Latest news with #Elite11Finals
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UNC football commit shoots up 247Sports rankings
The future of the quarterback position for the North Carolina Tar Heels looks bright. After some struggles with consistency last year, the Tar Heels upgraded the room with the addition of Gio Lopez through the transfer portal as well as four-star recruit Bryce Baker. But the 2026 recruiting class also has a player at the position who is making a lot of noise. UNC football commit Travis Burgess continues to impress analysts after committing to the Tar Heels earlier in 2025 including a good performance at the Elite 11 event. Now, his improvements are paying off in a big way as he was the biggest riser in 247Sports' updated recruiting rankings for the 2026 class. Burgess jumped 200 spots to No. 65 overall and went from the No. 24 quarterback to the No. 7 player at his position in this update. He also moved to a high four-star recruit and is the Tar Heels' highest-ranked recruit in the 2026 class. Scouts noticed Burgess' performance at the Elite 11 event, helping improve is ranking: "Burgess simply exceeded our expectations at the Elite 11 Finals," director of scouting Andrew Ivins said after the rankings update. "We were big fans of what he put on tape towards the tail end of his junior year, but we still had some questions about the arm. Both his velocity and accuracy really flashed over the course of the three days, which says a lot because he's also a dynamic runner." The Georgia native is the key piece in UNC's recruiting class for 2026, which ranks No. 17 overall as it stands right now. He's also the second Top 100 player at the quarterback position to commit to UNC, joining Drake Maye. Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions. This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC football commit Travis Burgess earned a big boost on 247Sports
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bill Belichick's hand-picked North Carolina QB becomes ‘big riser' in recruiting rankings
The North Carolina Tar Heels hired Bill Belichick to be their new head coach back in December. Even though he's yet to coach in a college football game, he's made several headlines since. This time, instead of a controversial topic, he's here for all the right reasons, ones that deal with football. Advertisement Specifically, Belichick's back in good graces because his hand-picked North Carolina commit, quarterback Travis Burgess. The 2026 football recruit committed to North Carolina in May, so well after Belichick got on board. Burgess has drastically improved his optics in the recruiting rankings ever since. Despite being from Georgia, Belichick managed to land the 6-foot-5, 205-pound quarterback prospect after he and his parents visited Chapel Hill in May and were blown away by the future Hall of Famer's coaching staff. Belichick told Burgess that he would 'show you why I recruited you,' and he did, by showing him game film from when the QB led his team to a 7A state title. Belichick went through plays with Burgess for an hour, asking him about reads while noting the progress made throughout the season. The thing is, when Burgess committed to UNC instead of schools like Auburn, he did so as a three-star prospect and the 30th-ranked quarterback in the country, per 247Sports. However, since Burgess had an incredible showing at the Elite 11 Finals in June, Burgess is now a four-star recruit and the 16th-ranked QB in the nation. One coach from the showing said Burgess 'Really stood out.' 'He really stood out,' said Elite 11 coach Justin Hoover, who has trained several NFL quarterbacks. 'He was a big riser for me.' Justin Hoover on Travis Burgess While Burgess won't arrive on campus until next year, he'll arrive as a disciplined young man who grew up with a military background. Ultimately, he sounds like a perfect match for coach Belichick. Advertisement Related: Bill Belichick's inner circle 'deeply concerned' about girlfriend Jordon Hudson Related Headlines
New York Times
01-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
College football recruiting reset: Taking stock of blue-chip quarterbacks in Class of 2026
