Predicting the commitment of 5-star Nyckoles Harbor

Nyckoles Harbor is one of the top-ranked recruits left in the 2023 recruiting class and here’s where things stand with signing day just over a week away. 

Nyckoles Harbor is one of the most talented college football recruits in the country and with just over a week before the late signing period opens, we still have no idea where he’s going to go.

Harbor is a 6-foot-5, 210-pound freak that runs the 100-meter dash in under 10.3 seconds. He’s got the ability to be an Olympian someday which is why track is playing a key role in his recruitment.

At one time or another, Michigan has been viewed as the favorite. Jim Harbaugh is taking a more active role and is going to have an in-home visit with Nyckoles Harbor, who did take an official visit to Ann Arbor during the recruiting process.

Things took an interesting turn on Monday as Harbor posted Boulder, Colorado on his Instagram page which people took to mean he was going to visit Deion Sanders and Colorado.

Harbor’s father reported to 247 sports that Harbor wasn’t visiting Colorado and that his son was in school. However, Harbor is expected to take an official visit to Oregon this weekend.

So who has the lead in this recruitment going into what’s essentially the final weekend? Here are my thoughts as well as a prediction.

Predicting where Nyckoles Harbor ends up

South Carolina, Michigan, and Oregon appear to be the top three teams right now. South Carolina recently did an in-home visit and also got a crystal ball projection earlier this cycle. It’s the only one for Harbor and that’s the kind of recruitment this has been.

I wouldn’t totally count out LSU, Maryland — the in-state program or Colorado if the Buffaloes are making a late push but unless Harbor gets on campus, I don’t see that interest as serious.

Michigan has done a solid job in this recruitment and Harbaugh taking a more active role is a good thing, however, Oregon should be able to sell the track advantage, and having Phil Knight on your side in the NIL side of things doesn’t hurt.

We saw how well Dan Lanning was able to close contested recruitments during the early signing period and with Harbor visiting this weekend, I see Oregon doing enough to win this recruitment and land another five-star recruit by National Signing Day.