USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.
This week on Friday Night Notes, we’ll take a virtual tour around the country, searching for all the latest recruiting news.
Along the way, there will be stops for a massive OT visiting Tennessee, another narrowing his list of schools down, plus the best running back in the class of 2025 setting a summer visit for Columbus.
Here are 10 recruiting stories from around the USA TODAY Sports College Wires network.
1
Florida a childhood favorite for this 4-star prospect
“Florida’s recent staff changes don’t seem to be slowing Billy Napier on the recruiting trail. The second-year head coach recently extended an offer to athlete Jonathan Paylor, 2024’s second-best player in the state of North Carolina. Paylor tells 247Sports that the offer did not come as a surprise. In addition to naming the Gators as one of his favorite teams to watch growing up…”
2
Huge Alabama OT has Georgia among top schools
“Standing 6-foot-8, 365 pounds, JacQawn McRoy is easily one of the biggest recruits in the 2024 class. The four-star offensive tackle out of Clay-Chalkville High School in Pinson, Ala., is rated as the No. 5 tackle, the No. 8 player in the state of Alabama and the No. 133 recruit overall, according to 247Sports…”
3
Wisconsin TE makes ESPN's top 5 list
“Grant Stec, a four-star tight end and class of 2024 Badger commit from Algonquin, Illinois was ranked as the fourth best at his position in the country by ESPN. The 6-foot-6, 220 pound athlete committed to Wisconsin in late January, becoming the first pass-catcher to join the program for 2024.”
4
4-Star WR Jaime Ffrench set to visit Alabama for Junior Day
“He possesses good size at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds. As a junior, Ffrench had 44 receptions for 671 receiving yards and five touchdowns. He also runs track and plays basketball for the school as well.”
5
Top 2025 RB to visit Ohio State over summer
“There have been multiple running backs linked to OSU for the 2024 cycle. Samuel Dixon is one of them. Looking ahead to 2025, you can add Virginia’s Gideon Davidson to the list. According to a report from 247Sports Bill Kurelic, Davidson plans to visit Columbus in June for a camp…”
6
Colorado in top five for 4-star athlete Aaron Butler
“Butler was previously headed to USC before decommitting in January, and it’s worth mentioning that three Pac-12 schools are on his final list. If the Buffs land him, that could form a dangerous CB trio of Cormani McClain, Travis Hunter and Butler come 2024.”
7
Oklahoma gets third projection to land WR Bryant Wesco
“While the Sooners are favorites on 247Sports and Rivals, On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine still favors TCU. Which means there’s at least a competition between the Big 12 foes. Wesco has visited TCU twice this year alone. Once in January, his most recent visit came on Wednesday as he and a few other Oklahoma targets saw TCU for their second Junior Day. By all accounts, former Sooner turned TCU wide receivers coach Malcolm Kelly also prioritizes Wesco as their top target.”
8
5-star OT Mason Short schedules visit to Tennessee
“Five-star offensive tackle Mason Short announced he will take a visit to Tennessee on March 25. It will be Short’s first visit to Tennessee. The 6-foot-7, 280-pound offensive tackle is from Evans High School in Evans, Georgia… He earned second-team MaxPreps High School Football Sophomore All-American honors last season. Short was also selected as the Offensive Lineman of the Year by Born to Compete.”
9
3-star EDGE Elijah King opens up about Rutgers offer
“At 6-foot-6 and 230 pounds, King is a class of 2024 defensive end from Gahanna Lincoln (Columbus, OH). He is a tremendous presence off the edge, with good length coupled with a nice twitch that is a headache for offensive tackles. The recruitment from Rutgers was kicked into high gear with the offer this week…”
10
Auburn offers 5-star defensive lineman Iose Epenesa
“Five-star defensive lineman Iose Epenesa may come from an Iowa Hawkeye family but the Auburn Tigers are making a run at him. The Tigers extended an offer to the 2025 prospect on Monday…”
