ACC football recruiting: 14 thoughts on 14 teams as summer visits begin

It’s that time of year. We made it.

Official visits kick off this weekend, and recruiting staffs across the country are feverishly preparing for what has undoubtedly become one of the most important months on the college football calendar.

What’s the ACC up to?

Let’s check in on each of the league’s 14 schools with one recruiting thought on each. All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.

Boston College

National rank: 84
Number of commits: 1
Average player rating: 85.78

The Eagles need to get moving. There’s still plenty of time between now and the early signing period in December, but for the program to currently have just one commit — three-star athlete Christian Zamor — is a bit concerning. What’s more: Zamor committed in January 2022, meaning the Eagles haven’t landed a prospect in this class in 16-plus months. It’s difficult to entice other prospects to jump into the mix when there’s no momentum or key prospect for a staff to recruit around. It’s not time to panic, but picking up the pace will be of the utmost importance this month.

Here’s a (familiar) name to watch: Boston College is in pursuit of Henry Hasselbeck, a Class of 2024 QB who is committed to Maryland for lacrosse. Henry is the son of former Boston College QB Matt Hasselbeck.

Another good day with @BCFootball and @CoachJeffHafley! @dufault24 @XBHS_Football @Xaverian_Hawks @20XFB15 🦅🏈 pic.twitter.com/xJiMVXZ2GB

— Henry Hasselbeck (@HenryHasselbeck) April 1, 2023

Clemson

National rank: 21
Number of commits: 8
Average player rating: 89.84

It will be interesting to see how Clemson approaches the quarterback position between now and the end of the cycle. Dabo Swinney typically offers only one quarterback at a time and doesn’t move on to the next until he knows the Tigers are out of the running with each prospect. Currently, Clemson is 0-for-4. DJ Lagway is headed to Florida, Walker White committed to Auburn, Jadyn Davis is off to Michigan and, most recently, Air Noland committed to Ohio State. They also kicked the tires on Ohio native Ethan Grunkemeyer, who has since committed to Penn State. Will the Tigers offer another quarterback in this class or rest easy knowing they have two former top-100 prospects on the roster — Cade Klubnik and Christopher Vizzina — and focus on the Class of 2025?

Duke

National rank: 41
Number of commits: 5
Average player rating: 87.69

Duke exceeded expectations in a major way last season when it won nine games in Mike Elko’s first year. Elko won the ACC’s Coach of the Year Award and has carried that momentum over to the recruiting trail. Duke has five commits in its class, which is still on the smaller side, but the average player rating of 87.69 would be the program’s best of the modern recruiting era. Can Elko and his staff keep that up as the class grows? Stay tuned.

The Blue Devils rebounded nicely when quarterback commit Hauss Hejny flipped to TCU by landing a pledge from Tyler Cherry, a four-star prospect out of Indiana. Assuming he signs, Cherry, ranked No. 366 nationally, will be Duke’s highest-rated quarterback prospect of the modern era.

Florida State

National rank: 9
Number of commits: 11
Average player rating: 90.45

Mike Norvell’s 2023 class was solid — No. 19 overall and No. 3 in the ACC — but he did his best work in the transfer portal. Well, the Seminoles are now making serious moves in the high school ranks in the Class of 2024. Florida State has 11 commits, including three top-150 players and seven blue-chippers. One key will be holding on to the top two players in the class. Five-star tight end Landen Thomas flipped back to Florida State after decommitting from Georgia last month, but his high school coach told The Athletic that Thomas still plans on taking an official visit to Georgia either later this summer or in the fall. Four-star running back Kam Davis said in February that he planned to take an official visit to Colorado this summer but has since announced he is shutting down his recruitment.

Florida State also has a commitment from one of the more intriguing quarterback prospects in the class. Luke Kromenhoek had never started a varsity game at the position when he pledged to the Seminoles last March but is now ranked No. 126 overall and recently earned an invitation to the Elite 11 Finals in June.

