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USA Today Sports Media Group

Sport

Tim Weaver

Friday Night Notes: 5-stars visiting Michigan, Colorado’s QB targets, plus more

Colorado (Organization) Michigan (Organization) Jadan Baugh Georgia (Organization) Justin Scott Miami Ryan Wingo 247Sports Bear Bachmeier Deion Sanders

USA TODAY High School Sports‘ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2023 to ’24 and beyond.

The lead in the 2024 recruiting cycle changed hands again this week. Michigan had been on top, but the recent arrival of QB1 Dylan Raiola, plus a few more three- and four-star commitments this past week, put Georgia at No. 1 nationally.

Going by the 247Sports composite rankings, the Bulldogs’ class of 2024 is now at 270.65 points, more than 20 points ahead of the second-ranked Wolverines (250.12). It will take a lot of work to recover that lead for Jim Harbaugh and the rest of his program. Adding a couple of blue-chip prospects would certainly make a difference, though.

On that score, help may soon be on the way.

According to Wolverines Wire Trent Knoop, Justin Scott will be visiting Ann Arbor on June 9. The composite rankings have Scott (6-foot-4, 310 pounds) as the No. 1 overall prospect in the state of Illinois, plus No. 3 at his position and No. 12 nationally in the class of 2024.

Scott has offers from 29 other programs and will also be visiting Georgia, Miami, and Ohio State next month. On3’s prediction model currently has Miami as the favorite to get his commitment at 69.8%, followed by Notre Dame at 20.2%, then Georgia at 6.3%. Michigan is at less than 1%.

Scott won’t be the only five-star recruit in Ann Arbor that weekend, though.

According to On3 Recruits, Saint Louis University (Mo.) five-star wide receiver Ryan Wingo will also be in town for an official visit on June 9. Wingo (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) is ranked second overall in Missouri, fifth among wide receivers and No. 21 nationally in the 2024 class.

Wingo also has offers from 41 other programs, though. The list of contenders that are considered warm to get his commitment include Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, Alabama, Clemson, Miami, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas A&M.

Colorado offers a pair of elite 2025 QBs

No program has made bigger gains over the last six months than Colorado. Since hiring Deion Sanders as their head coach, the Buffaloes have been on a historical recruiting-and-transfer-portal hot streak. As a result, tickets for their regular season home games are sold out for the first time in decades, and expectations for the team are sure to rise dramatically in 2023.

However, this program had a deep hole to climb out of, and there’s still a ton of work to do before they’re ready to compete with true Power 5 contenders. At the top of the list, they’ll need to recruit more firepower and depth at the game’s most critical position.

For the foreseeable future, the Buffs will be starting Coach Prime’s son, Shedeur Sanders, at quarterback. He’s a four-star recruit from the class of 2021 who’s one of several players to follow Prime from Jackson State.

After Sanders, there’s no clear line of succession at QB, though.

With an eye on changing that, Colorado has offered two of the top quarterbacks in the class of 2025.

First, there’s Orange Lutheran (Calif.) four-star quarterback TJ Lateef. He’s listed at 6-foot-2 and 185 pounds and ranked ninth among QBs in his class. Lateef is also ranked No. 17 in California and 148 nationally in his class.

Lateef also has offers from Georgia, Miami, Arizona, Arizona State, Boston College, Cincinnati, Florida State, Texas A&M, and Indiana. There doesn’t appear to be any clear favorite, as On3’s prediction model has Arizona State as a very weak favorite at just 12.1%, followed by Arizona at 10.6%. Oregon State is next at 9.1% and Colorado is currently 7.6%.

The other Sophomore signal-caller they’ve offered is Murrieta Valley (Calif.) four-star quarterback Bear Bachmeier. Bachmeier (6-foot-1, 205 pounds) is ranked just one spot lower than Lateef at his position, No. 19 in the state and No. 165 in the nation.

Thirteen other programs have made offers, including Purdue, Oregon, Miami, Kansas and Stanford. There’s also no real leader here, with On3 projecting San Diego State as the favorite at 11.3%.

4-star ATH Jadan Baugh commits to Arkansas

Columbia (Ga.) four-star athlete Jadan Baugh is one of the most versatile prospects in the entire class of 2024: he plays running back, wide receiver, and defensive back, as well. He’s ranked No. 57 overall in Georgia and No. 43 among multi-position players.

Baugh had offers from 16 programs, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. However, last Friday, Baugh announced his commitment to the Arkansas Razorbacks, who are getting quite a weapon.

This past season Baugh (6-foot-2, 197 pounds) filled out the box score in a variety of different ways. He ran for 306 yards and three touchdowns in the backfield on just 15 attempts. Lined up out wide, he caught 27 passes, posted 442 yards and scored five touchdowns. Meanwhile, on defense, he racked up 32 solo tackles (including four for a loss), an interception and recovered a fumble.

Arkansas’ class of 2024 now has 10 commits and ranks No. 15 nationally.