Nyckoles Harbor is quite possibly the most talented college football recruit in the 2023 class and we rank the final seven contenders for his commitment.
If you don’t know the name Nyckoles Harbor, as a college football fan, you should get used to it, because forget about Arch Manning, he might be the most talented player in the 2023 class.
Manning might be the best pure football player because we all know how valuable quarterbacks are and a Manning is just about a sure thing. So maybe Harbor won’t have the impact of Manning but he’s the best athlete in this class and he’s going to dominate at the next level.
Nyckoles Harbor is 6-foot-5, 235 pounds and he runs the 100-meter dash in 10.28 seconds. He ran the 200-meter dash in under 21 seconds. He could be an edge rusher or a wide receiver and he’s ranked 11th overall in the entire 2023 college football recruiting class according to the On3 consensus rankings.
Over the weekend, Harbor released his top seven and while his recruitment likely won’t be decided until closer to National Signing Day, we rank the contenders for five-star Nyckoles Harbor.
++Heart full of spaces, dreams full of greatness++ pic.twitter.com/T0SCi3hV3X
— Nyckoles Harbor (@Nyck1k) May 28, 2022
The longshots: South Carolina and Miami
Harbor said positive things about both programs after he released his top seven and he really seems to like Shane Beamer, but of the seven teams he released as his finalists, they seem to be more towards the bottom.
Harbor has unofficially visited South Carolina so the Gamecocks are probably a little higher on the totem pole, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I was Miami.
From here, we will rank the top five contenders.
5. Georgia
It’s interesting that Georgia made the cut but not Alabama where Harbor had actually taken an unofficial visit back in March.
However, you can probably understand just about any defender taking interest from the Bulldogs seriously, and just imagine what Kirby Smart and the UGA staff could do with a talent like Harbor on defense?
It would be scary for the rest of college football, that’s for sure. Yet, the Bulldogs haven’t gotten him on campus yet, so first things first.
4. LSU
Brian Kelly has talked about how much he likes recruiting at LSU compared to Notre Dame and the Tigers are a legit contender for five-star Nyckoles Harbor and as of right now, they are the only team with an official visit scheduled for the fall.
There are a lot of layers to Harbor’s recruitment. He’s a world-class track athlete and takes that very seriously, which is why his college football recruiting process has taken a back seat.
He’s also very interested in academics which bodes well for some other programs on the list.
3. Maryland
When you see Maryland in the mix for a five-star recruit, it doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence. However, the Terps have some built in-advantages besides the fact that since Harbor is from DC, Maryland is the in-state school and he’s been on campus there more than anywhere else.
Another thing is that Maryland has really been working the track angle and EJ Holland of The Wolverine has reported (subscription required) that he really likes the track staff there, and as we said, that’s going to be a major factor in his recruitment.
The Terps also lead right now according to the On3.com prediction machine.
2. USC
The Trojans have been landing five-star recruits with regularity since Lincoln Riley became the head coach and it was reported at one time that USC was among Harbor’s top two.
That wasn’t necessarily true but he did take a visit there this summer and USC has a really strong academic reputation. Plus, being in California probably wouldn’t hurt his track prospects.
Here’s what he said about USC to On3.com:
"“Man California was a vibe and I never thought I would include a West Coast school but this school is way different than what I expected it to be,” Harbor said. “I was surprised, plus with the relationship already with Coach Riley, this wasn’t a hard decision once I finally saw the campus.”"
USC could ultimately be the final decision too.
1. Michigan football
There are a number of reasons why Michigan football could be considered the leader in Harbor’s recruitment.
The Wolverines have been increasing their presence in the DMV and the addition of the former St. Frances high school (Baltimore, MD) head coach, Biff Poggi, as staff analyst was huge.
Ron Bellamy has been a constant in the region and the entire staff has been working on Harbor, who has been to campus and was going to go to Ann Arbor for the spring game before a track meet got in the way.
Harbor was in Ann Arbor last September. The Michigan track coaches have also been trying to work on Harbor and that’s going to be a key part of the process too. Michigan football checks the academic side of things and Harbor has ties to Detroit. Plus, the Wolverines have won over Mom:
"“This is my mom’s favorite school,” Harbor said. “She loves everything about it from the city to the coaching staff, and they’ve truly been on my radar since I was about 8 or 9 years old.”"
Michigan is second according to the On3 prediction machine but Holland said that if Harbor was making a decision right now, he thinks it would be Michigan (subscription required).
There is a long a way to go in this recruitment though and just one official visit has been set (LSU), so even if Michigan football is leading right now and could also be taking one of his teammates, Joseph Mupoyi, the Wolverines still have plenty of work to do.