There is an urgency in the class of 2026.
From top prospects on down, the awareness and impact of the NCAA transfer portal and how it squeezes the high school recruiting talent pool has been widely recognized. The trend of earlier decisions may not soon slow as a result, and another elite recruit has trimmed his list with a commitment timeline in mind.
Boca Raton (Fla.) West Boca star Jaydin Broadnax announced a top group of Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Louisville, Michigan, South Florida and Syracuse during the week.
The junior broke down each option with Rivals in anticipation of a potential verbal commitment as early as the month of February on deck.
Auburn: “Auburn has a great DB coach in Coach Crime(Wesley McGriff) that is very player first. I can tell he’d run through a wall for his players.”
Florida: “Florida has always been my dream school since I started watching football and seeing how they turned things around this season really showed me that everyone in that program is bought into what coach (Billy) Napier is doing.”
Florida State: “FSU is great, you can tell the staff is full of people that want to get everything out of you. Many visits played a huge part putting them high in my recruitment.”
Louisville: “Every time I’m at Louisville they make me feel as if I’m apart of the team already. Coach (Steve) Ellis has been recruiting me very hard for many months and I know that’s a guy that can develop me into what I want to become as a man and player.”
Michigan: “Michigan has and will always be a success program because they have winners in the program and people that will do anything to see their players succeed. I have an amazing relationship with coach (LaMar) Morgan, connect with him more and more every time we talk.”
South Florida: “Coach DVD (DeMarcus Van Dyke) might be the realest coaches I’ve ever met. He believed in me before a lot did, offering very early in my recruitment and his resume speaks for itself.”
Syracuse: “Syracuse proved a lot of people wrong this season like I knew they would. When I visited at I could see why they’d win, Coach Fran (Brown) is the type of head coach you’d run through a wall for.”
Maryland offered Broadnax this week and he is scheduled to visit Auburn on January 25. Florida will soon get him on campus again, too, he projects.
