Bannerman Recruiting Report

  The Cyclones landed one of their top recruits of all-time when Class of 2022 4-star WR Greg Gaines committed to the team. He held 25 total offers and chose Iowa State over Indiana, Kansas State, Virginia Tech, Maryland, and more. Greg plays at Tampa Bay Tech in Tampa, FL. Greg knew he was ready to commit after he dropped his Top 4, saying “ It finally hit that I was ready to commit once I was able to actually get out to my top 4 schools and analyze each and everyone. I would say my family and I took about 2 weeks to analyze and once we felt like we were completely ready made the call to coach Campbell and told him I was 110% ready to be a cyclone”.  Something that stood out to him about Iowa State was the culture and the people the program has. He said “ Mainly the culture of Iowa state & the people in the program. We had a player panel with 5 of Iowa states top players, no coaches only parents/recruits and questions. Which all were answered with honest feelings”. He hel...

  Wake Forest landed a underrated recruit in the 2022 class, when they landed the commitment of 4-star DE Eli Hall. He plays at Crest High School in North Carolina and held over 20 offers. He chose the Demon Deacons over schools like Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Penn State, USC, Virginia Tech, and more.  He knew he wanted to commit when he took his first visit to Wake Forest, and when he committed it was dream come true. The thing that stood out for Eli was his relationships with the staff and how they would all consistently check in with him during his recruitment. He talks to coaches almost everyday, most notably Coach Cohen and Coach Crawford, and he tells me they have a great relationship with him.  When he visited he knew it was the place for him saying, “It was everything they said it was going to be”. Eli tries to play like Aaron Donald and is very strong at the point of attack off the line of scrimmage.  Eli tells me he could be playing both DE and DT because ...

  The Mountaineers enjoyed a great month of recruiting in July, which included 3-star LB Raleigh Collins III. He plays for Neumann Goretti and is one of the top players in the state of Pennsylvania. Raleigh held over 15 offers including WVU, Kansas, Maryland, Penn State, Oregon, & more. He knew he was ready to commit after talking it over with his parents, and his commitment date (7/23) was special to him as it is his grandpa’s birthday. Raleigh feels like he could develop into a versatile player, and the facilities and family ties he has really stood out to him. Raleigh has built strong relationships with Coach Scott and Coach Koonz noting he talks to them all the time. He went on an official visit and here’s what he had to say about it, “ Yea i visited back at the end of June, looked amazing. Very impressed by the facilities and renovations.”. With how Raleigh plays, he can move around to linebacker, cornerback, even safety. He tells me the staff plans to use him as a WILL li...

 Simeon Harris has always had a goal to play power 5 football, and when he committed to Colorado he achieved that goal. He is a 3-star Athlete from Benicia High School in California.  He knew he was ready to commit after camp at Colorado and he was able to work with the coaches, he’s been talking to. Coach Demetrice Martin for a long time before he got the offer and that really stood out to him. Simeon has built really good relationships with the coaches at Colorado saying, “ Me and coach meat (Martin) just talk like we family! Outside of football , and coach Conner Boyd that’s my guy he wanted me to get 2 picks at the camp and I ain’t let him down , so me and him have a good relationship also”.  After the camp he attended a short visit, and he tells me he went great. Simeon loves the scenery there including all the mountains.  Colorado is getting a competitor in him, Simeon plays physical, versatile, and technically sound as well. They plan on using him as a cornerb...

 Arkansas continued their in-state recruiting dominance when they landed 3-star LB Mani Powell, a Top 10 player in the state from Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville, AR. He held a total of 17 offers including from Coastal Carolina, Michigan, Syracuse, Indiana, & more. He knew he was ready to commit on his visit, saying “It was kind of hard not to commit on the spot but really after the visit I couldn’t stop thinking about how great it was”. The school really impressed him on the visit and he will never forget the experience, adding “They outdid everybody and I knew 100% that I wanted to commit”. Some things that stood out about Arkansas was the constant great recruiting and how family meant a lot to them. When describing his relationship with the staff, Mani said “Very close and personal, these people have shown that they are great men before great coaches and they’ve made it their job to make recruits family before making them great football players”.  Mani tries to...

