Final official visit weekends of recruiting cycles typically have a lot of viral/online type of drama but are generally quiet in terms of actual hard news drama (i.e. surprise decisions, commits, etc.). That is because most of the prospects who are taking official visits this week fall into one of two categories.

1: Their decision has already been made and they want to get in one last mini-vacation.

2: If the decision is going this late in the process, they need a day or two to figure everything out and at that point you may as well wait until signing day.

So there are things like the entire Tennessee Twitter community freaking out because Derrick Brown tweeted (and then deleted) something about a mistake while he was on his visit to Knoxville.

Regardless, we are heading for an exciting signing day in terms of how classes are going to come together and there will be plenty of hard news type drama in 48 hours.

There was some significant news this past weekend, though, and here’s a look.

Cole wants no part of greyshirting at Bama

Linebacker Riley Cole (Oneonta, Ala.) decommitted from Alabama on Sunday after the Crimson Tide discussed a greyshirt opportunity with him. Cole took to Twitter and said that he wanted to go to a program where “he was wanted.”

Wake Forest and South Alabama had offers on the table for him when he pledged to the Tide.

After reviewing his senior film, in my opinion, at a place like Alabama, which recruits gobs of talent at linebacker each and every cycle, Cole was going to have to seriously overachieve to get on the field at that spot. Now, as a fullback or an H-back in that offense similar to Brad Smelley a couple of years back? Yes, there’s a higher skill set there and less competition from an athleticism standpoint.

A greyshirt year also would have been a good opportunity for Cole had it come to that because the chances of him seeing the field as a true freshman at Alabama were slim to none barring the Tide’s roster being decimated with catastrophic injuries in the double digits.

Cole will likely find a better fit for his skill set as he is a definite FBS-level prospect, but when you are talking about a program that recruits the best-of-the-best on an annual basis, there was a lot of improvement that needed to be done.

Georgia receiver heads east instead of west

South Carolina flipped wide receiver Kiel Pollard (Moultrie, Ga./Colquitt County) from Arkansas. The Gamecocks felt good about their chances for nearly the entire month of January and as early as last Sunday all signs pointed toward Pollard heading to Columbia.

South Carolina has a major need at receiver this cycle as former head coach Steve Spurrier did not leave much for new head coach Will Muschamp at that position. That sounds odd given that Spurrier always had receivers at Florida and with the Gamecocks, but Pharoh Cooper was their only receiving threat last season and he’s gone to the NFL.

As for the Razorbacks, losing Pollard wasn’t a good thing, but they still have solid prospects coming in at receiver this cycle.



Bulldogs lose one to the Big 12

Mississippi State lost one of the better evaluations in its 2016 class when athlete Zach Farrar (Southlake, Texas/Southlake Carroll) flipped to Oklahoma. The Sooners historically have been good in the Dallas Metroplex, so this wasn’t completely unexpected or rare from a precedent standpoint.


Keep an eye on …

There’s a lot of buzz about running back D’Vaughn Pennamon (Manvel, Texas) flipping from Ole Miss to Texas A&M. The 5-foot-11, 200-pounder has been committed to the Rebels since July. … Alabama is trending for New Orleans tight end Irvin Smith of Brother Martin High. … UCLA has high confidence it is going to keep five-star linebacker and Alabama/Ole Miss target Mique Juarez (Torrance, Calif./North) on the west coast. I am told not to count out the Tide here just yet, though. … Will Ole Miss or Alabama be able to pull four-star wide receiver A.J. Brown out of Starkville High? I am hearing more and more it could happen.