Recruiting roundup: Blue chippers at the Coliseum, Oregon’s guest list, Boise State’s big weekend

The Hotline is delighted to provide West Coast fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Phoenix-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on Oct. 9  …


Rose Bowl rivals reunite

In a classic helmet game, USC will host Michigan in the Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Two former Rose Bowl rivals turned conference foes will duel in front of a barrage of top recruits.

Michigan has continued to recruit the West Coast heavily under coach Sherrone Moore, whose 2026 quarterback commit, four-star prospect Brady Smigiel, is from the San Fernando Valley. A victory for the Wolverines would only help with the West Coast kids.

But USC has refocused on its home region since Chad Bowden arrived as general manager. (Notably, he turned down an opportunity to run Michigan’s recruiting operation during his stint at Notre Dame.)

Most of USC’s commitments in the class of 2026 will attend the game, but the focus will be on the underclassmen — namely, three players inside the top 25 nationally: Florida edge rusher Zyron Forstall and two California natives, defensive lineman Kasi Currie and two-way standout Honor Fa’alave Johnson.

Six additional recruits expected to attend are in the top 100: Florida receiver Osani Gayles, California cornerbacks Duvay Williams, Aaryn Washington and Danny Lang, California receiver Quentin Hale and Illinois linebacker Roman Igwebuike.

And yet, easily the most interesting recruit in the Coliseum will be five-star quarterback Donald Tabron, from the class of 2028. Why is he important? Because like current Michigan starter Bryce Underwood, Tabron is an in-state product. The Wolverines want him, and so do the Trojans.

‘GameDay,’ top recruits in Eugene

Though Oregon’s big recruiting weekend will be next month when the Ducks face USC, this weekend has turned into a key stretch, as well.

With Indiana coming to Autzen Stadium for an afternoon kickoff on CBS — this, after ESPN’s “College GameDay” airs from campus — several top targets will be on hand.

The Ducks have an official visitor coming in current Michigan State pledge Braylon Hodge, a Navy All-American Bowl linebacker selection from the same school as current Duck linebacker Blake Purchase.

Another prospect the Ducks have worked hard to flip is Georgia commit Donte Wright, a 2027 cornerback from Long Beach Poly. Wright will attend, and don’t think for a second that current Oregon player Daylen Austin, a Long Beach Poly product himself, won’t be spending time with Wright.

The list also includes two players who are No. 1 in their state in the 2027 class: Oregon cornerback Josiah Molden, the son of former Duck star Alex Molden, and cornerback Hayden Stepp from Nevada. Stepp was a high school teammate of current Duck commit Jett Washington — the nephew of Kobe Bryant — and the Ducks want to reunite the duo in college.

The Ducks also will have the No. 2 player in Utah in the 2027 class, edge rusher Krew Jones, and top-five players from both Washington (lineman Gecova Doyal) and Arizona (running back Noah Roberts).

Boise State bounceback?

After a decisive loss at Notre Dame a week ago, the Broncos return to the Blue Turf to face New Mexico. And while numerous schools are focusing on underclassmen, Boise State is prioritizing prospects in the class of 2026.

The Broncos have an official visit coming from current UConn running back Jayden Fox, who was a teammate of Braylen Hodge. Why is Hodge significant? He’s a four-star linebacker committed to Michigan State who the Broncos are trying to flip.

A current Boise State pledge, tight end Beckham Hofland is also expected for an official visit while, unofficially, another future Bronco, athlete Jacob Arbuckle, will be there.

More importantly, the Broncos have one of two 2026 quarterback commitments coming in Tradon Bessinger. The signal-caller just received an offer from Iowa. But the Broncos, who already lost one quarterback commit, are desperately holding on to Bessinger.

Speaking of quarterbacks, Titus Vidlak, the No. 2 recruit in the state in 2027, is coming.

The headliner, however, is the No. 1 tight end in the country in 2028: Tytan McNeal, who is now in Washington but grew up in Idaho.

Other key visitors

— While news broke this week of Colorado coach Deion Sanders undergoing surgery for blood clots, the Buffaloes are gearing up for Iowa State on Saturday.

They’ll host an official visitor in three-star receiver Kai Meza, from Utah.

A longtime commit to Minnesota, Meza opened up his recruitment last week and also has visits scheduled for Cal and Kansas State, but the Buffs get the first shot.

— The other official visit of note this weekend will unfold at UNLV, which is hosting Madden Soliai, a top-10 recruit from Hawaii.

Soliai is currently committed to UCLA. Although he hasn’t opened up his recruitment, his primary contact at UCLA, Ikaika Malloe, left the program following the dismissal of DeShaun Foster.

UNLV is trying to capitalize.


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