As the end of the NCAA recruiting dead period approached to begin the month of June, about 20 official visitors from across the country were lined up to check out Colorado. That number has now ballooned to nearly 30, and as you might imagine, now that we are just past the halfway mark in June, about half of those prospects have visited.
Below is a look at those visitors with some additional thoughts, where necessary, regarding the Buffs' respective statuses with these kids.
For starters, the only Class of 2022 commit to not have taken an official visit yet is Rusk, Texas quarterback Owen McCown. McCown visited Boulder with his dad back in the early spring before he pledged and also has an unofficial visit at CU slated for this month, too.
When I last spoke with him in May, he said that he'd rather wait to take his official visit during the fall, when he could be at Folsom Field for a game.
Other than that, tailback Victor Venn, wide receiver Keyshon Mills, safety Dylan Dixson and defensive end Carlton Madden Jr. have all completed their OVs.
Safety Ronald "Champ" Lewis plus tight end Zach Courtney were the two uncommitted official visitors who became verbal commits shortly after returning home from Boulder.
Most of you I'd assume have already made this assumption, but out of the above pack, at this point in time, Madden Jr. is the one guy who I could see as being the shakiest commit CU has right now, and that may even be going a bit too far in terms of speculation.
But the fact remains, big-time offers are rolling in for him as he continues to show off his stuff at camps around the South.
Personally, I think Madden Jr. himself likes seeing more options come across his plate (who wouldn't?) and I would have to say that I find his pledge to not exactly be concrete right now. It's a long time till signing day and who knows who else will come knocking at Madden Jr.'s door once his senior season gets underway and he can produce some legitimate game film.
....
As for the uncommitted visitors, four-star Alabama (Hewitt-Trussville) defensive tackle Justice Finkley undoubtedly sits atop the Buffs' wish list. He just touched down in Ann Arbor for an OV with Michigan and will take one at Texas before the end of June.
He did grow up a CU fan (I believe his mom is an alum) and at the bare minimum, he seemed to have a good time at Colorado. Karl Dorrell let Finkley's mom put on that slick 70s-styled jacket of his...that's big-time.
CU has hosted another DT from Alabama in Trevon McAlpine, a three-star prospect with over 20 offers. He has visited TCU and West Virginia in addition to Colorado. I hear the Mountaineers are after him particularly hard.
As for offensive linemen, Austin Kawecki just wrapped up an official visit this past weekend while Carter Edwards is currently in Boulder. Kawecki has a few more OVs to get through this month before he approaches a decision day tentatively set for late July. In Edwards' case, Ole Miss had been recently suspected of moving up the ladder with him and possibly even usurping CU as the lead horse in the race.
I will leave that last sentence as inconclusive for right now until I can check back in with him and see if a few days in Boulder may have done anything to offset the momentum the Rebs appear to have.
Note that the OLs Colorado has been bringing into town are all tackles. No one I've talked to has indicated Mitch Rodrigue plans to move them inside, were they to choose CU.
Three cornerbacks have also visited Colorado so far this month: Avyonne Jones, Anthony Davis and Collin Wright.
Jones is intriguing because he has relationships with transfer linebacker Robert Barnes as well as ILBs coach Mark Smith. He decommitted from Oklahoma State back in late May and since then has penciled in some visits, CU being one and Wisconsin, where he touched down today, being a prominent other.
I have heard the Badgers like where they're at with him.
Davis recently relayed to me that he and his family were pretty sold on Colorado post-visit. I get the sense he and Demetrice Martin are in a good spot together. Kansas is the other program going after him the hardest. Wright has nearly 25 offers at the moment and recently wrapped a visit at Utah. Frankly, there's not much on him that leads me to believe Colorado is in a particularly good spot vs. a bad spot. That could change before late, thought.
Moving on to the wide receivers, Jordan Nabors and Dillon Bell are two that have already concluded visits with the Buffs. It never ceases to amaze me how highly recruited Texas wide receivers are; both Nabors and Bell are three-star prospect and both of them have reeled in over 20 offers apiece.
Bell has about three inches of height on Nabors and is ranked slightly higher as a three-star; there also currently are conflicting FutureCasts in for him to land at both Baylor and Michigan. I'm sure Darrin Chiaverini would be pleased to get either of them.
Finally, we have safety Trevon Howard out of IMG Academy in Florida. Howard has visited Northwestern, Arizona, Michigan State and Iowa State. He is one the Buffs should feel like they've got an in with, given that Brett Maxie played a role in recruiting him at the high school level when he was IMG's defensive coordinator the year prior to joining Dorrell's staff.
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/avyonne-jones-246125#school-interests
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/anthony-davis-272793
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/collin-wright-269935
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/jordan-nabors-268907
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/dillon-bell-257353
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/trevon-howard-236634#school-interests
....
As we found out after this past weekend, it's not always going to be the case that prospects visit Boulder, return home and within hours are ready to announce a pledge. Yes, I'm sure that will happen again before the end of the summer, but it won't every single time.
Nothing to sweat over; the summer is still young, plenty more visitors will come to Boulder before its end and I for one think the class will be in pretty good shape by September. After all, currently, with seven 2022 pledges, the Buffaloes' class sits at No. 29 in the nation. Not bad for now.