June, as expected, delivered some significant developments across the recruiting landscape, with programs such as Alabama, Michigan and Florida making significant leaps the national rankings. With the final five-star quarterback off the board — Ryder Lyons committed to BYU — it's a good time to take stock of where things stand with the blue-chip QBs in the 2026 cycle. Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite. Advertisement 1. Jared Curtis, Nashville (Tenn.) Christian School Ranking: No. 1 QB, No. 4 overall Status: Committed to Georgia 2. Faizon Brandon, Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley Ranking: No. 2 QB, No. 6 overall Status: Committed to Tennessee 3. Dia Bell, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage Ranking: No. 3 QB, No. 13 overall Status: Committed to Texas 4. Keisean Henderson, Spring (Texas) Legacy the School of Sport Sciences Ranking: No. 4 QB, No. 18 overall Status: Committed to Houston 5. Ryder Lyons, Folsom (Calif.) High Ranking: No. 5 QB, No. 19 overall Status: Committed to BYU Notes: Lyons was the last player in this group to pick a school, announcing last week his commitment to BYU. He plans on serving a one-year mission, so even though he's in the 2026 class, he's essentially a 2027 prospect. The Cougars beat out Oregon for Lyons. The Ducks responded by taking a pledge from Bryson Beaver, a three-star prospect from Southern California who generated quite a bit of buzz after a strong showing at the Elite 11 Finals in June. The other notable news from this group over the past month is that Henderson has shut down his recruitment. He originally had an official visit to Florida State scheduled but canceled that trip. Curtis committed to Georgia over Oregon in early May. There's been no drama with Brandon's recruitment. Bell was named MVP of the Elite 11 Finals. 6. Landon Duckworth, Jackson (Ala.) High Ranking: No. 6 QB, No. 51 overall Status: Uncommitted 7. Jake Fette, El Paso (Texas) Del Valle Ranking: No. 7 QB, No. 76 overall Status: Committed to Arizona State Blessed to announce my commitment to Arizona State University!! Excited to continue to pursue my dream as a Sun devil #ForksUp — Jake Fette (@jake_fette1) September 23, 2024 8. Brady Smigiel, Newbury Park (Calif.) High Ranking: No. 8 QB, No. 83 overall Status: Committed to Michigan 9. Jonas Williams, Frankfort (Ill.) Lincoln-Way East Ranking: No. 9 QB, No. 92 overall Status: Committed to USC 10. Bowe Bentley, Celina (Texas) High Ranking: No. 10 QB, No. 94 overall Status: Committed to Oklahoma Notes: Duckworth committed to South Carolina in August 2023 but reopened his recruitment in June. It would not be a surprise if he committed to the Gamecocks again. His finalists are South Carolina and Auburn, but the Tigers flipped four-star Peyton Falzone from Penn State last week. Advertisement Fette seems solid with Arizona State. Same with Williams and USC. Smigiel committed to Michigan in April. Bentley committed to Oklahoma over LSU on June 20. Four-star prospect Jaden O'Neal had been committed to Oklahoma — and left his high school in Southern California and transferred to Mustang High in Oklahoma — but he backed off that pledge on June 19. The next day, Bentley committed. The two events were no doubt related. 11. Noah Grubbs, No. 174 overall, Notre Dame commit 12. Oscar Rios, No. 184 overall, Arizona commit Arizona scored a significant recruiting win against UCLA when it received Rios' pledge on Friday. He is a Southern California native, so UCLA was viewed by some as the favorite. But Wildcats offensive coordinator Seth Doege continues to be one of the more under-the-radar quarterback recruiters in the country and helped Arizona notch a much-needed win. Meanwhile, the Bruins still don't have a quarterback in their 2026 class. 13. Dereon Coleman, No. 203 overall, Miami Commit 14. Jaden O'Neal, No. 205 overall, Florida State commit O'Neal visited Florida State in April and June, so the Seminoles made sense when he was looking for a new landing spot. 15. Will Griffin, No. 216 overall, Florida commit 16. Jett Thomalla, No. 232 overall, Alabama commit Thomalla committed to Iowa State in mid-April, but that marriage was short-lived. Alabama offered on May 15, and he flipped to the Crimson Tide on June 17. 