On3 top-100 overall prospect Santana Wilson announces top eight schools

Scottsdale (Ariz.) Desert Mountain four-star cornerback Santana Wilson holds offers from some of the top programs in the country. Going forward, he will focus on a select group of them.

Wilson announced his top eight schools on Sunday. They are Arizona State, Baylor, Miami, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and Washington.

“All these schools that I picked are really high defensive schools, so I really took the time to talk to all the coaches and see the depth in their schools, see how many corners they currently have and how many they’re losing and how many they produce,” Wilson told On3. “I took the time to do all that and see where I can develop and grow as a person and as a player.”

Wilson hopes to see each of his finalists before announcing his college destination. So far, he has set official visits to Arizona State (June 9), Texas (June 16) and Washington (June 23).

At the moment, the 6-foot-0, 173-pound defensive back is hoping to commit in August. It is currently a close race for his pledge.

“All these schools are on even footing right now for me because they all have their own speciality with their own name to it,” said Wilson, the No. 90 overall prospect and No. 13 cornerback in the 2024 On300.

Arizona State is the only school in Wilson’s top eight to have previously hosted him. That will change this month, as the No. 3 player in Arizona is excited to search for where he will play college football.

“I’m really trying to find the right school and the right feeling and how they’ll play me,” said Wilson, the son of former All-Pro and Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson. “It’s always been a goal of mine to start my freshman year. I know I have to work towards that and if I go to the right school and they work out right and they do everything right, I truly believe I could be a starting cornerback as a true freshman.”

Wilson breaks down his top eight schools

Arizona State: “ASU’s my hometown school, so they have to be on the list. There are great people up there and it’s family and they really know how to catch your attention. When you need something, you can definitely say something up there. They can produce players. I know they’ll treat me right and I know they’ll take care of me.”

Baylor: “It’s a great school to be at. They’re a really high defensive school. It’s all family up there and they really know how to build relationships. When you get to know everyone, everyone is just really happy and they can’t wait to talk to you more.”

Miami: “Miami is a really good school defensively. They play a lot of press man (coverage) and that’s one of specialities as a corner right now.”

Oklahoma: “Oklahoma is a very high-level school. I really see myself playing there as a corner next to Jeremiah Newcombe. He would be another AZ player to be with. They’re a really high defensive school.”

Tennessee: “Tennessee has always been in the mix with me because they play at such a high level. They really rally around their defense. They’re also at the top for me because they’re an SEC school. Those are schools that really play at a high level.”

Texas: “I always watched Texas growing up as a kid. Watching them play and the way they run their defense, it’s a lot of man (coverage), which has really caught my attention. It’s great competition, going against high-level receivers every game. It would be great repetition.”

Texas A&M: “They’re an SEC school and I think they’re on the come up as a defensive school, as long as they get the right people and keep the staff there. I think they can really produce DBs.”

Washington: “I see Washington as DBU because they always produce corners out of that school like Byron Murphy, people like that who I’m kind of close to. Seeing that they came out of a school like Washington shows that you can make it there.”