Weekend recruiting winners: Arkansas, Florida, OU make moves

We’re down to crunch time for the Class of 2022 and many top programs had junior days this past weekend that attracted top talent to campuses across the country. While there weren’t a ton of commitments – most of the top remaining blue-chippers are waiting until signing day to pick – there were still some schools that reeled in pledges, portal additions and made major moves with top underclassmen. On3 takes a look at the recruiting winners from the visit weekend of Jan. 22.

Arkansas has monster weekend

Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks picked up a huge addition to their secondary from the NCAA Transfer Portal on Sunday, as former Georgia safety Latavious Brini announced that he’ll be staying in the SEC as a member of the Razorbacks.

Brini, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound defensive back from Miami Gardens, Florida, is coming off his most productive year to date. He played in 13 games for Georgia in 2021, starting 11, and he finished with 38 total tackles and eight pass breakups, both career-high tallies. Brini finished his Georgia career with 50 total tackles (33 solo stops) and one interception.

Coming out of high school, Brini earned a four-star rating according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, making him the No. 40 safety in the 2017 recruiting class and the No. 60 recruit in the state of Florida.

The Razorbacks have crushed this offseason, landing three transfers ranked in the top 50 of the On3 Transfer Portal rankings. And Brini is right outside the top 50 at No. 58 overall.

But the good news for the Hawgs didn’t end there. Arkansas also reeled in a major commitment on the high school market.

Four-star tight end Luke Hasz of Bixby, Okla., announced he was committed to Arkansas, picking the Razorbacks over Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma. He was previously an Oklahoma commitment but backed away from the Sooners during their coaching transition.

“Arkansas never stopped recruiting me and that made an impact for sure,” Hasz told On3’s Chad Simmons. “Coach (Dowell) Loggains came in last year and has been recruiting me hard since he got to Arkansas. The relationships I have built with the coaches, the feeling I have when there, and what the program is doing makes my commitment so strong.”

Florida a winner with strong visit weekend

This weekend was shaping up as a make-or-break type of weekend for Florida, and all indications are that things went quite well in Gainesville.

First, the Gators reeled in three-star tight end Hayden Hansen. Then three-star quarterback Max Brown backed off his longtime commitment to Central Michigan after receiving an offer from the Gators on the visit. It appears it’s just a matter of time before Brown joins the UF 2022 class. Then on Monday, the Gators were also able to add Washington-based defender Andrew Savaiinaea. 

Other positive news came from No. 1 safety Jacoby Mathews after he gushed about his official visit to Gainesville.

“It was amazing; I had a great experience,” Mathews told Gators Online’s Donavon Keiser. “It’s a nice college town and not too crowded, but it’s enough to focus in on the task. I had a great time with the players and other recruits, so it left me with no questions to be asked. I feel like it was a successful visit.”

There were other positive signs like New Jersey defensive lineman Jayson Jenkins giving rave reviews to his visit. Plus, elite 2023 cornerback A.J. Harris said the Gators are back in the race for his commitment.

While this weekend was big for the Gators’, the next seven days could be even bigger with four stars TreVonte’ Citizen, DJ Allen, Jordan James, Caden Story, Kevonte Henry and others set for visits.

Alabama lands key transfer, impresses Arch

The Alabama Crimson Tide made a big move at wide receiver in the transfer portal last season with Jameson Williams from Ohio State. On Sunday, they pulled in another elite receiver but this time, it was from a major SEC rival.

Georgia’s Jermaine Burton announced he would be transferring to Alabama on Sunday afternoon. After being on the winning side of the national championship during the 2021 season, Burton will now be trying to get revenge on his former team with the Crimson Tide.

According to the On3 Transfer Rankings, Burton is ranked as the No. 5 player currently in the NCAA Transfer Portal in the current cycle.

The Tide also did some work with high schoolers, including Five-Star Plus+ junior quarterback Arch Manning.

Friday night, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban along with defensive coordinator Pete Golding made an appearance at New Orleans Isidore Newman’s basketball game against New Orleans De La Salle. Manning is a two-sport athlete, spending his winters on the hardwood, and having Saban there to watch him play in person had to make a big impression.

Alabama also had some top in-state talent on campus Saturday for a junior day and a handful left with offers.

One was Hunter Osborne, a 2023 four-star defensive lineman out of Trussville Hewitt-Trussville. The 6-foot-3, 250-pound junior ranks as the No. 154 prospect in the On3 Consensus and this offer means a lot to him.

“Alabama is an in-state powerhouse, and for coach Saban to offer me, it meant a lot,” Osborne told On3. “I was fully surprised by the offer. I did not expect to go into today receiving an offer from the University of Alabama.”

OU picks up momentum from weekend

As of midday Monday, the Sooners have yet to receive a commitment from their big official visit weekend. But things are trending in the right direction with most of the recruits that were on campus.

That’s especially true with four-star defensive lineman Gracen Halton, a longtime Oregon commitment, and four-star athlete Jamarrien Burt. Halton still has a Miami visit on his calendar next weekend, but Burt looks like he’s Oklahoma’s to lose at this point. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine says there’s an 86.9% chance Burt picks Oklahoma.

Sooner insiders also feel good about their chances with three-star DL Ahmad Moten and four-star R Mason Thomas. But other visits on their calendar could shift the momentum before signing day.

OU also made major progress with two elite 2023 Texas prospects – five-star linebacker Anthony Hill and five-star DL David Hicks. Things went so well for OU on the visit with Hicks, that On3’s Gerry Hamilton has entered an RPM prediction for the five-star to end up in Norman.

While it wasn’t a weekend visit commitment, the Sooners were able to land four-star junior quarterback Jackson Arnold on Monday. Arnold of Denton (Texas) Guyer ranks as the No. 7 quarterback in the 2023 class, according to the On3 Consensus. Arnold’s pledge could help the Sooners eventually flip Notre Dame four-star safety commitment and Guyer teammate Peyton Bowen. Bowen was on campus this weekend in Norman.

Georgia gets positive returns from visits

Five-star DL Shemar Stewart spent the weekend at Georgia, and according to Simons, the early buzz coming out of the visit is very positive for the Bulldogs. The same is true about the buzz with three-star linebacker EJ Lightsey after his visit to Athens this past weekend.

“I had a really good time up at Georgia,” Lightsey told On3. “There are great people at Georgia and I had a lot of fun. Georgia took care of me, my family, and it was a great environment. They just won a national championship, and it was a championship weekend.”

Other weekend winners

• Not even 10 days after receiving an offer from Ohio State, Dublin (Ohio) Coffman junior defensive lineman Will Smith Jr. knew where he wanted to play college football. Smith, the son of former Buckeye and NFL great Will Smith announced Sunday that night he too will don the Scarlet and Gray.
• Vanderbilt landed a commitment from On3 Consensus senior quarterback Walter Taylor. Taylor led Jackson to the Class 4A state semifinals this year and was named Class 4A Back of the Year by the Alabama Sports Writers Association.
• Goodyear (Ariz.) Desert Edge quarterback Adryan Lara committed to Kansas State while on his official visit to Manhattan. He ranks as the nation’s No. 42 quarterback and the No. 9 prospect in Arizona. The Wildcats added former Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez through the transfer portal this offseason, but Adryan Lara is their only high school quarterback committed in the 2022 class.
• Dabo Swinney and his staff ended up rolling out the red – or should we say, orange – carpet for four senior prospects. The visitors were Andrew Paul, Caden Story, Kobe McCloud and Kylon Griffin. The Tigers do have their work cut out to land all four, but Griffin was especially excited about his trip to Death Valley.