Midwest Spotlight: How things stand with top uncommitted prospects

The Early Signing Period is about two months out and with fewer than 30 Rivals250 players remaining uncommitted, the recruiting trail is going to be highly contested for the nation’s remaining elite recruits.

This week we look at where the recruitments of top uncommitted prospects stand, with today’s focus being the Midwest.

The suspense surrounding Coleman’s recruitment will soon be put to an end as he will be announcing his commitment on Saturday. Coleman released a top seven of Oklahoma, Michigan, Ole Miss, Oregon, Nebraska, Georgia and USC in August. While each of these programs could still be in play, this looks like it could come down to Georgia and Nebraska.

Nebraska is the hometown team and has long been speculated as the favorite for Coleman, but there are still a lot of questions in Lincoln. Coleman has publicly stated that he wants to play for a winner and it is known that his recruitment largely remains tied to interim head coach Mickey Joseph, so a Huskers commitment isn’t necessarily a guarantee. Georgia has recently made a strong push for the Nebraska standout and should he not choose the hometown team, the Bulldogs could be next up. Oregon and Oklahoma are two of the top seven that could make a late push as well.

This has become the recruiting wild card of the Midwest as Elzy had been a longtime Cincinnati commit prior to backing off of his pledge earlier this week. Elzy is adamant about his recruitment being wide open which leaves the possibility of him going back to the Bearcats, but as of today that doesn’t appear to be the most likely scenario.

Upon his decommitment Elzy became the top-ranked uncommitted receiver prospect in the 2023 class and he will undoubtedly draw attention from elite programs across the country.

The home-state Illini have long been rumored as a potential flip candidate as the Illinois staff never gave up on his recruitment despite his prior commitment. With roughly two months until signing day this recruitment could go a number of ways and there really is no way to tell how many programs will make a push for the Chicago standout.

Some early teams to watch in addition to Illinois are Ole Miss, Oregon, Tennessee and many others.

Like Coleman, we will not have to wait much longer to find out where Burks plans on spending his college years as he will announce his commitment this Friday. The battle for one of the nation’s top safety prospects has come down to Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Missouri, LSU and Oklahoma with each appearing to have a legit shot at landing his commitment.

Burks has gone relatively silent since football season began and this could really go a number of directions as his intentions are left to speculation for now. There was a rumor floating around that he had previously committed to Missouri and while his commitment to the Tigers could certainly be a rumor, I would not rule the home-state team out just yet.

Ole Miss and Texas A&M appear to be in good position as well, but you cannot rule out LSU and Oklahoma at the same time.

Randle Jr. remains the second-highest ranked running back on the board and a recruitment that once seemed to be among Kansas State, Kansas and Oklahoma State appears to have potentially changed course.

Utah offered in May and didn’t appear to be a serious contender at the time, but after a recent official visit to the Utes over the weekend, the Pac-12 power could be in the driver’s seat for his commitment. Kansas State and a few other programs remain in the picture, but this recruitment looks like it could be trending toward the Pac-12.

We have touched on Hill’s recruitment a number of times recently and there doesn’t seem to be much clarity as to which direction the Kankakee (Ill.) standout is looking to go. Hill is one of the top remaining uncommitted players at his position and as we inch closer to signing day defensive backs with his frame and skillset become more coveted.

All of that being said, it appears that Hill would like to stay closer to home with many speculating this to be a two-team battle between Illinois and Michigan. Both teams have been outstanding on the field this season and have given plenty of reasons to be his final college destination. The longer his recruitment drags out the more uncertainty there seems to be as Hill is still receiving new interest with UCLA being the latest team to throw its hat in the ring.