USA TODAY High School Sports’ Friday Night Notes is a weekly high school football recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the Class of 2025 to ’26 and beyond.
Florida won, possibly taking some of the heat off head coach Billy Napier, but the Gators‘ 2025 class continues to slide. Meanwhile, Illinois is rolling thanks to the play of its former four-star quarterback.
The decision of one of the nation’s top uncommitted prospects remains a talking point in recruiting circles as well, while a pair of five-stars committed to Alabama and Oregon dominated for Duncanville on Friday night.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into that in the latest edition of Friday Night Notes.
Alabama, Oregon pledges shine in Duncanville blowout win
Duncanville (Texas) is one of the nation’s top programs this season because of the quarterback-receiver duo the Panthers have in Keelon Russell and Dakorien Moore. Friday night, the Alabama quarterback pledge and Oregon receiver commitment dominated.
In a 41-17 win over Waxahachie, Russell was 18-of-23 passing for 351 yards and six touchdowns.
Moore was the recipient of three of those touchdown passes. He finished the night with eight receptions for 147 yards.
The latest on 5-star OT Andrew Babalola
Overland Park (Ks.) Blue Valley Northwest five-star offensive tackle Andrew Babalola is the highest-ranking uncommitted offensive player in the class, leaving many to wonder when (and where) his college decision will come.
While it was expected that he’d announce his decision to commit earlier this month, Babalola is seemingly weighing his options. Auburn, Michigan and Stanford appear to be three of the leading schools involved in his recruitment.
According to 247Sports, Babalola ranks as the No. 15 player in the class and No. 3 offensive tackle.
Former 4-star quarterback Luke Altmyer shines for Illinois in OT thriller
Illinois has been one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 season so far and the Fighting Illini kept their run going Friday night. In a high-profile matchup in Lincoln, Illinois came out on top with the 31-24.
A lot of their success so far this season has come because of the play of sophomore quarterback Luke Altmyer.
The former four-star quarterback had a night to remember to kick off Big Ten play. He was 21-of-27 passing for 215 yards and four touchdowns. Through four games this season, Altmyer is completing 71% of his passes for 862 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions.
Coming out of high school, the former Ole Miss enrollee was ranked as a four-star prospect by 247Sports. The site listed him as the No. 30 quarterback in the class and No. 5 player in Mississippi for the 2021 class.
Florida wins, but questions around Napier remain
Saturday was a must-win situation for Billy Napier and the Florida Gators as they traveled to Starkville. They rose to the challenge and left Mississippi with a 45-28 win.
Even with that result, Napier’s seat has gotten hotter in Gainesville. Per ESPN’s Chris Low, high-ranking boosters at Florida had gathered roughly $26 million to cover Napier’s buyout should that be warranted in the near future.
While the product on the field hasn’t improved under Napier, the Gators haven’t fared much better on the recruiting trail. Florida currently sits with the No. 21 class this cycle. Of their 14 pledges, only three rank inside the top 100, while the rest sit under 200 or worse.
This decline is a far cry from Florida’s 2024 top-10 class. Napier’s first full class with Florida in the 2022 cycle finished at No. 17 and then jumped up five spots to No. 12 in 2023.
Headlined by five-star quarterback DJ Lagway, Florida’s 2024 group ranked No. 7 nationally and had 20 commitments. They’ve since fallen 14 spots and are struggling to get to 15 pledges.
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