  Just recently I was able to interview one of the top prospects in the Class of 2023, 4-star OT Samson Okunlola. He attends Thayer Academy in Brockton, MA and currently holds 31 offers from Oregon, Georgia, Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Michigan, USC, Penn State, Texas A&M, and more. Samson has also received interest from Oklahoma, LSU, Alabama, & Northwestern. He is ranked as the #4 offensive tackle and the #1 prospect in Massachusetts in the 2023 Class.   He visited Georgia and Florida over the summer along with his older brother (2022 4-star DE Samuel Okunlola). He tells me he built good relationships with all of the coaches while on each visit. Here’s what Samson had to say about the visits: Georgia: “It was a good visit, I like the coaches and the type of bond they had between each other, the facilities were great too”.   Florida: “They were good too, can’t wait to see it when the new facilities are done, I also like the coaches too”. He tells me loc...

  SMU landed their highest rated recruit in the programs history (via 247Sports) when 4-star S Chace Biddle committed to the Mustangs in July. He chose SMU over Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas A&M, and others. Chace held 24 offers and is ranked the #109 prospect in the 2022 class, as well as the #8 safety.  When I asked when he knew he was ready to commit, he said “The day I knew I was ready it was a hard decision from all the way up til and it feels good to say I’m committed”. He tells me some things that stood out about SMU was the family atmosphere they have there, and how coaches thought about players’ life after football as well as football right now. Chace describes his relationship with coaches as “All laughter and games, but when it comes to business it gets serious”. He says the visit to SMU was great. He enjoyed the staff, indoor field house, & their weight rooms, saying they are amazing facilities.  Biddle plays very aggressively and co...

  Recently, the Hawkeyes landed the commitment of 3-star WR Jacob Bostick. He plays for Palatine High School in Palatine, IL. Bostick is ranked 634th nationally and a Top 10 player in the state of Illinois. Bostick had 19 offers and chose the Hawkeyes over schools like Louisville, Illinois, Cincinnati, Pitt, & more. Jacob says he knew he was ready to commit when he was on the visit, he talked about it with his parents and committed on the visit. Here’s what he said stood out about Iowa, “Many things, however the players were awesome. Built some great relationships with the players”. He has built great relationships with Coach Brian Ferentz (Offensive Coordinator) and Coach Kelton Copeland (WR Coach) on the visit and has had long conversations with them. Jacob visited twice, once for an unofficial, and a second time for his official visit, “They both went great” he says. While he plays, he shows lots of versatility with how he can play both outside receiver or in the slot, and J...

 Recently, Boise State added yet another solid recruit to their 2022 class in 3-star ATH Zamondre Merriweather. He held 6 total offers and chose the Broncos over Florida State, Maryland, San Diego State, and others. Zamondre attends Valencia High School in California and is a Top 50 player in the state. When asked about when he knew he was ready to commit, he told me “ I’ve been talking to the Boise State coaches since September. They were one of the first people to reach out to me. They established a relationship with my family and I really fast. Going to Boise has always been a dream of mine I just needed the opportunity. So after they offered I committed on the spot”. Zamondre also added “It feels good to say “i’m committed” the recruiting process was both stressful and fun. I’m glad it’s over and I feel like i made a great decision”. There were a few things that stood out about Boise State to him including, the relationship with the staff. He also noted the facilities are ...

  Tapuvae "Snoop" Amaama is a 3-star OG in the 2022 recruiting class, he holds 10 offers including BYU, Miami, Syracuse, & Virginia. He plays at Skyridge High School in Lehi, UT and is ranked as one of the top lineman and players in the state of Utah.  Snoop tells me so far Hawaii, Syracuse, BYU, and Miami stand out to him more than others, he also is garnering interest from Ole Miss, Alabama, LSU, USC, and Washington who all want to see how he plays his senior year before they offer. He has been to a bunch of camps and personal workouts this summer to show what he is capable of.  He really enjoyed Paradise Camp at Miami and had this to say about it, "The Paradise Camp was sick, they had a bunch of alumni come down there. Their alumni network is crazy, the have a lot of hall of famers and a lot of guys who have had 15 plus year careers, it's impressive". Snoop also visited a few schools including BYU, LSU, and USC over the summer and was excited to see what ...