The first message Miami commit Kenton Dopson III received right at midnight was from a Hurricanes’ assistant coach telling him to shut his phone off.
“Home is where your feet are,” said the message to Dopson, the Miami (Fla.) Norland four-star cornerback who committed in March.
At the stroke of midnight on June 15, college coaches were allowed to start texting and calling 2027 prospects – officially.
The floodgates have now opened for that class as top prospects were openly sharing their cell phone numbers on social media, graphics ran rampant early Sunday morning and recruitments are taking even more shape.
Dopson might have turned off his phone. Others didn’t.
“I’m not going to lie,” said four-star defensive end K.J. Green from Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson. “I got like 12-15 texts at one time.”
Green’s first phone calls came from Georgia, South Carolina and Florida State and their message was the same: “They’re about to recruit the hell out of me.”
It was a similar story for many of the top prospects in the 2027 class – their phones blew up right at midnight, stayed that way into the wee hours and hasn’t slowed down since.
Georgia was the first program to contact high four-star edge rusher Zyron Forstall from New Orleans (La.) Jesuit followed by Baylor, Texas and Texas A&M.
“Georgia congratulated me and said they can’t wait to build a strong relationship throughout my recruiting process,” Forstall said.
For four-star defensive tackle Jalen Brewster, Texas, Oklahoma, SMU and Arizona State were the first four in contact. The Aggies sent an early message to four-star offensive tackle target Donquavieus Ford from Texarkana (Texas) Texas.
Florida told four-star offensive tackle Mark Matthews from Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas that he’s “one of their top guys” and after the Gators, Tennessee, Michigan, Louisville, Florida State, Penn State, Alabama, Oregon, Georgia, UCF and Auburn sent messages.
LSU quarterback legacy Colton Nussmeier heard first from Miami as the Hurricanes try to sway him away from the Tigers.
Former Oklahoma commit Zane Rowe heard from schools throughout the night – Georgia, Texas A&M, Auburn, Arizona State, SMU, Texas, Baylor early on followed by Alabama, Arkansas State, Sacramento State, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Clemson and Stanford. Maryland, Penn State, TCU and others sent messages early Sunday morning.
Ohio State was the first to hit up four-star offensive tackle Jake Hildebrand from Chandler (Ariz.) Basha.
“This is coach (Austin) Fields assistant OL coach at THE Ohio State,” the message to Hildebrand read. “Excited to finally be able to reach out to you. Ohio State has the best offensive line resources in the country. You will not get developed better anywhere in the country.”
Top four-star quarterback Jayce Johnson from Valdosta (Ga.) Lowndes, one of the top prospects in the 2027 class, first heard from Appalachian State of all places.
“His message was that he was excited that he finally gets to reach out to me and he’s looking forward to building a relationship,” Johnson said of the Mountaineers’ coach.
It’s a new recruiting class. In the dead of the night, everybody was taking their shot.
