Uncommitted five-star recruits: Where top 2023 prospects are trending

The 2022 college football season has been thrilling through the first few weeks of the season. But there is always time to look ahead to next season as there are still a number of elite prospects still uncommitted in the 2023 class.

The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine has updated odds on the landing spots of each of the 11 uncommitted five-star recruits.

The RPM was released to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. 

It factors in machine learning, expert predictions, social sentiment, visits, and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.

Uncommitted five-star recruits

Five-Star Plus+ CB Cormani McClain
School: Lakeland (Fla.) Lake Gibson
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 3
On3 NIL Valuation: $307K
On3 RPM: Florida 51.6%, Alabama 32.2%, Miami 14.6%
The Skinny: The top uncommitted player on the board, McClain’s twisty-turvy recruitment is far from over as he expected to commit near the Early Signing Period. Alabama had the lead earlier in the month but a strong visit to Florida flipped the two in the RPM rankings. Don’t rule out Miami, however, who have remained in the mix even as Alabama and Florida appeared to separate themselves.

Five-Star DL David Hicks
School: Katy (Texas) Paetow
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 9
On3 NIL Valuation: $248K
On3 RPM: Oklahoma 77.5%, Texas A&M 17.2%
The Skinny: The nation’s No. 1 defensive tackle is officially down to seven schools, but the race is largely focused on Oklahoma and Texas A&M. The Aggies were the leader earlier in the summer, but after a handful of recent expert predictions in favor of the Sooners. But Hicks was in College Station, Texas, last weekend and will be back at Kyle Field again Saturday.

Five-Star EDGE Nyckoles Harbor
School: Washington (D.C.) Archbishop Carroll
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 10
On3 NIL Valuation: $329K
On3 RPM: Michigan 36.7%, LSU 31.1%, South Carolina 24.3%, Maryland 2.41
The Skinny: Things are finally beginning to take shape in the recruitment of Harbor, a two-sport high school stars who doubles as one of the country’s elite 100- and 200-meter sprinters. The Gamecocks, Wolverines and Tigers are all locked in for official visits this fall, with the Terrapins starting to fade out of the picture. This weekend is his official visit to South Carolina.

Five-star EDGE Keon Keeley
School: Tampa (Fla.) Berkeley Prep
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 11
On3 NIL Valuation: $226K
On3 RPM: Alabama 57.8%, Florida 26.1%, Ohio State 14.4%
The Skinny: After decommitting from Notre Dame — the program he was pledged to for more than a year — earlier this month, Keeley has unofficially been focused on three schools: Alabama, Ohio State and Florida. He visited Ohio State and Florida the last two weeks and will take an OV to Alabama in October.

Five-Star DL James Smith 
School: Montgomery (Ala.) Carver
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 12
On3 NIL Valuation: $212K
On3 RPM: Alabama 39.6%, Georgia 30.2%, Auburn 24.7%
The Skinny: Smith recently took official visits in June to Auburn and Georgia, and is high school teammates with fellow five-star defensive lineman Qua Russaw, who both plan to play together at the next level. Alabama remains the favorite, but Florida is a dark horse; the Gators got both on campus at the end of June for unofficial visits and the coaching staff are making a big push.

Five-Star OT Samson Okunlola
School: Brockton (Mass.) Thayer Academy
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 14
On3 NIL Valuation: $221K
On3 RPM: Miami 95.3%, Michigan State 1.1%
The Skinny: Landing Okunlola, the nation’s No. 3 offensive tackle, would be a massive win for Mario Cristobal on the recruiting trial. Miami already has a top-10 class, and it could rise even higher by pairing Okunlola with fellow five-star offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa. Those would be two cornerstones for a rising program.

Five-Star EDGE Qua Russaw
School: Montgomery (Ala.) Carver
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 19
On3 NIL Valuation: $226K
On3 RPM: Georgia 44.8%, Alabama 33.0%, Auburn 13.6%, Florida 4.5%
The Skinny: Russaw is a high school teammate of fellow five-star defensive lineman James Smith, and both have re-affirmed their plan to play together at the next level. Expect them to land on the same school even though their RPMs currently don’t line up.

Five-star WR Hykeem Williams
School: Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Stranahan
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 20
On3 NIL Valuation: $226K
On3 RPM: Texas A&M 62.5%, Florida State 31.1%
The Skinny: Texas A&M has been considered where Williams is leaning for months now, but Florida State refuses to go away. The Seminoles have jumped 30 percentage points in RPM since the start of the month with his commitment coming next week.

Five-Star TE Duce Robinson
School: Phoenix (Ariz.) Pinnacle
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 21
On3 NIL Valuation: $194K
On3 RPM: USC 62.8%, Texas 26.9%, Alabama 2.9%
The Skinny: USC was considered the heavy favorite for Robinson for months, but others have crept into his recruitment. He told On3’s Chad Simmons that his interest in Texas has increased following the commitment of Five Star Plus+ quarterback Arch Manning, and Robinson has official visits this fall at Georgia, Miami, Oregon and Texas set. But it is still USC’s race to lose.

Five-Star DL Matayo Uiagalelei
School: Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 22
On3 NIL Valuation: $211K
On3 RPM: Ohio State 51.9%, Oregon 24.4%, USC 20.0%, Alabama 1.8%
The Skinny: Uiagalelei is another prospect who was favored by the RPM to land with the Trojans, but On3’s Chad Simmons believes Ohio State is now the front-runner for the defensive lineman’s commitment. His visit to Ohio State for the Notre Dame game no doubt helping the Buckeyes pursuit. Other contenders for Uiagalelei include Oregon and Alabama, but the Buckeyes are pushing all the right buttons.

Five-star EDGE Samuel M’Pemba
School: St. Louis (Mo.) IMG Academy
On3 Consensus Ranking: No. 23
On3 NIL Valuation: $208K
On3 RPM: Georgia 93.4%, Notre Dame 1.6%
The Skinny: This one is all Georgia at this time. He does have an official visit to Oregon coming up later this month and to Notre Dame in November, but Georgia seems to be running away with the commitment.