17. Helaman Casuga, No. 235 overall, Texas A&M commit 18. Peyton Falzone, No. 246 overall, Auburn commit Falzone, a Pennsylvania native, committed to Penn State in April but surprisingly flipped to Auburn last week. This was an important addition for the Tigers, who have only seven commitments as of the end of June. The Nittany Lions lost a blue-chip QB commit but already have four-star Troy Huhn committed in this class, so they should be OK at the position. Advertisement 19. Kayd Coffman, No. 259 overall, Michigan State commit 20. Troy Huhn, No. 270 overall, Penn State commit 21. Matt Ponatoski, No. 280 overall, uncommitted Kentucky seems to be the favorite for Ponatoski. He also visited Oregon recently, but the Ducks landed Beaver. The Wildcats, assuming Ponatoski commits, will also have to hold off Major League Baseball. He was the Ohio Gatorade Player of the Year in both football and baseball and is expected to be drafted later this month. 22. Tait Reynolds, No. 283 overall, Clemson commit 23. Briggs Cherry, No. 334 overall, Louisville commit 24. Luke Fahey, No. 356 overall, uncommitted For a bit, Indiana and Stanford were viewed as the main contenders for Fahey, but Ohio State offered on June 22. He is set to announce his commitment on Thursday, and the Buckeyes seemingly have the momentum here. The Hoosiers also took a commitment from three-star QB Cash Herrera a week ago, so the writing might be on the wall. 25. Tayden Kaawa, No. 368 overall, uncommitted Alabama offered a few weeks ago and seems to be the leader for Kaawa. 26. Gavin Sidwar, No. 383 overall, Missouri commit 27, Derek Zammit, No. 415 overall, Washington commit (Photo of Bowe Bentley: Naomi Skinner / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
USA Today
25-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oregon Ducks' QB commitment leads to recruiting dominoes falling in 2026 class
With the commitment of four-star QB Bryson Beaver to the Oregon Ducks earlier this afternoon, the dominoes are quickly falling for another Oregon QB target in the class of 2026. Matt Ponatoski, out of Archbishop Moeller in Cincinnati, Ohio, was among Oregon's top QB targets in the 2026 class and was considering them as a program within his top four choices. A Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Ohio for both football and baseball, Ponatoski stood in rare air for his accomplishments on both the gridiron and the diamond. Alongside Beaver at the Elite 11 Finals earlier this month in Los Angeles, Ponatoski received praise from The Athletic's Bruce Feldman for being the CFB analyst's biggest "pleasant surprise" as far as what the Ohio native could do with the ball in his hands. However, after Beaver's commitment, On3's Steve Wiltfong has logged the Kentucky Wildcats as an expert prediction as a landing spot for the No. 9-ranked signal-caller in the 2026 On300. This shift in Ponatoski's recruitment doesn't come as a surprise, seeing as the Ducks did not plan on taking a pair of quarterbacks in the 2026 class, and thus filled their need for a passer on Wednesday. Alongside Kentucky, the two-sport star will presumably also consider Alabama and Arkansas, as those two programs were in his previous top four. Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
25-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Oregon Duck fans react to 4-star QB Bryson Beaver's commitment on social media
The Oregon Ducks scored a big win on Wednesday afternoon, landing a commitment from 4-star quarterback Bryson Beaver, one of the fastest-rising QB prospects in the 2026 class. Beaver has seen his recruitment blow up over the last month. Since receiving an offer from Oregon on June 11, Beaver has watched as several other offers poured in from the likes of Alabama, Ole Miss, Colorado, LSU, and Auburn. He has also taken a handful of visits to SEC country, turned heads at the Elite 11 Finals, and ended up in Eugene for an official visit as well. Now his recruitment comes full circle with a commitment to the Ducks, taking over as their lone QB in the 2026 class. Beaver received a recruiting bump this week on 247Sports, jumping up from the No. 71-ranked QB in the class to No. 17, while also moving from a 3-star player to a 4-star. The commitment was seen as much-needed among Oregon fans, who have swung and missed on a couple of QB prospects this cycle, like 5-stars Jared Curtis and Ryder Lyons. Here's a look at how they reacted to the commitment on social media: The Announcement From Beaver The Hayes Fawcett Treatment Beaver Coming to Torch the Beavers The Elite 11 Standout Can't Make This Up Beaver Headed to Eugene Beaver on a Duck Jersey Feels Wrong Jett Washington/Bryson Beaver Collaboration What A Future... Print the Shirts, Nike Another Recruiting Bump Incoming? Akili Smith Approved Contact/Follow @Ducks_Wire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oregon Ducks news, notes, and opinions.
