Signing day concludes with Sagas recruited for QB Rashada and CB McClain

The opening of college football’s traditional signing period for high school prospects marked an apparent end to two of the cycle’s most notable recruits.

Blue-chip quarterback Jaden Rashada, who signed with Florida in December and then asked to be released from the signing when a deal over names, titles and similarities fell through, announced Wednesday that he is going to Arizona State .

“Glad to be really home!” Rashada posted on Twitter.

Also in the Pac-12, Cormani McClain, previously signed for Miami, signed with Colorado to make coach Deion Sanders land a five-star cornerback two straight years.

Rashada’s recruitment made national headlines and became something of a cautionary tale for college football’s NIL era.

The four-star recruit from California was at the center of a recruitment battle between Miami and Florida. This led to a bidding war between booster-run collectives trying to secure sponsorship deals for athletes from these schools.

Rashada originally made verbal commitments to Miami, but switched to Florida and signed with the Gators during the early signing phase after being offered a NIL deal that could have been worth more than $13 million.

When it became clear that Gator Collective, which isn’t part of the University of Florida or its athletic department, didn’t have the money to fund the deal, Rashada asked to be released from his national memorandum of understanding. Florida granted the request.

Gators coach Billy Napier told reporters he couldn’t provide specifics about what happened to Rashada, but said he didn’t expect to hear from the NCAA about possible recruiting rule violations.

“I think the reality is the current structure of NIL with third parties involved, with agents involved, with marketing representatives, with attorneys, with collectives, very fluid and I think a very unique dynamic,” Napier said. “I think ultimately NIL is a strength for the Gators.”

Rashada becomes the highest profile high school recruit in Kenny Dillingham’s first signing class, the new Arizona State coach. The 32-year-old Phoenix native and Arizona State graduate was hired in December.

Rashada’s father, Harlen, was part of the Arizona State football team in the 1990s. Jaden Rashada called ASU his “childhood dream school.”

“I can’t wait to continue the surname at university and begin my journey. Forks up!” Raschada posted.

McClain’s recruitment was more traditional in its twists and turns. As one of the top-rated players in the country, he has been pursued by most of college football’s top-performing programs, including Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State.

The Lakeland, Fla. product got involved in Miami last fall, but even then it seemed like it might be lured away from the hurricanes by the Crimson Tide.

Then Coach Prime took over in Boulder, Colorado and changed the game.

Last year, Sanders made recruiting history when he got five-star cornerback Travis Hunter to rescind a verbal commitment to Florida State and sign with Jackson State.

Never before had such a highly rated player been signed by a school that plays in Division I’s second division, the Championship Subdivision.

Colorado hired Sanders to reverse a program that had been stuck at the end of the Pac-12 for most of the past decade. McClain visited Boulder last month and soon thereafter committed to becoming the first five-star player to sign with the Buffaloes in more than a decade.

He made it official early on the day of the signing. McClain will join Hunter, who transferred to Colorado, in the Buffs secondary school.

“For the first time, CU signed two five-star players in the same class,” Sanders said. “Same position, by the way, and both are dogs. I can’t wait to see them play together.”

SOUTH CAROLINA SPEEDSTER

Washington’s Nyckoles Harbor was one of the few five stars to go to the signing day without facing any real conundrum as to where he would end up, according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings.

Oregon and South Carolina were the picks, and the Gamecocks were the picks for the 6-foot-5, 225-pound edge rusher who might end up playing as a receiver in college.

Harbor is a track runner, has achieved elite 100 and 200 times and has Olympic ambitions.

STILL DUCK SEASON

Oregon drew a lot of attention in the early signing phase, winning a handful of high-profile recruitment battles to be in position to have the Pac-12’s highest-rated class.

The Ducks missed Harbor but had another big hit, landing four-star cornerback Rodrick Pleasant. The California player chose Oregon over Pac-12 rivals – at least for another year – Southern California.

“Ultimately we want to sign the best players anywhere, but if you can win in your footprint, and our footprint, California is certainly part of that, we want to succeed there and think we’ve proven this year that we can do that in the Location is that,” Lanning told reporters.

USC, moving into the Big Ten after the 2023-24 school year, pulled off a signing-day win with four-star tight end Walker Lyons.

FINAL RESULT

Alabama had incarcerated the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class for the tenth time in 13 years before the February signing deadline.

The Tide landed nine five stars. According to 247’s Composite, only 39 players in the class received a five-star rating.

Two-time defending champion Georgia finished second, followed by Texas, Oklahoma and Ohio State. The rest of the top 10 were LSU, Miami, Oregon, Tennessee and Notre Dame.

While there have been many fears about the impact of NIL funds being used to incentivize recruitment, early results suggest there is no change in which schools get away with the top rated classes.

Using a five-year average of recruitment rankings from the 247 Association, here are the top 20 schools from 2017-21.