Intel on USF football’s big week of commitments

Going into last weekend, Alex Golesh and the USF Bulls had 12 commitments in its 2025 recruiting class, and as of Friday morning, they have 21 pledges, which is tied for sixth most in the country.

USF’s class currently ranks No. 1 in the AAC according to the 2025 Industry Ranking Football Team Recruiting Rankings, and that’s even without about half the class not currently having an On3 Industry Ranking. When those prospects get a ranking this summer, it’s likely that the Bulls shoot into the top 60 spots in the overall nationa rankings (USF is currently No. 67).

The Bulls hosted Perry (Ga.) High wide receiver Kory Pettigrew for a midweek official visit June 18-20, and he announced his pledge to USF late on Saturday night, June 22. Georgia Southern, Marshall, Liberty, Memphis and others were after the 6-2, 180-pounder, but USF assistant coach L’Damian Washington land Co. got it done. Pettigrew hauled in 44 passes for 702 yards with 6 touchdowns as a junior.

And then came the official visit weekend where the Bulls’ staff hosted 18 prospects, and six of those recruits have committed to USF since. And five of the visitors were already pledged to the program.

The Bulls are fired up about the addition of Washington (D.C.) St. John’s linebacker DeAngelo Bowden, who added his offer from USF May 21. Things developed quickly between USF and Bowden; his official visit last weekend went incredibly well. Pittsburgh, Arkansas, Memphis and Toledo were among the offers for Bowden, who recorded 18 sacks last season.

Bowden committed to USF June 23, and matters really heated up for the Bulls with six new commitments the following day.

USF’s highest-ranked commitment in the class is now Lakeland (Fla.) High’s Jermichael Gillis, who checks in as the No. 432 overall player and No. 38 safety in America per the On3 Industry Ranking. Gillis, who announced his pledge to the Bulls June 24, had a tremendous sophomore year, earning offers from USC, Wisconsin, Michigan, LSU, Miami, Penn State and others.

Gillis’ recruitment cooled down a bit due to him suffering an injury as a junior, but it heated back up with him showing off his skills during the spring evaluation period and added a couple new offers, which included N.C. State. Sources tell On3 that Gillis surprised USF with his commitment, and the staff was excited to take it. Gillis is expected to have a big senior season and should be considered one of the most talented prospects in USF’s class, if not the most talented recruit.

The Bulls landed a top cornerback target June 24 when Miami Northwestern’s Tywan Cox, a three-star prospect, pledged to USF. He was a part of the June 14-16 official visit weekend at USF and joined the commitment party this past Monday. There’s been news in the past week with an FAU staffer getting into Twitter beef with a USF staffer, and interestingly enough, those were the two programs Cox was down to. USF got the better of the Owls on this front.

Landing Cox is a big win for USF and cornerbacks coach DeMarcus Van Dyke. The 5-11, 170-pounder also held offers from Miami, Vanderbilt, Syracuse, SMU and Pittsburgh.

Raleigh (N.C.) Rolesville pass rusher Jayden Fry participated in a mega camp at Mercer University June 1. The USF staff was already interested in the 6-4, 235-pounder going into that camp, and Fry had a very strong performance in front of Golesh and Co., leading to the scholarship offer. Troy, Georgia State and Western Kentucky were among his other choices. Fry comes from the same school that produced USF star quarterback Byrum Brown.

One of the surprises over the weekend was the big move USF made with Greenville (Ga.) High safety Antavious Richardson, who flipped his commitment from Georgia State Monday. He picked the in-state school April 15 and a month later added his first power conference offer, coming from Mississippi State. Memphis, Georgia Southern and USF offered him in the following week. He officially visited the Bulldogs earlier this month, and the feeling was that MSU would be in good shape to land him, but USF pulled off the upset over the SEC school.

USF’s first batch of official visitors was a small midweek group June 11-13, which included Oakdale (Conn.) St. Thomas More tight end Brandon Kubay, a Canadian prospect. The Bulls battled with James Madison, Liberty and Virginia Tech, and USF was fired up when they got the call from Kubay Sunday about his commitment. And Kubay announced it the next day. This was a big recruiting win for the Bulls. Kubay dominated at Virginia Tech’s camp this month and was a top target for USF.

Speaking of big recruiting wins, one of the most crucial on Monday came from Sandy Springs (Ga.) Riverwood’s Sean Poret, who is one of the fastest rising 2025 offensive tackle prospects in the country. Vanderbilt, Duke, Boston College and Florida State all offered the 6-4, 270-pounder this month, but the Bulls got him in their class. The expectation is that other programs will continue to pursue the impressive offensive lineman. Poret is just too good.

Kicker’s don’t draw many headlines, but the addition of Bradenton (Fla.) Braden River’s Brunno Reus is big for the Bulls. Reus participated in a camp for the USF staff, and he put on a clinic. There’s a lot of excitement about Reus’ future in Tampa, and while it’s early to project this, the feeling is that he has great potential to play in the NFL. This is another head-to-head victory against FAU on the recruiting front, and it’s our understanding that some big-time power conference programs were interested in him as well.

The weekend wasn’t perfect, though. The feeling going into it was that USF was in a great spot with Oakland (Conn.) St. Thomas More linebacker Dillano Glaud, but he picked Liberty over the Bulls. One interesting note is that he’s reclassified will play for the Flames this fall, whereas I don’t believe that would have been able to be the case at USF. That may have played a role here.

On Saturday, St. Augustine (Fla.) High wide receiver Carl Jenkins Jr. will announce a commitment, and the feeling is that it’s coming down to USF and UCF. The vibe is the Knights have a slight edge going into Saturday, but he’s playing things very close to his vest.

Jenkins was at USF this past weekend, and so was Cantonment (Fla.) Tate wide receiver Christian Neptune. The Bulls are battling Stanford as well as other power conference schools for the 5-11, 180-pounder. On3 likes where USF stands with its in-state target.

Don’t be surprised to see the Bulls get commitment No. 22 soon. USF isn’t slowing down o nthe trail.