SAN ANTONIO - The Navy All-American Bowl has kicked off with the first day of practice and there is a lot to talk about with top programs and frontrunners. Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney has the latest in this Rumor Mill:
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Penn State, USC and Wisconsin are the three finalists for the 2026 four-star running back who will make his decision at Saturday’s game and the word is the Trojans have a healthy lead at this point. The Painesville (Ohio) Harvey standout visited USC this season and loved it and while the other two programs cannot be counted out there is a lot of USC smoke there.
Four programs are standing out most to the 2026 quarterback from Celina, Texas and Texas Tech could have the edge especially since Bentley has such a strong relationship with coach Joey McGuire and he sees the growth happening in Lubbock. Duke, Georgia Tech and Cal are the three others standing out as relationships will play a big role in his recruitment and he has them at all four programs.
Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, Arizona State, Nebraska and Tennessee are the early standouts for the four-star receiver from San Antonio (Texas) Madison but this could end up being a two-team race with the Bears and the Longhorns standing out most. Texas could be tough to beat in the end because of all its success and it being the dream school but Clay has a strong bond with Baylor position coach Dallas Baker and that could be a big factor at the end.
South Carolina could have the edge in his recruitment now as Tennessee, Penn State, LSU and Virginia have been recruiting Gray the hardest but many others are coming for the Richmond (Va.) St. Christopher’s four-star offensive guard. Alabama and Georgia are making a play for him and Florida recently offered so there could be more SEC pressure coming his way.
A lot of programs are still involved with Groce but Oklahoma and Texas A&M are definitely two that are going to battle it out for the 2026 four-star running back from Frisco (Texas) Lone Star. If there’s a dark horse in his recruitment it would be Tennessee as he loves the Vols’ environment and Penn State is also being mentioned a lot but the Sooners and the Aggies could be the top two.
After parting ways with Georgia Tech on Dec. 1, there was a lot of chatter that Stanford could end up with the three-star offensive lineman from Rabun Gap (Ga.) Rabun Gap Nacoochee but that didn’t materialize in the closing weeks. On Saturday at the All-American Bowl, Hasenheutl will pick from Arkansas, Cal and North Carolina and the word right now is that the Golden Bears could have the edge at this point.
Henderson made an early commitment to Houston when he picked the Cougars in May but others are only making more of a run at him and a bunch of programs are catching his eye at this point. Florida State, Miami, Oregon, Ole Miss, SMU and TCU among others are trying to stay involved with the Spring (Texas) Legacy standout as Houston will have its hands full to keep him.
BYU and Utah had been the main front-runners for Madsen and if he made an early decision it looked like the Cougars could win out but he took his time and later in the process Oregon got involved. The three-star athlete from Clovis (Calif.) Clovis North will make his decision on Saturday at the All-American Bowl and after a late visit to Eugene it looks like the Ducks are going in with the edge.
The list remains long for Perry-Wright and after Georgia offered later than some others the Bulldogs have joined the top list but haven’t shot right to the top. It’s still too close to call which program has the lead in his recruitment because the Buford, Ga., four-star defensive lineman still has so many top teams with Texas A&M, Georgia, Clemson, Auburn, Ohio State, USC, Oregon, Colorado, Tennessee and Miami on the list.
There was a lot of Tennessee smoke around Sparks’ recruitment for a long time but that never materialized as Arkansas, Mississippi State and Virginia Tech round out his favorites ahead of Saturday’s decision at the All-American Bowl. With Bulldogs coach Jeff Lebby stepping it up big-time and Sparks seeing an opportunity in Starkville, it might be too much to pass up.
The Mukilteo (Wash.) Kamiak tight end took his time with his recruitment but it always felt he was going to stay somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. With his decision date coming Saturday at the All-American Bowl, Waverly is down to Notre Dame, Oregon State and Washington and it definitely looks like the Beavers have emerged as the front-runner at this point.
Womack has a ton of offers from across the Southeast and even the big in-state ones but his top four are Tennessee, Alabama, Ohio State and Texas A&M. There has always been significant smoke around the Buckeyes when it comes to his recruitment and the success of Caleb Downs, Lathan Ransom and others cannot hurt Ohio State with the Brandon (Miss.) Hartfield Academy standout.
