USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school football recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.
Caleb downs highlighted an end-of-July surge of top 2023 recruits announcing their college destinations, with the five-star safety committing to Alabama. The announcement is the opening act to multiple follow-ups from others in the class, all leading to the August rush that will end with actual football.
As for the winners of the talented safety? Alabama landing Downs—or any top prospect—isn’t surprising. But that doesn’t water down the boost it provides for the perennial SEC power and head coach Nick Saban’s future depth chart.
Plus, in the recruiting race among dominant NCAA programs, it also one-ups the Crimson Tide’s battle with Ohio State and others in that arena.
And while it’s easy to label the big-time commitment to Alabama as “‘Bama being ‘Bama,” we’d be amiss not to give some credit to the Tide’s persistence in the face of the “Flash Cash”associated in such NIL-shadowed details of today’s recruiting world.
When asked about the Crimson Tide decision, Downs unveiled to Rivals an interesting part of the process — Alabama cornerbacks coach Travaris Robinson.
From the Q&A:
“Coach Robinson has been recruiting me since my freshman year. I’ve known him for three and a half years now. So just the ability to go play for him after knowing him for this long and him staying steady recruiting me through South Carolina and Miami and now Alabama is a big thing.”
Now that’s a cool payoff.
Moving on…
The Florida Gators: Trending
(Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
At this point, it’s easier to list the big-time recruits who haven’t either made a visit or are planning to check out the Florida Gators program. And the team’s annual Friday Night Lights event this weekend has added to the trend, attracting some notable names that includes five-star quarterback D.J. Lagway (class of 2024).
Gators Wire writer Adam Dubbin has more on the Texas slinger’s decision to visit Florida here.
And Lagway’s not the only QB heading to Gainesville this weekend—2025 QB recruit Colin Hurley is making a return visit to the Swamp this weekend too.
Hykeem Williams is next on the WR Watch List
(Photo: Andrew Ivins, 247Sports)
Williams is one of the top receivers in the country, listed among the best of the 2023 class. And unlike the…