Ok, so here's the latest I've gathered on Nyck Harbor and the Harris twins leading up to this afternoon's announcements.
On Harbor, Oregon seems to have clearly taken the lead in the hours leading up to the announcement. The real question at this point simply seems to be who is currently in the No. 2 position. Depending on who you talk to, it is either Maryland or South Carolina. Terps still believe they are in there fighting and it is going to come down to distance and how important the track aspect is versus just football. Locksley spoke with Harbor last night. The South Carolina staff seems to feel equally confident that it is between them and Oregon. Unfortunately, right now, the common denominator is that Oregon seems to be the team to beat. As track and marketing seemed to take on a bigger and bigger role in the final weeks of this recruitment, it just feels to me like Oregon is going to be tough to beat.
As for the twins, I feel quite a bit more confident, although I don't think I can say it is a done deal at this point. As I've been telling you guys for months, the issue here has been that everyone in their camp has been on a different page almost from the outset. And while UCF was the initial call, when the DC left for Arkansas, they opened things back up as he played a big part in getting BOTH twins to agree on the Knights. From everything I understand, it is Michael who is fully on board with Maryland and Andrew who still needed some convincing. It is really strange to me that this is the case as Michael has seemed the more pro UCF twin at times on social media, but I am 100% confident he is all-in on Maryland based on what I've heard from multiple sources. As for mom, she also appears to be on board with Maryland and really does not want them at UCF.
In talking to some Maryland sources, they continue to believe they are going to land the twins when they announce later this afternoon at 1:45 pm. One interesting nugget here? UCF had initially planned a 2 pm presser for Gus Malzahn which would allow some time for the twins to announce and then give him the ability to speak on their commitment. But that presser has since been moved up to 1 pm, BEFORE the twins announce. You would think this move might mean they don't feel confident about their chances heading into the final hours. One final possibility that has been mentioned with the twins is that they shock everybody and compromise by picking Arkansas, but there just doesn't seem to be ANY buzz from the Arkansas side of things that this is a real possibility.
So now we wait and see if Locks can pull off that signing day magic he's so known for with Harbor, while I feel fairly confident that the Terps will ultimately land the twins. Obviously you'd like to go 3-0, but even landing just the twins, especially after their performances in the all-star games, would be huge.
On Harbor, Oregon seems to have clearly taken the lead in the hours leading up to the announcement. The real question at this point simply seems to be who is currently in the No. 2 position. Depending on who you talk to, it is either Maryland or South Carolina. Terps still believe they are in there fighting and it is going to come down to distance and how important the track aspect is versus just football. Locksley spoke with Harbor last night. The South Carolina staff seems to feel equally confident that it is between them and Oregon. Unfortunately, right now, the common denominator is that Oregon seems to be the team to beat. As track and marketing seemed to take on a bigger and bigger role in the final weeks of this recruitment, it just feels to me like Oregon is going to be tough to beat.
As for the twins, I feel quite a bit more confident, although I don't think I can say it is a done deal at this point. As I've been telling you guys for months, the issue here has been that everyone in their camp has been on a different page almost from the outset. And while UCF was the initial call, when the DC left for Arkansas, they opened things back up as he played a big part in getting BOTH twins to agree on the Knights. From everything I understand, it is Michael who is fully on board with Maryland and Andrew who still needed some convincing. It is really strange to me that this is the case as Michael has seemed the more pro UCF twin at times on social media, but I am 100% confident he is all-in on Maryland based on what I've heard from multiple sources. As for mom, she also appears to be on board with Maryland and really does not want them at UCF.
In talking to some Maryland sources, they continue to believe they are going to land the twins when they announce later this afternoon at 1:45 pm. One interesting nugget here? UCF had initially planned a 2 pm presser for Gus Malzahn which would allow some time for the twins to announce and then give him the ability to speak on their commitment. But that presser has since been moved up to 1 pm, BEFORE the twins announce. You would think this move might mean they don't feel confident about their chances heading into the final hours. One final possibility that has been mentioned with the twins is that they shock everybody and compromise by picking Arkansas, but there just doesn't seem to be ANY buzz from the Arkansas side of things that this is a real possibility.
So now we wait and see if Locks can pull off that signing day magic he's so known for with Harbor, while I feel fairly confident that the Terps will ultimately land the twins. Obviously you'd like to go 3-0, but even landing just the twins, especially after their performances in the all-star games, would be huge.
