Pac-12 recruiting: USC, Oregon lead on the trail. Deion Sanders has quiet start

The 2024 recruiting cycle figured to compelling for Pac-12 schools. Here’s where their classes stand.

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The 2024 recruiting cycle figured to be compelling within the Pac-12, and it hasn’t disappointed. Oregon and USC continue to battle for supremacy, Deion Sanders has made Colorado relevant and worth monitoring, Troy Taylor has provided Stanford with a spark and Kenny Dillingham brought new energy to the league.

Now that we’re four months into the 2024 cycle and six months away from the early signing period, here are some thoughts on where things stand from a recruiting perspective across the Pac-12.

USC and Oregon remain a cut above

In the 2023 cycle, USC finished eighth nationally in the 247Sports Composite. That was good enough for the top class in the Pac-12, just one spot ahead of Oregon.

After landing commitments from four-star safety Marquis Gallegos and four-star offensive lineman Makai Saina on Tuesday, the Trojans rank seventh nationally, which is tops in the league and one spot ahead of the Ducks.

Dan Lanning has won several high-profile battles against Lincoln Riley (five-star OL Josh Conerly Jr., four-star DL Matayo Uiagalelei, four-star DB Rodrick Pleasant) since the two took over their respective jobs in late 2021. Riley won two this week by landing commitments from Gallegos and four-star receiver Ryan Pellum. Both recruitments came down to USC and Oregon.

USC has been particularly active this month with 12 commitments. The top four prospects in the class all hail from California, but the class has a bit of an out-of-state flavor with blue-chip commitments from Florida, Georgia, Texas and Connecticut.

It’s been an objectively good month for USC, but there have been some questions about some of the top players in the state. Mater Dei in Santa Ana, a traditional pipeline program for USC, has four of the top five players in the state, and it doesn’t appear any will sign with the Trojans.

“Everyone wants to see if Lincoln can recreate what he did last year or be better, but as Lincoln is finding out and found out at Oklahoma as well, kids are not hesitant to leave now,” said Rivals national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney. “Kids will go to Alabama and Georgia and Ohio State pretty quickly. It’s not like they have to turn down USC to do that. It is a little bit of a challenge, but I don’t think it’s going to be much of a real challenge long term.”

Like USC, Oregon has recruited well nationally. The Ducks hold out-of-state blue-chip commitments from Maryland, Texas, California, Washington, Oklahoma and Arizona. That’s building on the out-of-state success Lanning had last cycle when Oregon proved how much of a threat it would be under this staff.

“I think this is what Oregon people and conference people should expect from (Lanning),” Gorney said. “He’s recruiting nationally. I think you have to do that to win at the highest level at Oregon. There’s just not enough players in the Pacific Northwest to do it and he’s doing a phenomenal job.”

The main difference between the two classes right now is USC holds commitments from four top-100 prospects. Oregon has none. But there are still six months for both programs to add to that.

Stanford’s surprising month

USC and Oregon have the best classes in the conference, but when asked which Pac-12 program has been the most impressive, Gorney said: “Before June I wouldn’t have said this, but Stanford has had such an incredible run.”

The Cardinal entered June with just four commits. Now they have 25 commitments and a top-15 recruiting class. Last week, we went deep on Stanford’s impressive recruiting stretch. Sure, this recruiting class may not finish in the top 15, but if you’re a Cardinal fan, it’s the type of effort and energy you want to see from Taylor in his first full recruiting cycle.

Stanford needs to add as much talent as possible after its roster was decimated by the transfer portal this offseason. This is a good first step for Taylor, the former Sacramento State head coach who picked up four blue-chip commitments this month.

“I don’t think he came in with a ton of name recognition,” Gorney said. “I don’t think a lot of top recruits really care about Sacramento State football, but once they sit down with him and see how the offense is going to run, and it’s a 21st-century offense they’re going to like to play (in) and they get a Stanford education, I think that’s a massive selling point for a lot of people.”

Stanford has the centerpiece of its class already in place with four-star quarterback Elijah Brown, so we’ll see if the Cardinal can build more around him.

What to make of Deion Sanders and Colorado?

Deion Sanders has been known for making big splashes on the recruiting trail. He shocked the college football world when he signed five-star cornerback Travis Hunter at Jackson State during the 2022 recruiting cycle. Last cycle, just a few months into his Colorado tenure, Sanders was the main catalyst in five-star corner Cormani McClain‘s decision to sign with the Buffaloes.

That left many observers curious to see what kind of noise Sanders would make in his first full recruiting cycle at Colorado. So far, it’s been pretty quiet. The Buffaloes have commitments from three four-star prospects but only one of those is a top-100 player nationally — athlete Aaron Butler (No. 78).

There just hasn’t been a ton of buzz about the Buffaloes’ class, which ranks 48th nationally and fifth in the conference.

“There’s something going on there where the kids will say publicly that they love Deion and they think he’s going to do great there and he’s a phenomenal coach and all these kind of things,” Gorney said, “but privately want to see something on the field. I don’t think a lot of elite kids there across the country are jumping on board until they see exactly what this is all about.”