Georgia Tech

National rank: 37
Number of commits: 6
Average player rating: 86.05

It’s been a busy month at Georgia Tech. Four-star quarterback Jakhari Williams decommitted on May 10, three-star quarterback Aaron Philo committed on May 11 and four-star running back Duke Watson followed Williams and decommitted on May 12. Philo’s pledge to the Yellow Jackets so quickly after Williams decommitted — or “parted ways” with Georgia Tech, as it was reported locally — surely wasn’t a coincidence.

It’s fascinating, regardless. Recruiting rankings can be off, but Williams is ranked a full 700 spots higher (!) than Philo, a former Minnesota commit. What does this staff see in Philo that the outside world might be missing? And what’s next for Williams? Georgia Tech feels strongly about Philo, but the pressure is on for him to live up to the staff’s evaluation. If the Yellow Jackets are going to return to prominence in the ACC, it has to start with strong quarterback play.

Louisville

National rank: 22
Number of commits: 8
Average player rating: 88.59

The Cardinals have been making moves lately, picking up six commits in the past eight weeks now that coach Jeff Brohm and his staff are settled. Four-star edge TJ Capers remains the crown jewel of this class as the nation’s No. 31 prospect and the program’s second-highest-ranked recruit in the modern era. It seems as though the Cardinals might be looking to get him some help along the defensive line. Four-star defensive lineman Jeffery Rush of Pascagoula, Miss., committed to Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss in March but recently announced he will take an official visit to Louisville from June 9 to 11.

GO DEEPER

Jeff Brohm is finally back in Louisville. Will he bring the expected stability, success?

Something to watch: Can Brohm, a Louisville alum, do a better job than the previous staff recruiting in-state? Only one of the Cards’ eight commits is from Kentucky (three-star wide receiver Shaun Boykins), but this is not a great year for local talent — there are currently no blue-chippers from Kentucky in the 2024 cycle.

Miami

National rank: 23
Number of commits: 9
Average player rating: 86.91

Miami has only one blue-chipper committed — wide receiver Chance Robinson — but it’s not time to be concerned yet. Just look at some of the recruits heading to campus in June. Ten top-100 prospects have already announced they’ll be on campus for an official visit: wide receiver Drelon Miller, defensive lineman Kamarion Franklin, five-star running back Jerrick Gibson, five-star cornerback Ellis Robinson IV, five-star defensive lineman Justin Scott, offensive lineman Isendre Ahfua, cornerback Dakoda Fields, safety Jaylen Heyward, tight end Caleb Odom and defensive lineman Aydin Breland. On a promising note for the Hurricanes, defensive line is a point of emphasis for this class, and Scott, Breland and Franklin all rank in the top 10 nationally at the position.

Also of note: Robinson and Heyward are Georgia commits. If Mario Cristobal is going to win like an SEC team, it wouldn’t hurt to be able to flip prospects like one, too.

North Carolina

National rank: 14
Number of commits: 13
Average player rating: 87.04

North Carolina is in pursuit of one of the more underrated athletes in the class. Four-star wide receiver Braylon Staley from Aiken, S.C., has announced a list of his top 10 schools, including four that will get an official visit in June. North Carolina (June 23-25), along with Clemson (June 2-4), Miami (June 9-11) and Tennessee (June 16-18) were on the short list, with Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Florida and Georgia Tech also in the mix. Staley is ranked the No. 34 wide receiver nationally and is perhaps best known for his speed. He is a state champion in the 200-meter dash and the triple jump and broke a school record with his 200 time.

📢 Braylon Staley just broke the Aiken High School 200m record with a 21.88! 🔥🏅 pic.twitter.com/QOucxmPSgs

— AikenHighTrackandField (@AikenTrack) March 5, 2023

Even if North Carolina loses out to in-state Clemson or one of Staley’s other suitors, it’s encouraging to see the Tar Heels are at least in the conversation. The program’s recruiting has taken a recent dip, and its 2024 class includes only one blue-chipper among the 13 commitments. UNC does have its quarterback in three-star prospect Michael Merdinger, who is on the verge of becoming the first Israeli-born athlete to play FBS football.

