Blue White Illustrated

T H E C L A S S O F 2 0 1 8 >> ted to the Nittany Lions before opting to reopen his recruitment last June. Other top-25 players in the Bulldogs' class are offensive guard Jamaree Salyer of Atlanta (No. 9); running back Zamir White of Laurinburg, N.C. (No. 10); de- fensive end Adam Anderson of Rome, Ga. (No. 12); offensive tackle Cade Mays of Knoxville, Tenn. (No. 19); all-purpose running back James Cook of Miami (No. 22); and corner- back Tyson Campbell of Plantation, Fla. (No. 25). All told, Smart was able to land 12 Rivals top-100 players, an unbelievable accom- plishment. And in addition to its eight five-star signees, Georgia landed 15 four-star and five three- star recruits. Saban must be shaking his head in disbe- lief. Then again, the Crimson Tide didn't do badly them- selves, nor did the six other Southeastern Conference schools that made Rivals' top 20. Alabama didn't land the No. 1 class in the country as it had in >ve of the six previ- ous years, but it did make the top 10, ranking seventh nationally according to Ri- vals. Saban's class includes 19 recruits and is headlined by three five-star signings: defensive end Eyabi Anoma of Baltimore; defensive back Patrick Surtain of Plantation, Fla.; and wide receiver Jaylen Waddle of Houston. The Crimson Tide also signed 12 four-star recruits and fin- ished off the class with three three- star prospects. The other SEC schools in the top 20 are Auburn (12th), LSU (13th), Texas A&M (16th), Florida (18th), South Car- olina (19th) and Tennessee (20th). Next to the SEC, the conference that probably made the biggest recruiting news was the Big Ten, with Ohio State (second) and Penn State (fifth) posting top-five classes. Ohio State's 26- member class includes three five-star, 18 four-star and five three-star signees. Penn State's class totals 23 prospects, two of whom received five- star ratings and 16 of whom earned four stars. The biggest negative for the Big Ten is that no other con- ference schools joined Ohio State and Penn State in the top 20. The program that made the most headlines on signing day was Southern Cal. The Trojans ended up with the No. 3 class in the country ac- cording to Rivals. USC landed only 18 recruits, but that list included >ve >ve-star and 13 four-star signees. The Trojans landed three five-star recruits on signing day: receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown of Santa Ana, Calif.; defensive back Olaijah Grif- fin of Mission Viejo, Calif.; and defensive back Isaac Taylor-Stuart of San Diego. They also got four four-star players: linebacker Solomon Tuliaupupu of Santa Ana, Calif.; athlete Devon Williams of Lancaster, Calif.; linebacker Eli'Jah Winston of Portland, Ore.; and athlete Talanoa Hufanga of Corvallis, Ore. It was the most impressive performance by any school on signing day. Three other Pac-12 schools ended up in Rivals' top 20, as Washington is 14th, Oregon 15th and UCLA 17th. Three Atlantic Coast Conference teams made the top 10, with Miami placing sixth, Clemson eighth and Florida State 10th. The Hurricanes' class consists of 23 players, including two >ve-star recruits: wide receiver Mark Pope of Miami and running back Lorenzo Lingard of Orange City, Fla. Eighteen of the Hurricanes' re- cruits are from Florida, with three com- ing from Georgia and one each from Texas and Nevada. Clemson brought in a small class, signing only 17 players, but six are >ve- star recruits. That list includes wide re- ceiver Justyn Ross of Phenix City, Ala.; o@ensive lineman Jackson Carmen of Fair>eld, Ohio; defensive end K.J. Henry of Clemmons, N.C.; defensive end Xavier Thomas of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.; wide receiver Derion Kendrick of Rock Hill, S.C.; and quar- terback Trevor Lawrence of Cartersville, Ga. Lawrence is Rivals' No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2018. Florida State, which hired Willie Tag- gart in December following Jimbo Fisher's departure for Texas A&M, signed 21 prospects. The Seminoles landed one >ve-star player in defensive back Jaiden Woodbey of Bell?ower, Calif., and 14 four-star players. Texas and Oklahoma are the only Big 12 schools in Rivals' top 20. The Long- horns rank fourth with a 27-member group that includes the No. 1 secondary class in the country. They landed >ve- star free safety Caden Sterns and four- star defensive backs Anthony Cook, D'Shawn Jamison, Jaleen Green, B.J. Foster and DeMarvion Overshown. All six of those players are from Texas, and Cook, Jamison and Green all hail from the Houston area. The Sooners put together a 22-mem- ber class headlined by five-star defen- sive back Brendan Radley-Hiles of IMG Academy in Florida. Fifteen of Okla- homa's signees earned four stars from Rivals, including offensive lineman Tramonda Moore of Independence (Kan.) Community College; running back T.J. Pledger of IMG Academy; and offensive lineman Brey Walker of Moore, Okla. Notre Dame landed Rivals' 11th-best class, signing 27 players, 12 of whom received four-star ratings. The top four-star player in coach Brian Kelly's group is athlete Tariq Bracy of Milpitas, Calif. In the American Athletic Conference, the highest-ranked team is Houston at No. 60. –P.G. RIVALS NATIONAL 1. Georgia 2. Ohio State 3. Southern Cal 4. Texas 5. Penn State 6. Miami 7. Alabama 8. Clemson 9. Oklahoma 10. Florida State 11. Notre Dame 12. Auburn 13. LSU 14. Washington 15. Oregon 16. Texas A&M 17. UCLA 18. Florida 19. S. Carolina 20. Tennessee

• Cover