Oregon Recruiting: Junior Adams Better Than Advertised

Oregon fans have been treated to nearly an All-Star lineup of coaches under Dan Lanning. It’s his first ever staff he’s assembled as a head coach, but it rivals that of just about any progrum in the country.

Of course, we’re only talking off-season titles here, they have yet to win a game. Or as Jerry Allen notes, currently Dan Lanning is undefeated at Oregon. Look at it whichever way you chose.

One of the more intriguing hires he made was at wide receiver with Junior Adams. Sure he plucked away a coach from the rival Huskies, but what did he really get?

Well, I’ll tell you what he got. A bone-a-fide superstar.

In the last 5 months, I’m not sure anyone has recruited the wide receiver position better than Junior Adams. Heck, there might not be a hotter recruiter in the country right now than Junior Adams at any position.

Adams was a thorn in the side for the Ducks while at Washington. He recruited a few receivers the Ducks had targeted, despite having a very, let’s say, “below average” offense to sell.

Adams was nearly an Oregon coach prior to that Washington job in 2019. At the time, Mario Cristobal was weighing a decision whether to retain his current WR coach (Jovon Bouknight) or look for a replacement. Junior Adams had (and still does) a very close relationship with Keith Heyward who was on the Oregon staff.

However the timing didn’t line up and Adams became a Husky.

But Duck fans are elated he’s in Eugene now.

Adams is scorching the recruiting trail and might soon be close to another addition. Currently Marcus (Texas) wide receiver Ashton Cozart is on an official visit to Oregon. And the Ducks are currently trending including my pick and numerous others across various networks.

Should Adams close on Cozart, he would be Oregon’s fifth commitment in the 2023 class. And two of those commits are wide receivers with him joining Jurrion Dickey. The top two commits in the class would belong to Junior Adams.

If Kyler Kasper hadn’t reclassified to 2022, Adams would have three of Oregon’s six commits in 2023. All three would be the top-ranked commits. But Kasper reclassified and will join the team in June. Which again was another massive win because in January, prior to Adam’s arrival, Oregon wasn’t even on his radar.

Additionally, Justius Lowe signed with Oregon in the 2022 class. Lowe would have likely been a Duck if Bryan McClendon had stayed at Oregon. But once he left for Miami and then Georgia, Oregon’s chances plummeted. That is until Adams arrived and managed to get the Ducks back on track with Lowe.

Of course he was also pivotal in the transfers of Chase Cota and Caleb Chapman, both of whom will play for the Ducks this Fall.

Even if Adams were to miss out on Cozart, which feels unlikely at this moment, he’s still led the charge on three big prep commitments and two transfers for the Ducks.

It’s time to recognize, Junior Adams has delivered and been ‘better than advertised’ for the Ducks.