NC State

National rank: 43
Number of commits: 5
Average player rating: 87.39

Former Virginia and Syracuse offensive coordinator Robert Anae is entering his first season with the Wolfpack and already has his quarterback in the 2024 class: three-star Florida native Cedrick Bailey. Bailey isn’t a flashy prospect — he ranks No. 528 nationally — but Anae has a history of success with under-recruited prospects, including Virginia-turned-NC State quarterback Brennan Armstrong and Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader, both former three-stars. It will be interesting to see how Anae develops Bailey, who is already 6 feet 6 1/2 but weighs just 185 pounds.

Pitt

National rank: 18
Number of commits: 11
Average player rating: 86.48

The Panthers don’t yet have their quarterback in this class but are in the top five for three-star Trever Jackson out of West Orange (Fla.). Jackson’s first offer came from Morehouse in June 2022, but Pitt was smart to get in on him three weeks later as the first Power 5 school to extend an offer. Since then, Jackson has received offers from Texas A&M, Houston, Penn State, West Virginia, Boston College and others, and he recently was invited to the Elite 11 Finals next month. Florida and Florida State recruited him but never officially offered. (Both have quarterbacks committed already.) Pitt is getting Jackson’s first official visit on June 2.

Syracuse

National rank: 70
Number of commits: 3
Average player rating: 85.43

Syracuse hasn’t signed a high school quarterback since … the Class of 2021! Perhaps Dino Babers and his staff are comfortable using the transfer portal to fill their needs, but it stands to reason that it’s going to be harder to maintain relationships with high school coaches if the Orange prioritize transfer prospects over high schoolers. To be fair, Syracuse did have Class of 2023 prospect LaNorris Sellers committed for about nine months, but the South Carolina native flipped to the home-state Gamecocks during the early signing period in December.

The Orange don’t yet have a quarterback in the Class of 2024, either, and they have offered only seven players at the position. Six of those seven are already committed to other schools. The other, four-star Jayden Bradford of IMG (Fla.) Academy, received his offer in March and seems to have Syracuse in the mix but hasn’t announced any plans for an official visit.

Virginia

National rank: 71
Number of commits: 3
Average player rating: 85.27

The good news for Virginia is that Tony Elliott is trying to make inroads in-state. All three of the Cavaliers’ commitments are from the Commonwealth. The bad news? He has just one top-1,000 player in the fold: offensive tackle Benjamin York of Burke, Va. Building Virginia back up will be a multiyear project for Elliott, who won just three games in his first season with the Cavaliers. But the best thing a coach of a struggling program can do is show the fan base he’s at least attempting to sign talent in his backyard. The Cavaliers have a long way to go, and it’s a tough job, but Elliott was a strong recruiter at Clemson and is no doubt doing everything he can to form relationships with high school coaches in-state.

Virginia Tech

National rank: 40
Number of commits: 6
Average player rating: 87.30

Virginia Tech needs help on the offensive line, and after missing out on Appalachian State transfer Troy Everett — a Virginia native who signed with Oklahoma — it’s time to buckle down heading into June. Three-star in-state tackle Mason Wade will visit June 23-25, as will Maryland native and fellow offensive tackle Terez Davis. Three-star Aidan Lynch of New Jersey visits June 9-11. Head coach Brent Pry, entering his second season, needs to land at least one of them.

The top-ranked player in the Hokies’ 2024 class is quarterback Davi Belfort, a three-star prospect from Florida who ranks No. 500 nationally. Belfort, born in Brazil, is the son of former MMA fighter Vitor Belfort.

Wake Forest

National rank: 13
Number of commits: 17
Average player rating: 86.51

Wake Forest is tied with Michigan (currently No. 2 in the recruiting rankings) for the most commits in the 2024 class with 17. The Demon Deacons have prospects ranked from No. 514 nationally to the 1,200s. Perhaps with any other school, this amount of three-star (and no-star) talent would sound off the alarm bells. But head coach Dave Clawson is as good as anyone at developing talent, and the Demon Deacons have their quarterback of the future in three-star Jeremy Hecklinski of Marietta, Ga. With so many recruits already committed, it should be a relatively smooth ride for Wake between now and December.

(Photo of Mike Norvell: Rob Kinnan / USA Today)