As you all know, we're officially on Grayson McCall Watch. The Coastal Carolina QB spent Friday and the first part of Saturday at NC State. He then flew to Orlando Saturday night for his UCF OV, departing Monday morning.
By now, you've certainly seen the photos of him briefly attending UCF's Sunday afternoon basketball game vs. Ole Miss. McCall along with his mother and brother arrived to UCF Arena about halfway through the first half. Darin Hinshaw and Kam Martin were among the coaches that came with them, then a few minutes later Gus and Kristi arrived. They might have been there around 20-30 minutes in total. Everybody was leaving at halftime, then Terry Mohajir came over to presumably give his pitch.
NC State apparently felt good about McCall's visit. UCF felt the same way. As of earlier today, both schools were still waiting for his decision.
Which one will he pick? I have no idea. Both schools expect a decision "soon" but I haven't heard of a specific time frame. Given the importance of the QB1 position (make no mistake, McCall is QB1 the moment he arrives on either campus), one would think McCall knows he needs to make decision very quickly so his next school can build on the positive publicity to continue building their transfer class.
I have heard both staffs were making plans to visit with him in Myrtle Beach at some point later this week, though one would think he might have a decision by then? I'd be surprised if this drags out any longer than Tuesday, but we'll see.
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Is Javon Baker returning to UCF? He seemed to insinuate that's a distinct possibility with his latest tweet:
"Yall in trouble IF everybody in this offense come back for another year!"
As I've said since the portal opened, there has been confidence that RJ Harvey and Kobe Hudson are returning for another year. They've also been telling people that is their intention. Javon Baker has not committed one way or another. His NFL Draft grade probably isn't as high as he'd like to declare. He has been vocal about wanting a big NIL payday, but he may not have much leverage since he's already transferred and is not yet a graduate.
Could Javon's tweet also have to do with the timing of McCall's deliberation?
Then again, Baker later responded to a fan who said please make it happen: "Gotta tell the collective that, not me."
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I messaged every known official visitor and only got a response from one. The one I communicated with on Sunday said he'd do an interview on Monday but I haven't been able to reach him yet.
Between the two weekends of visits, I'm a little surprised there haven't been any commits yet but a lot of transfers are enjoying the process and taking their time. On a national level, there hasn't been a huge number of commits though. There will be one more visit weekend and then visits in early January before the semester starts. At some point, guys will have to start making decisions.
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A Dungeon member chatted up one of the visitors at MCO on Sunday while in the TSA line. He can elaborate on this story if he wants to, maybe it's best not to name the player (I'm going to refrain) but he was incredibly candid - he said he loved his visit, but his decision basically comes down to how much NIL $$$ UCF can offer vs. the other schools recruiting him.
For the most part, that's pretty much what is happening during this transfer cycle. Every player has an asking price (how they came up with that number I guess can vary). I'm told UCF has a general idea of how much the player wants and if it's in the ballpark of what the Kingdom can afford, UCF will bring them in for a visit. Nobody wants to waste each other's time otherwise.
Gus Malzahn straight up said this was the case during his most recent press conference:
"You have to have the money to compete... Especially for a transfer, the first thing they want to talk about it is collective and NIL. Even before you get into the offense, defense, development and all that. That's just the new age of college football and you have to have the money resources to compete. The Big 12 definitely helps us, but more than anything it's to be able to compete financially."
The Kingdom doesn't have infinite resources so the coaching staff has to do a great job of finding the right type of player that will be a fit. Some SEC schools can throw a bag at a bunch of guys and then let practice sort everything out. UCF has to be more selective - if somebody is going to get something, they should be starter material.
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Early Signing Day for HS recruits is next Wednesday, Dec. 20. That seems awfully late. But that's the third Wednesday of December, same as it's been. UCF will actually be in Tampa for the Gasparilla Bowl on that day. We haven't gotten anything official yet, but UCF may do their signing day press conference in Tampa. It's a logistical hassle for everyone.
Honestly, high school recruiting is 95% done at most schools. December is now almost exclusively about transfer portal recruiting. They should probably push up ESD even earlier just to get that out of the way so December's focus can be on portal and bowl games.
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JUCO LB Keaton Thomas committed to Baylor during his weekend OV. He had said he might visit UCF this week.
San Diego State OL Cade Bennett committed to TCU. He had previously said a UCF visit was a possibility.
