Shelton Sampson: Latest On3 RPM with 5-star 2023 receiver

With Signing Day in the rearview mirror, the On3 football recruiting database has flipped to the 2023 class. With that in mind, it’s the perfect time to check in to see where the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine sits with the nation’s top junior recruits, including five-star receiver Shelton Sampson Jr.

Shelton Sampson Jr.

Baton Rouge (La.) Catholic
On3 Consensus: No. 15
On3 NIL Valuation: $8.8K
Status: Uncommitted
On3 RPM: LSU 62.3%, Alabama 19.1%, Auburn 6.7%, Texas A&M 6.7%
On3 Intel: Shelton Sampson Jr. is one of the most impactful receivers to come out of Louisiana in the past few cycles. He played a key role in helping his team win a state championship as a junior and sophomore while finishing runner up during his freshman season.

With that type of play, it’s no surprise that LSU and Alabama – the two schools that always battle over the best players from The Boot – are listed on top of the On3 RPM.

Shelton Sampson took late January visits to both LSU and Alabama. The On3 RPM has tabbed the Tigers as the team to beat at 62.3%. However, that number is down somewhat because of the visit to Tuscaloosa. It was at 71.4% before the trip.

That being said, it appears LSU is going all-in to ensure the five-star receiver stays at home. He’s a key target for Brian Kelly’s new staff at LSU. He falls into that must-get category.

But as history has taught us, if there is anybody that can get a player out of Louisiana it’s Alabama coach Nick Saban and ace recruiter Pete Golding.

It’ll also be interesting to see if others, like Texas A&M or even Auburn, become more of a factor in the spring.

Shelton Sampson Jr. is special

Shelton Sampson Jr. currently ranks as the No. 15 player in the country, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

He also ranks as the No. 2 receiver and the second-best player in Louisiana, according to the On3 Consensus. On3 ranks Sampson slightly higher than the industry average at No. 9 overall and as the best receiver in the country.

Shelton Sampson Jr. currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $8,800, which ranks 1099th in the On3 High School Football NIL Rankings. 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.

What is the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine?

The On3 RPM debuted to the public in December. The On3 engineering group teamed up with Spiny.ai to create the industry’s first algorithm and machine learning-based product to predict where athletes will attend college. 

It factors in machine learning, expert predictions, social sentiment, visits, and historical trends. However, expert predictions are still a big piece of the RPM equation.