts but every other program in the country if it becomes official this cycle.

Cantonment (Fla.) J. M. Tate Senior wide receiver Christian Neptune had a terrific USF official visit in June, and the Bulls are battling Stanford for the three-star prospect. The expectation is that Neptune will come off the board soon, and USF is in a good position to land him. Neptune has been a top of the board target for the Bulls for quite some time; the staff has been after him since last October.

The Bulls are still in pursuit Covington (Ga.) Newton’s Zion Johnson, a Cincinnati commit who ranks as the No. 652 prospect and No. 54 running back in the land per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking. Johnson officially visited USF in June, and the battle rages on for the three-star prospect. He may not make a final decision on a school until this fall.

The aforementioned Chris McCorkle is a cornerback prospect who the Bulls are recruiting in the 2025 class.

The Bulls are after prospects at a few positions as well as they look at various flip options. Linebacker and interior defensive line are a couple spots to keep an eye on. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the staff extends some new offers.