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4-star EDGE Dominic Nichols announces top eight schools

On3 imageby: Joe Spears06/08/23joe_spears7
Dominic Nichols
EJ Holland/On3

Ijamsville (Md.) Oakdale four-star EDGE Dominic Nichols has announced his top eight schools. The eight schools are Clemson, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, South Carolina, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.

Nichols is the No. 370 overall prospect and No. 25 EDGE in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is also the No. 11 player in Maryland.

“Coaches leave all the time, but they’re definitely a big factor,” Nichols told On3’s Chad Simmons in May. “They’re a huge one. How good a team is is a factor. I’m competitive. If you know me, I’m really competitive. Actually, I hate losing more than I love winning. I want to win and I want to go where I think I can get developed as a defensive lineman.”

According to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine (RPM), Michigan is the heavy favorite to land a pledge from the 6-foot-5, 240-pounder. The Wolverines’ odds sit 66.6%.

“Their EDGE production is insane,” Nichols told Simmons. “They get dudes drafted at EDGE every single year, so that means a lot. I know their d-line coach — coach (Mike) Elston — but I’m probably closer with coach (Dylan) Roney, the outside linebacker/EDGEs coach.”

Nichols locked in three official visits for June. He visited Wisconsin on June 2 and is set to take officials to Michigan (June 9) and Wisconsin (June 16) over the next two weeks.

“(Coach Greg Scruggs) first told me, ‘I’m not going to offer you right now,” Nichols said of the Badgers. We’re going to build a connection first, a relationship.’ I think that definitely impacted my decision of putting them as a top school and taking an OV there.”

“I know that they’re historically a really good defensive team, especially a defensive line team with J.J. Watt, T.J. Watt, all those dudes coming out of there,” he added. “Coach (Luke) Fickell, what he did at Cincinnati was just insane. Now that they’re moving up to the Power Five as soon as he leaves, that obviously shows something about him.”

Nichols currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $38K. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.