Below is a look at those visitors with some additional thoughts, where necessary, regarding the Buffs' respective statuses with these kids.
For starters, the only Class of 2022 commit to not have taken an official visit yet is Rusk, Texas quarterback Owen McCown. McCown visited Boulder with his dad back in the early spring before he pledged and also has an unofficial visit at CU slated for this month, too.
When I last spoke with him in May, he said that he'd rather wait to take his official visit during the fall, when he could be at Folsom Field for a game.
Other than that, tailback Victor Venn, wide receiver Keyshon Mills, safety Dylan Dixson and defensive end Carlton Madden Jr. have all completed their OVs.
Safety Ronald "Champ" Lewis plus tight end Zach Courtney were the two uncommitted official visitors who became verbal commits shortly after returning home from Boulder.
Most of you I'd assume have already made this assumption, but out of the above pack, at this point in time, Madden Jr. is the one guy who I could see as being the shakiest commit CU has right now, and that may even be going a bit too far in terms of speculation.
But the fact remains, big-time offers are rolling in for him as he continues to show off his stuff at camps around the South.
Personally, I think Madden Jr. himself likes seeing more options come across his plate (who wouldn't?) and I would have to say that I find his pledge to not exactly be concrete right now. It's a long time till signing day and who knows who else will come knocking at Madden Jr.'s door once his senior season gets underway and he can produce some legitimate game film.
....
As for the uncommitted visitors, four-star Alabama (Hewitt-Trussville) defensive tackle Justice Finkley undoubtedly sits atop the Buffs' wish list. He just touched down in Ann Arbor for an OV with Michigan and will take one at Texas before the end of June.
He did grow up a CU fan (I believe his mom is an alum) and at the bare minimum, he seemed to have a good time at Colorado. Karl Dorrell let Finkley's mom put on that slick 70s-styled jacket of his...that's big-time.
CU has hosted another DT from Alabama in Trevon McAlpine, a three-star prospect with over 20 offers. He has visited TCU and West Virginia in addition to Colorado. I hear the Mountaineers are after him particularly hard.
As for offensive linemen, Austin Kawecki just wrapped up an official visit this past weekend while Carter Edwards is currently in Boulder. Kawecki has a few more OVs to get through this month before he approaches a decision day tentatively set for late July. In Edwards' case, Ole Miss had been recently suspected of moving up the ladder with him and possibly even usurping CU as the lead horse in the race.
I will leave that last sentence as inconclusive for right now until I can check back in with him and see if a few days in Boulder may have done anything to offset the momentum the Rebs appear to have.
Note that the OLs Colorado has been bringing into town are all tackles. No one I've talked to has indicated Mitch Rodrigue plans to move them inside, were they to choose CU.
Three cornerbacks have also visited Colorado so far this month: Avyonne Jones, Anthony Davis and Collin Wright.
Jones is intriguing because he has relationships with transfer linebacker Robert Barnes as well as ILBs coach Mark Smith. He decommitted from Oklahoma State back in late May and since then has penciled in some visits, CU being one and Wisconsin, where he touched down today, being a prominent other.
I have heard the Badgers like where they're at with him.
Davis recently relayed to me that he and his family were pretty sold on Colorado post-visit. I get the sense he and Demetrice Martin are in a good spot together. Kansas is the other program going after him the hardest. Wright has nearly 25 offers at the moment and recently wrapped a visit at Utah. Frankly, there's not much on him that leads me to believe Colorado is in a particularly good spot vs. a bad spot. That could change before late, thought.
Moving on to the wide receivers, Jordan Nabors and Dillon Bell are two that have already concluded visits with the Buffs. It never ceases to amaze me how highly recruited Texas wide receivers are; both Nabors and Bell are three-star prospect and both of them have reeled in over 20 offers apiece.
Bell has about three inches of height on Nabors and is ranked slightly higher as a three-star; there also currently are conflicting FutureCasts in for him to land at both Baylor and Michigan. I'm sure Darrin Chiaverini would be pleased to get either of them.
Finally, we have safety Trevon Howard out of IMG Academy in Florida. Howard has visited Northwestern, Arizona, Michigan State and Iowa State. He is one the Buffs should feel like they've got an in with, given that Brett Maxie played a role in recruiting him at the high school level when he was IMG's defensive coordinator the year prior to joining Dorrell's staff.
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/avyonne-jones-246125#school-interests
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/anthony-davis-272793
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/collin-wright-269935
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/jordan-nabors-268907
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/dillon-bell-257353
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2022/trevon-howard-236634#school-interests
....
As we found out after this past weekend, it's not always going to be the case that prospects visit Boulder, return home and within hours are ready to announce a pledge. Yes, I'm sure that will happen again before the end of the summer, but it won't every single time.
Nothing to sweat over; the summer is still young, plenty more visitors will come to Boulder before its end and I for one think the class will be in pretty good shape by September. After all, currently, with seven 2022 pledges, the Buffaloes' class sits at No. 29 in the nation. Not bad for now.
