Rivals.com – Recruiting Rumor Mill: Junior Day chatter flying fast and furious

Junior days are busier than ever and with that comes more news and rumors in the month of January. Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has the latest in the second Recruiting Rumor Mill this week.

As long as coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff are in Austin, Texas is going to be a main contender for the 2026 running back from Texarkana (Texas) Texas. Ball loves the direction the Longhorns are going in under Sarkisian so Texas will be a program to watch along with Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Miami and Oregon. The 2026 running back is expected to visit with the Hurricanes this weekend.

Barney has seen his recruitment take off in recent weeks as the 2026 cornerback from Suwanee (Ga.) Peachtree Ridge has loaded up on offers with Florida, USC, Colorado, Oklahoma and Florida State standing out the most.

A recent visit to Auburn went really well for Barney, who noticed how much time the coaching staff was spending with him but they also want to see how he develops physically.

The high three-star athlete from Tyler (Texas) Chapel Hill has been committed to SMU since June but a weekend visit to Texas definitely has him thinking some more about his recruitment.

The Longhorns are “definitely top three” for Brisbon, who loved the communication between everybody in Austin and he loves the coaching staff as well. The word is his family was blown away by the trip.

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The four-star defensive end from Port Charlotte, Fla., already has a top 12 but Florida State could be the program to watch. Charles has a ton of respect for position coach Odell Haggins and then being in Tallahassee over the weekend especially stood out.

The four-star was told he’s No. 1 on the Seminoles’ recruiting board and Charles “felt that all day” as the coaches paid special attention to him.

Oregon, USC and others are also involved but FSU has to like where it stands now.

Texas is “really starting to take the crown” in Chester’s recruitment especially after being in Austin over the weekend and getting special attention from coach Steve Sarkisian and position coaches Terry Joseph and Blake Gideon. The message from Sarkisian especially stood out that he’s going to keep making it obvious that Chester is one of his top guys in the 2025 class.

The Missouri City (Texas) Fort Bend Marshall standout also likes LSU, Oregon, Florida State and Texas A&M a lot but Texas seems to have a big edge.

Ohio State offered the 2026 offensive lineman from Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius over the weekend. It is his dream school so being on campus and getting the offer was a “special experience” for Conroy.

An early commitment to the Buckeyes wouldn’t be shocking at all now but his visits to Oregon, Florida and Miami stood out. His family loved Kentucky and they plan to return to Lexington as well. Conroy also will take a West Coast swing over spring break to see Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon.

Tennessee had its chance with the four-star cornerback from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei over the weekend and Dixson loved how the staff treated him and his family as the Vols continue to be a main contender in his recruitment.

But things are still open and others are definitely contending for that top spot as well as Texas, Washington, Georgia, USC and Oklahoma have made big impressions.

The three-star quarterback from St. Louis (Mo.) De Smet loved his time at Missouri over the weekend and seeing the vision for the future from coach Eli Drinkwitz, position coach Kirby Moore and others. Missouri is definitely one of the teams to watch but it also feels early for Duff.

He’s planning to narrow down his list more by the spring and Nebraska, Kansas State, Kentucky, Illinois, Northwestern and others are reaching out as well.

A weekend visit to Missouri only reinforced to the Atlanta (Ga.) Woodward Academy running back that the Tigers might be the team to beat in his recruitment. Farrington and his father love position coach Curtis Luper and that will go a long way toward a decision. Seeing the Cotton Bowl trophy there only reinforced that Missouri is on the right track.

Louisville, Colorado and Miami are three others to watch and this weekend Farrington is headed to Georgia Tech.

Gilbert has had Clemson and South Carolina atop his list with Georgia now making a big push but he had an “eye-opening day” at NC State last weekend and the Wolfpack are getting more involved here.

Can they overcome the others? Too early to say but the four-star defensive back from Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake loved that the message was that the NC State coaches want to develop him into a first-round talent.

Tennessee is going to make a run at the four-star receiver from Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei and the attention he got from the coaches over the weekend could really help the Vols. So could playing with five-star QB Nico Iamaleava.

From coach Josh Heupel to position coach Kelsey Pope to offensive coordinator Joey Halzle, Harris hit it off with all of them.

But many other schools might have a slighter edge at this point with Oregon, Texas, Ole Miss and Alabama on that list.

The list remains long for Hill with Oregon, Georgia, Louisville, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Purdue, Missouri, Stanford and Texas A&M on it, but Penn State is right up there as well. As long as coach James Franklin stays with the Nittany Lions, Hill will have interest especially after their talks over the weekend.

Development was the key piece of the talk as the four-star running back from Belleville (Ill.) Althoff looks at all his options.

Florida is one of the five programs Howard is most serious about and the Gators made it clear over the weekend that he’s “high on their board” and a top priority at receiver. Howard loved talking with position coach Billy Gonzales and how Florida could use him inside or outside.

The Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade Madonna four-star was also encouraged to keep coming back to Gainesville to build the bond with the players and coaches.

LSU, Miami, Florida State and Tennessee round out his favorites.

Montgomery is still busy seeing a lot of schools and figuring out which one is best but if South Carolina lands the four-star quarterback from Findlay, Ohio, it’s because he’s clearly the No. 1 option for the Gamecocks.

Many other programs are coming after Montgomery and rightfully so but the feeling is that South Carolina has made it clear he’s their top guy and that could be really meaningful down the stretch.

Penn State is going to be really tough to beat for the four-star linebacker from Latrobe (Pa.) Greater Latrobe especially after being in Happy Valley over the weekend and meeting with new defensive coordinator and position coach Tom Allen. The word from the Penn State staff is that they’re ready to take Tatsch when he’s ready to commit and it looks like the Nittany Lions are way out in front.

Development was a big part of the talk with Wilson but what really stood out to the four-star defensive tackle from Upper Marlboro (Md.) Wise was just how many great players on defense have come through Penn State over the years.

Fitting into the scheme and getting developed for the NFL were also important to Wilson, who’s also serious about Maryland, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Florida State and Texas A&M.