USA TODAY high school sportsFriday Night Notes is weekly high school football recruiting roundup that looks at the latest news from around the country – from the class of 2023 through ’24 and beyond.
We begin in Denton, Texas, where one of the top quarterback recruits in the class of 2023. performed a show on Thursday night in his season debut. Denton Guyer starting quarterback Jackson Arnold has committed to play his college ball at Oklahoma, and Sooners fans should be drooling over what he recorded last night.
In a 47-14 win over Rockwell-Heath (Texas), the five-star recruit posted some Sportscenter-worthy big plays.
Arnold threw three touchdown passes, including this 63-yard bomb.
Arnold later also ran for a 64-yard touchdown.
Arnold is ranked No. 14 in the country and is the No. 5 quarterback in his class. More performances like this will soon see him climb this chart…
Two top rookies are starting to play together
Jason Caldwell, 247 Sports
Like it or not, we live in a new era of athlete empowerment. At the top of the mountain, aging but still effective superstars like LeBron James and Tom Brady serve as de facto GMs, recruiting top ring-chasing talent to their respective NBA and NFL teams.
At the college level, the transfer portal has given student-athletes more control over their situation than at any previous time in history.
Meanwhile, NIL deals are now also filtered out up to the high school level.
The next stage of this evolution may already be underway. Two of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation plan to commit to the same college together. That would be it James Smith and Qua Russaw of Carver, Alabama, which are presented as a package deal to potential employers.
Smith is a 6-foot-4, 310-pound linebacker who is the top-ranked player in the state and the second-ranked linebacker in the country. Meanwhile, Russaw (6-foot-2, 230 pounds) is the nation’s No. 4 EDGE recruit. According to Sports Illustratedthey insist on going to the same school and there seems to be no Plan B.
The duo posted a list of the same six programs they are interested in – Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ohio, Florida and Alabama.
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Florida leads the way in this 4-star safety
Andrew Ivins, 247 Sports
Looking ahead, Florida continues to build one of the strongest 2024 recruiting classes. One of their main goals appears to be Lakeland (Fla.) safety Bryshawn Williams.
Williams (5-foot-11, 173 pounds) is ranked No. 16 nationally and No. 148 overall. So far, he has 24 offers, including ones from Alabama, Connecticut, Florida Atlantic and Florida State.
He hasn’t been on an official visit yet. However, he plans to attend the Gators’ season opener against Utah next Saturday. On3’s recruiting prediction machine gives Florida the lead with a 40.9 percent chance of getting Williams to commit.
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More recruiting news from USA TODAY Sports college wires
Nick King/Lansing State Journal/USA TODAY NETWORK
Spartans Wire
What’s next for Michigan State football at WR in the 2023 recruiting class
Sooners Wire
Five-star Oklahoma QB commit Jackson Arnold dazzled in the first game of the season
Rutgers Wire
Duck wire
Trojan cable