Recruiting Rumor Mill: Intel flows from trip to North Carolina

A trip through North Carolina produced a flurry of recruiting intel on some of the nation’s top prospects. Here’s the latest from rankings director Adam Friedman.

There aren’t many massive defensive tackles like Clark and programs around the country have been trying to get his attention.

He’ll start his official visit schedule by making the trip up to Virginia on April 25. Clark won’t take another official visit until he goes to Duke on May 30 followed by South Carolina on June 6, Virginia Tech on June 14 and NC State on June 20.

He is aiming to announce his commitment before his senior season begins.

Currence has been locked in with South Carolina since October and it could be next to impossible to get him to change his mind. The Palmetto State native is an outspoken recruiter for the Gamecocks as well, targeting good friends Samari Matthews and Joshua Dobson.

That being said, Currence has developed strong relationships with coaches around the college football world so he expects to take official visits to Texas A&M and Florida State but hasn’t locked in dates for those trips yet.

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Dean is one of the most interesting prospects in the 2026 class. He began the recruiting process as an offensive line prospect and ranked as one of the best in the nation. He has unique physical traits that really excite coaches who are projecting him to the college level and beyond but he has not been able to add the necessary mass to his frame to remain a surefire collegiate offensive line prospect.

Now he’s flipped to the other side of the line of scrimmage and expects to play on the defensive line in college. Dean admits he has a long way to go as a defensive line prospect but his performance on Sunday at the Under Armour camp in Charlotte was encouraging.

Georgia and South Carolina are his top two contenders and he’ll take official visits to both schools before he commits later this offseason. Georgia is up first on June 16 and the Bulldogs are the betting favorite to land his commitment due to his strong connection to the program.

Get used to hearing Dobson’s name as the 2027 cornerback prospect will be near the top of every college coach’s wish list.

Tennessee, Florida State, Duke, Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech have all done a good job getting his attention at this early stage of the recruiting process. Dobson will visit Georgia and Georgia Tech this weekend.

His mother is a teacher so he said that academics will be a big part of where he chooses to sign.

Six programs are expected to get Eleazer on campus for official visits over the next two and half months. He’ll be at Georgia Tech on May 30 followed by Tennessee (June 6), Ohio State (June 13), Florida State (June 15) and Virginia Tech (June 20). Before all of those visits Eleazer will head to Palo Alto for an official visit to Stanford on May 15. He admitted that this visit was scheduled before Troy Taylor was fired as Stanford’s head coach but he still wants to take the visit and learn about the Cardinal program.

Eleazer does not have a commitment date locked in but mentioned he’d like to wait to commit until he’s a few games into his senior season.

Gaston was an early four-star prospect on Rivals and his recruitment reflects that strong early evaluation. The South Carolina native has narrowed his choices down to Georgia and Virginia Tech.

Gaston says he will take official visits to both schools but is planning on committing on May 12 before either trip. Virginia Tech is scheduled to host Gaston for his official visit on May 20 and then Georgia will get him back on campus on June 1.

Green has been a Rivals250 prospect for the majority of the 2026 rankings cycle and his recruitment is getting more intense by the day. Multiple SEC programs are coming after Green, who expects to commit sometime in July or August.

Virginia Tech is getting him on campus for an official visit this coming weekend, April 11. Green’s next official visit will go to Georgia on May 30 and then he’ll head to Oklahoma on June 6, Florida on June 13 and South Carolina on June 20.

The obvious physical talent Griffin-Haynes brings to the field has made him one of the more sought-after edge defenders in the 2026 class. Previously committed to North Carolina, Griffin-Haynes is taking a more diligent approach this time around.

He has official visits scheduled to NC State (May 30), Georgia (June 6), Notre Dame (June 17) and Florida State (June 20). Griffin-Haynes also planned an official visit to Florida on June 13 but admitted he’ll probably switch that visit to Oregon.

He says how each team develops their prospects will be one of the most important factors in his decision.

The Harris twins, Aiden and Andrew, have seen their recruiting process take some twists and turns over the last month but they have locked in a quartet of official visits – Penn State on May 30, South Carolina on June 6, Auburn on June 13 and NC State on June 20.

Ohio State has been a big part of their recruitment as well but Aiden, speaking at the Charlotte Under Armour camp on Sunday, explained that communication with the Buckeyes has slowed. He still likes them and holds defensive line coach Larry Johnson in high regard. He is still considering taking an official visit to Columbus.

Matthews is about to enter a pivotal stage of his recruitment. The elite cornerback prospect is at Miami today and then will head to Texas. Both of these unofficial visits carry massive implications for these teams as they try to gain more traction in their pursuit of Matthews.

His official visit schedule has been set for a little while now: Clemson on May 30, Florida State on June 6, Texas on June 13 and South Carolina on June 20. The Gamecocks are the betting favorite but Texas is gaining momentum. The Longhorns could make things interesting down the stretch.

Stancil, who named a top seven of Tennessee, Clemson, NC State, Penn State, LSU, Georgia and Miami, has been taking a lot of visits during the recruiting process and he has even more planned over the next two months. He was at Georgia and NC State last week and this weekend he’ll take another unofficial visit to Miami. Penn State is going to host him for an unofficial visit April 18 as well.

Stancil will begin his official visit schedule with North Carolina on April 25. In May, he’ll take official visits to Georgia (May 16) and Miami (May 30). Stancil is looking at taking official visits to Penn State on June 6, Tennessee on June 14 and NC State on June 20. He mentioned official visits to LSU and Clemson will likely get scheduled as well.