Colorado’s first five games: at TCU, Nebraska, Colorado State, at Oregon and USC. A 2-3 record seems like the best-case scenario. It’s difficult to imagine there will be on-field momentum for Sanders to sell to recruits, which would make things pretty interesting the rest of the way.

Sanders has pulled off some significant surprises late in recruiting cycles before, though.

A few days ago, there wasn’t much to say about Washington’s recruiting efforts. Late last week, the Huskies had just one commitment in their 2024 class, which was rated the lowest among any Power 5 program.

The Huskies still have a lot of work to do to finish with a class that ranks in the top third of the conference, but they have made up considerable ground over the past few days. Washington picked up three commitments over the weekend and six more early this week Monday and Tuesday to move their class up to 10 total commits.

The Huskies’ slow start was a bit confusing because Kalen DeBoer provided proof of concept last season and the program had tangible on-field results to pitch recruits on. Even with a very active stretch recently, Washington still has just two four-star prospects in this class. It’ll need to add more elite talent to keep the program’s trajectory headed in a positive direction.

UCLA stays true to itself

Chip Kelly has never seemed particularly enthusiastic about recruiting during his time as UCLA’s coach. Signing five-star quarterback Dante Moore last cycle might have caused some optimism about a recruiting breakthrough for Kelly at UCLA, but it’s been more of the same for the Bruins this cycle.

There’s one four-star commitment (offensive lineman Mark Schroller) and seven three-star commits — and only two of those rank in the top 500 nationally. Kelly has put a much greater emphasis on the transfer portal to build his roster and he’s had several success stories there, but high school recruiting still seems like it’s on the back burner.

“Chip is going to do what he’s going to do. That’s what it basically comes down to,” Gorney said. “When I go to games on Friday nights, I’ve seen Lincoln Riley three or four times. I’ve seen Donte Williams 10 times. I’ve never seen Chip Kelly at a game. If you want to run your program that way, that’s fine. (He’s) definitely smart. There’s no doubt about it. (He’s) a great offensive mind. But better players are going to better teams. That’s the only way I can really put it.”

Remember that this UCLA class (and USC’s) will be the first one that plays exclusively in the Big Ten. As of now, the Bruins’ class ranks ahead of just two Big Ten schools — Maryland and Indiana.

Elsewhere around the league

Arizona (fourth in the Pac-12) and Arizona State (seventh in the Pac-12)

You can’t say the Arizona schools haven’t been active on the recruiting trail. The programs have combined to pick up 28 commitments (16 for the Wildcats, 12 for the Sun Devils) this cycle. The issue is only one of those 28 players is a blue-chip prospect — Arizona running back commit Jordan Washington, who is also the only player between the two classes rated in the top 400 nationally. And of the top 10 players in the state of Arizona, only one has committed to either program: three-star athlete Dylan Tapley, the No. 10 player in the state who is committed to the Sun Devils. Meanwhile, both Oregon and Texas have commitments from two of the top 10 players in the state.

Cal (ninth in the Pac-12)

The Golden Bears received some good news on Tuesday morning when former Washington commit and three-star QB EJ Caminong announced his verbal pledge to Cal. That’s the first QB to commit under new Golden Bears offensive coordinator Jake Spavital. But outside of that commitment, Cal has had little momentum on the recruiting trail. Five of the program’s nine commitments rank outside of the top 1,100 nationally. Having a quarterback in place could help, but the Golden Bears could use a good season to sell to recruits too.

Oregon State (10th in the Pac-12)

Under Jonathan Smith, the Beavers have made a good habit of outperforming their recruiting rankings. Oregon State’s classes will never be ranked all that high, so it’s no surprise to see the program at No. 64 right now. Smith has excelled when it comes to evaluation and development, which is how the Beavers won 10 games last season despite having recruiting classes that typically hover around the 50s. This class will probably finish around the same, and some under-the-radar skill player will end up terrorizing the league in a few years.

Washington State (11th in the Pac-12)

The Cougars are in a similar spot as the Beavers. It’s always going to be an uphill climb for Washington State on the trail. The rankings will never be impressive, and this cycle, like others before it, will come down to how well the staff evaluates. Three-star running back Josh Joyner committed to the Cougars on Tuesday, giving them their first commit who ranks inside the top 1,000 nationally. Washington State has made bowl games the last two seasons even though the recruiting rankings weren’t pretty, so they’ve performed better than those suggested.

Utah (last in the Pac-12)

The Utes signed their best class ever last cycle (21st nationally) and were helped by an impressive stretch late in the season and a solid in-state year for Utah, which had five blue-chip prospects in 2023. Utah signed three of the state’s top five players, including the top-rated prospect in four-star offensive lineman Spencer Fano. This year, the state has just three blue-chip players. The Utes already have one of those three — four-star QB Isaac Wilson — in their class. At this rate, it’ll be extremely tough for Utah to match its recruiting success from last year. The Utes have just five commitments so they’ll need another strong closing stretch to finish where they usually do, which is around 30-35 in the team rankings.

(Top photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)