Breaking down the five biggest July commitments

This list could be extremely long. Almost 250 recruits made commitments to Power Five schools in July. It was an extremely active, exciting, and wild month with prospects committing at a record pace.

Numerous schools had success over the last 31 days. Alabama, Florida, LSU, Miami, and Oklahoma were highlighted in the July Recruiting Winners article. Some names mentioned in that article made this list, too.

These are five top recruits that created major storylines last month.

5-star OT Francis Mauigoa – Miami

Francis Mauigoa played things extremely close to the vest leading up to his announcement on July 4. Heading into the final week before his commitment, Tennessee was considered the favorite. He is close to Nico Iamaleava, he and his family loved Knoxville, and the Vols looked to be a good spot. Mario Cristobal and the staff at Miami kept chopping away. They had numerous Zoom calls over the final days, and around 24 hours before the announcement, the Mauigoas decided on the Hurricanes. Alabama was in the mix, too. The connection with Cristobal, Alex Mirabal, and Joe Salave’a played a big role in this win for The U.

5-star QB Dante Moore – Oregon

Dante Moore is about relationships. His circle is tight. It came down to who he connected with best, and that was Kenny Dillingham at Oregon. LSU made a run. Michigan was involved. Notre Dame and Texas A&M were schools on the list, but Oregon had been in a good spot longer than Moore let on to the public. The connection with Dillingham went back to a visit to Florida State last summer, and it helped Dan Lanning land the five-star quarterback. This was a fun race to track because Moore said so little, and there was a lot of misinformation out there.

5-star DL Peter Woods – Clemson

If Peter Woods would have just come out and committed in June, when he made his mind up, this would have been an even bigger story. The closer it got to his commitment date, the more the news that he was going to Clemson leaked out. He made his decision the first week of June. After canceling a visit to Florida, the communication with Alabama dropped off as the month progressed, and the buzz around Clemson started to pick up. Still, this was a huge pick-up for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers. For any program to go into Alabama and land a top target of Nick Saban’s, it is big.

4-star RB Justice Haynes – Alabama

The biggest surprises this summer, when talking commitments, have come from top running backs. Rueben Owens in June, when he committed to Louisville. Then Justice Haynes in July, when he committed to Alabama. As big as Owens to Louisville was, I feel Haynes to Alabama was even bigger. Saban, Robert Gillespie, and the staff in Tuscaloosa went into Georgia and took a UGA legacy from the Bulldogs. This was a huge surprise to Kirby Smart and the staff in Athens. Haynes is likely the biggest surprise of the year to date for the fans that follow recruits. I received word on this a couple of weeks out, and I was surprised as well. This was a huge win for the Crimson Tide.

4-star DL John Walker – UCF

John Walker is a top-100 recruit. Gus Malzahn and UCF beat Miami, Michigan, and Ohio State for the local four-star out of Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola. The Buckeyes led early, they remained in the mix until late, but Michigan ended up high on Walker’s list. The Hurricanes made a late run at Walker, and the in-state program tried to lure him away from the Knights up until the announcement, but UCF held them off. Walker is the highest-ranked (No. 90) prospect ever to commit to UCF. The consistency paid off for Malzahn and his staff.