MWCConnection Recruiting Roundup 9-28-26. Thoughts on Rivals

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It’s another week of the Recruiting Roundup.

Over the past week, Rivals/On3 recruiting has made some waves, and not for the right reasons.

While I don’t agree with the decision at all, it is a complex situation nonetheless.

There is no doubt it’s hard to evaluate every recruit trying to chase their college dreams. I follow recruiting, but I would never claim to be a talent evaluator or to be able to distinguish which players will succeed and which players won’t. It’s hard enough to keep up with recruits committing to schools in the Mountain West and Pac-12; I can’t imagine expanding that to all of college football. I understand the theory behind trying to get more players on the radar.

Also, as someone who used to be affiliated with Rivals (note: I’m not saying employee), I’ve been frustrated with the lack of attention paid to recruits outside the top tier of talent. I could say a lot of things, but during my time there, I didn’t get the impression it was a priority to adequately cover recruits who went to Group of 6 schools or were outside their top rankings.

Due to that, it’s hard not to see charging recruits for in-depth evaluations as the house winning regardless of how many players end up benefiting. There will be stories of players who paid, got scouted, got noticed by schools, and got a scholarship. And great for those people.

There will also be stories about players paying a lot of money and it not working out for them. Or players who are very talented but can’t afford to get evaluated. How much of this is a money grab, knowing players are desperate to get another star next to their name, and knowing Rivals will make money regardless of how much they’re helping players? How much of evaluations will lean towards those who pay vs. those who don’t? Those are my concerns. Maybe they are overblown, or maybe they are legitimate. I won’t pretend to know how genuine these motives are, but I’d think twice if I were a recruit.

At the end of the day, recruiting coverage is a service, and that service has sold its product to its audience with great success. The issue now is it’s trying to sell a new product to its original product. It’s one thing to charge fans to read about recruiting. And while I can understand the idea behind charging players to get evaluated, it still results in the recruiting service making money coming and going. It’s like a restaurant charging people to eat the cheeseburger and then trying to charge the cheeseburger itself so the restaurant can better market the cheeseburger.

Putting all that aside, recruiting continues to pick up as the season goes on. Offers are still coming in each week. Mountain West and Pac-12 schools handed out a combined 16 offers this past week. Also, Wyoming hosted some visitors this week, and there were two new commits, one each from San Diego State and Wyoming.

As for the cover photo, this week goes to the Cowboys, who added a commit and hosted new visitors.

Class of 2027 Cover Photo Total:

• Hawaii: 3
• Oregon State: 3
• San Jose State: 3
• UNLV: 3
• Wyoming: 3
• Colorado State: 2
• Fresno State: 2
• NIU: 2
• North Dakota State: 2
• San Diego State: 2
• UTEP: 2
• Air Force: 1
• New Mexico: 1
• Washington State: 1

Recruiting Calendar:

From September through November, we are now in an evaluation period. Players can have on-campus visits, and coaches can go recruit players on high school campuses. As always, it is okay for texts, calls, and DMs.

Next College Student Athlete says:

The NCAA Evaluation Period is a specific time of year when college coaches are allowed to watch an athlete compete in person or visit their school. However, coaches are not allowed to communicate with that athlete (or parents) off the college campus. Coaches can sit in the stands during a recruit’s practice or game, as well as visit the recruit’s school. This gives college coaches a chance to talk to the recruit’s coach, teachers, or guidance counselor to get a better understanding of the student-athlete’s character. After the visit, the coach may call or email the recruit and let them know how their experience was at the school or game.

The NCAA Evaluation Period is just that: a time set aside for evaluation. While coaches can’t talk to athletes off the college campus, they can still call, email, text, and direct message recruits.

Commitment Spotlight:

Visit Recap:

Recruiting Updates:

Offers:

• Air Force:
• Boise State:
• Colorado State: 2
• Fresno State:
• Hawaii:
• Nevada: 2
• New Mexico: 2
• NIU:
• North Dakota State: 1
• Oregon State: 2
• San Diego State: 5
• San Jose State:
• Texas State: 2
• UNLV:
• Utah State: 1
• UTEP:
• Washington State:
• Wyoming: 1

Visits

• EDGE Garrison Manzanarez: Wyoming
• RB Kameron Coleman: Wyoming

Commits:

• DL Kahlio Vaetoe: San Diego State
• DL Brayden Tautolo: Wyoming

Decommits

Follow @Mike_SBN on Twitter for all the latest recruiting news and updates.

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