A look at the Top 10 recruiting classes in the 2024 cycle.
Brian Dohn
So much of the focus in college football is on the end of the regular season, championship weekend and the college football playoff and bowl games. There is also the class of 2023 as schools look to finish out their classes prior to the three-day signing period next month that runs Dec. 21-23.
That said, the 2024 class is already being built and Notre Dame is leading the way with seven commitments. There are also a quartet of five-star prospects already off the board even with Signing Day being 13 months away.
With 247Sports releasing its updated class of 2024 rankings, we take a look at the top classes being built already.
The SEC has four schools in the top 10, and the ACC, Pac-12 and the Big Ten each have one. So does the Big Ten, but it may not be who you expect. Also, Notre Dame is not the only independent making an appearance in the collection of schools. BYU, which is heading to the Big 12 with Cincinnati, UCF and Houston when Texas and Oklahoma leave for the SEC (2025 is the target), remains an independent and made the list.
Here is a look at the top 10 classes in 2024.
1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Not only did Notre Dame put together a stellar class in 2023 under first-year coach Marcus Freeman, the Irish are well on their way to a stellar class in 2024. In fact, the Irish have the top class in 2024 and their seven commitments are tied (with LSU) for the most in the nation. Of the seven commits, six are rated with four stars in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite and the top player is Saline (Mich.) High's CJ Carr, who is the No. 5 quarterback and No. 31 player in the nation. Per usual, Notre Dame is having success across the nation. It has two players from Michigan and one each from Illinois, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
2. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia usually does not come from behind to finish among the top schools in recruiting classes each cycle, and such will not be the case again. The Bulldogs are the top SEC school and have six commitments, including one from five-star tight end Landen Thomas of Moultrie (Ga.) Colquitt County.
He is the No. 23 player in the nation, and he is one of four players in the Top 100 already committed to Georgia. Also in the class is Clanton (Ala.) Chitton County linebacker Demarcus Riddick (No. 37), Colquitt County receiver Ny Carr (No. 67) and Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha running back Tovani Mizell.
3. LSU Tigers
Right on Georgia's heels is LSU, which has seven commitments and sits .46 points behind the Bulldogs as coach Brian Kelly shows his national reach from his days as the head coach at Notre Dame. Five of the commits are rated with five stars, led by Pearland (Texas) Shadow Creek's Maurice Williams Jr. He si the No. 8 linebacker in the class.
The Tigers have commitments from prospects from Georgia (2), Florida (1), Ohio (1) and Texas (1) as well as two players from Louisiana in Jonesboro (La.) Hodge linebacker Xavier Atkins and Marrero (La.) John Ehret offensive lineman Khayree Lee.
4. Florida State Seminoles
Florida State boasts the top class in the ACC, and it is doing it by mining for local talent. The Seminoles are six commitments, and three are from Florida and three are from neighboring Georgia. Florida State pulled in five-star running back Kameron Davis of Albany (Ga.) Dougherty, who committed in late February. He is the No. 2 running back and No. 26 player in the class.
The other top 100 player to join the class was Blountstown (Fla.) High safety Jordan Pride. The No. 5 linebacker and No. 64 player in the class made his commitment to the Seminoles in July. He school is located 48 miles west from Florida State's campus.
5. Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama sits fifth and has great quality with just four commitments, and do not expect the Crimson Tide to finish lower than this because history says it will not. The Crimson Tide's worst finish in the recruiting rankings in 247Sports' history was fifth, which came in 2018. Each of the four commits rank in the top 175, and is led by five-star quarterback Julian Sayin of Carlsbad (Calif.) High. He is the No. 2 quarterback and No. 15 player.
The Crimson Tide also have commitments from Pinson (Ala.) Clay-Chalkville cornerback Jaylen Mbakwe (No. 33 overall), Foley (Ala.) High receiver Perry Thompson (No. 94) and Rome (Ga.) High athlete Martavious Collins (No. 175).
6. Iowa Hawkeyes
The top class in the Big Ten does not belong to Ohio State. Nor Penn State. Nor Michigan. ...That distinction goes to Iowa, and it is become the Hawkeyes are doing fantastic within its state's borders. Iowa has five commitments, and four are from Iowa. On top of that, a pair of them have been committed for 15 months. the top player in the class is the No. 1 player in Iowa in Winthrop (Iowa) East Buchanan offensive lineman Cody Fox. He committed in June 2021,and the second-highest ranked player in the class committed in July 2021. That as Winfield (Iowa) Winfield-Mt. Union linebacker Cam Buffington, who is the No. 3 player in the state.
The Hawkeyes also have commitments from the No. 4 player, Williamsburg (Iowa) High athlete Derek Weisskopf, and the No. 5 player, Monticello (Iowa) High athlete Preston Ries.
7. Tennessee Vols
A pair of October four-star commitments has Tennessee with the No. 3 class in the SEC and No. 7 in the nation despite only having four commits. Four-star receiver Mazeo Bennett of Greenville (S.C.) High and four-star cornerback of Nashville Lipscomb Academy Kaleb Beasley made their commitments last month. They join Chattanooga (Tenn.) McCallie School defensive lineman Carson Gentle and Bradenton (Fla.) IMG athlete Jonathan Echols, who is the early jewel of the class. He is the No. 28 player in the nation in the class. Echols and Gentle both committed to the Vols in July.
8. Texas Longhorns
Texas made the big splash in 2023 when it landed quarterback Arch Manning, and the Longhorns are off to a strong start in 2024 with a pair of top 100 commitments. Also, each of their commits are from Texas. The top-rated player is Daingerfield (Texas) High cornerback Aeryn Hampton, who is the No. 77 player nationally. Houston Clear Lake athlete Hunter Moddon is the No. 99 player in the class. And Texas' first commit is the class came from Aledo (Texas) High cornerback Jaden Allen, who is the No. 200 player in the class. He was also the first one in it when he committed Dec. 29, 2021.
9. USC Trojans
USC is on its way to being the standard bearer again in the Pac-12 (well, until it leaves for the Big Ten) and it is off to a nice state in 2024. Calabassas (Calif.) High athlete Aaron Butler committed in January. He is the No. 66 player in the nation, but he was the first on board. That distinction went to Long Beach (Calif.) Poly four-star receiver Jason Robinson, who committed 14 months ago.
USC coach Lincoln Riley also pulled in the No. 1 player in Oregon when Lake Oswego (Ore.) Lakeridge tight end Joey Olsen committed. He made his decision in September.
10. BYU Cougars
Just like Iowa's occupation of a top spot is somewhat surprising, so is BYU sitting with the No. 10 class. The Cougars have the No. 10 class and have three commits from Utah. The outlier is Oxnard (Calif.) Rio Mesa athlete Chance Harrison, who committed in September and his rating of .8792 is the highest in the class.
Springville (Utah) High defensive lineman Dallin Johnson, Spanish Fork (Utah) High linebacker Adney Reid and Tooele (Utah) Standsbury athlete Easton Baker are also in the class. Baker, in fact, has been committed for nearly two years. He made his decision Dec. 10, 2020.
