June was an explosive month in college football recruiting as numerous five-star prospects came off the board including Arch Manning and here are the five biggest winners.
The 2023 college football recruiting class is starting to take shape as a number of big-time prospects came off the board in June.
More are going to start committing in July too, now that there is a dead period and kids have a chance to recap their recent visits.
However, at this point, just three of the top-11 quarterbacks are uncommitted. Two of them, Avery Johnson and Dylan Lonergan are deciding this month, while a decision from Dante Moore, while not announced, should be coming this month too for Oregon.
Before we look too far ahead though, we want to take on a final look at college football recruiting in June as teams like Texas, Notre Dame, Miami, Clemson, and Ohio State all did really well for themselves.
Notre Dame football still holds the top spot in the 2023 team rankings according to the 247 sports composite, but Texas and Ohio State are closing the gap.
The first team on our list of college football recruiting winners in June isn’t in the top 10, but it was still a big month for the Hurricanes.
5. Miami
Mario Cristobal and Miami are just starting to build some real momentum on the recruiting trail and it was capped with the pledge of four-star QB Jaden Rashada, a top-50 prospect. He was one of six commitments for Miami in the month of June.
Three of those pledges ranked in the top 163 of the 247 sports composite rankings including Nathaniel Joseph (No. 105 overall) a former wideout committed to Clemson.
On top of that, Miami added top-100 tight end, Riley Williams, on Friday. Since that was technically in July, it doesn’t help the Canes’ ranking in June, but there’s no doubt that they are one of the hottest teams in all of college football recruiting.
4. Notre Dame football
I certainly debated about having Notre Dame football higher on the list because the Irish had an impressive month on the recruiting trail.
Not only did Notre Dame football pick up three new commitments in the 2023 class, which is ranked No. 1 as we stated earlier (via 247 sports team rankings), including a top-100 offensive tackle Charles Jagusah, but the Irish also added to their 2024 class too.
One of those commitments was a huge one too as the Irish landed five-star 2024 QB CJ Carr, who happens to be the grandson of former Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr.
Notre Dame also picked up four-star wideout Cam Williams in 2024, as well as four-star tight end Jack Larsen, which has the Irish sitting at No. 1 in 2024 too, even though it’s early.
3. Clemson football
You have to give credit where credit is due and Dabo Swinney deserves some for his recent recruiting efforts.
Clemson football had to change and Swinney knew that. He was against official visits in the summer before and typically had kids wait until the fall to take those, which forced unofficial visits in the summer.
Recruits and their families have to pay for those and that gave other schools an advantage. Well, Swinney changed things up and hosted a ton of elite recruits on official visits in June and it has paid off in a huge way for the Tigers with 12 commitments.
Two of those commitments were from top-100 recruits in Vic Burley (DL, No. 41 overall) and Harris Sewell (IOL, No. 73 overall). Of the 12 verbal pledges secured by Clemson football, 11 of them are ranked as four-stars in the composite and all are within the top 500.
The Tigers are now ranked No. 4 overall in the 2023 class and this group also features five-star QB Christopher Vizzina.
So the people proclaiming that Clemson’s run as a college football power is over, need to think again because Dabo has his program rolling again.
2. Ohio State football
Another team that surged in the college football recruiting rankings in the month of June was Ohio State football as the Buckeyes landed multiple five-stars and three top-50 wideouts.
Last season, Ohio State football had one of the most explosive offenses in the country and had two first-round picks at wide receiver.
It seems as though recruits were paying attention because, in a matter of days, Ohio State was able to land Carnell Tate and Brandon Inniss, two of the top pass-catchers in the 2023 recruiting class.
Noah Rogers gave OSU another top-10 player at the position and the embarrassment of riches at wide receiver in the future is scary.
Additionally, OSU also added Calvin Simpson-Hunt and Kayin Lee, two top-200 cornerbacks, giving the Buckeyes a total of five commitments in the top 200 for the month.
For a brief moment, Ohio State football overtook Notre Dame in the rankings but is now sitting at No. 2 with a chance to still move up.
The class has 16 commitments and 15 of them are four-star recruits, and like Clemson, not one is ranked outside the top 500 overall.
1. Texas football
Coming into the month of June, Texas wasn’t anywhere near the top of the college football recruiting rankings for the 2023 class.
Now, after the month is over, Texas football is right near the top at No. 3.
The big leap was helped of course by the commitment of five-star QB Arch Manning, who is the No. 1 overall prospect according to every recruiting service. Texas was able to beat out Georgia and Alabama for his pledge and that turned the tide instantly.
Within a couple of days, Texas picked up commitments from five-star safety Derek Williams, who said his decision was impacted by Manning, and also five-star wideout Johntay Cook, who was also considering Oregon and Michigan, as well as Texas A&M.
The Longhorns added 12 total commitments in the month of June and that moved them up to No. 3 overall. They have 17 pledges total and 11 of them are four-star recruits or higher. Six rank outside the top 500 but the momentum is palpable.
Manning should continue to be a factor and as I said earlier this week, Texas is the hottest team in college football recruiting right now.