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The foundation for recruiting success during the December signing window often is laid in the spring and summer, when on-campus visits are taken, shortlists created and verbal commitments made.
The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 fans with a dive into the process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting analyst for 247Sports.
Huffman will relay news and insight into the latest developments and cast an eye ahead to upcoming events that will shape the 2022-23 recruiting cycle.
The following information, in his words, was provided to the Hotline on Aug. 8 …
It was a relatively quiet week for the Pac-12 in terms of major recruiting commitments. However, there were still a handful of developments.
*** On Monday, Arizona State got some needed good news on the commitment front in the form of a prospect in the Pac-12 footprint. The last one from the region was RL Miller, a three-star linebacker from San Francisco who pledged to the Sun Devils in late June.
To this point, three of their five commitments had been from Texas, and there was one each from Southern and Northern California.
Now, the Sun Devils have added a sixth to the mix: three-star linebacker Xe'ree Alexander from Kennedy Catholic outside of Seattle, the school that produced current Washington quarterback Sam Huard.
Interestingly enough, there's a tie between Alexander and the Sun Devils. His older brother, Junior, signed with ASU as a receiver in the 2021 class. He played his freshman season in Tempe, then transferred to his hometown school, Washington, where he was reunited with Huard.
But that didn't stop Xe'ree Alexander from looking at ASU, and one of the big reasons he picked the Sun Devils was linebackers coach Chris Claiborne, the former USC star.
Alexander is a top-20 player in the state of Washington and was the linebacker MVP at the ESPN 300 Underclassmen Elite Camp in Oakland this spring.
He has been overshadowed at a high school known for its offense but is a nice pickup to pair with Miller, another long, athletic linebacker.
*** Our second Pac-12 commitment to report is a big one, literally: jumbo-athlete Ryan McCulloch out of Arcadia, California.
McCulloch is 235 pounds and can play tight end, fullback, tailback, even defense — he has done a little of everything at Rio Hondo Prep.
He visited Washington State in early June, and the Cougars looked like they would be in a really good position to land him. His top four included Washington State and had Colorado and Cal, as well as Boise State.
McCulloch ultimately chose Cal and is a quality addition for the Bears, who had been in the final group for a number of California kids, only to see them head out of state.
They could use McCullough offensively or defensively, He's just the kind of jumbo, versatile athlete you want to get on campus.
*** USC continues to recruit nationally, as coach Lincoln Riley went into Texas to grab four-star edge rusher Braylan Shelby.
He's a top-30 player in the Lone Star State and a top-20 player nationally at his position. He also runs track — he's a triple-jumper — but will focus on football at USC.
Shelby visited USC in mid-June and Texas at the end of June. Trojans assistant Roy Manning, who had recruited Shelby since he was the outside linebackers coach at Oklahoma, was able to secure the commitment over the in-state school. So Riley beats Steve Sarkisian.
*** Lastly, the big commitment coming at the end of this week is linebacker Jerry Mixon from Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in San Francisco. He's teammates with RL Miller, the ASU commit, and a cousin of Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon.
Mixon's final five are Oregon, UCLA, Arizona, ASU and Missouri, but this has looked like an Oregon-UCLA battle for a long time.
The 247Sports crystal ball is pointed to Oregon.
Mixon took an unofficial visit to Eugene in late July, and the Ducks look like they're in position to land the rising three-star linebacker.
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Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP Top 25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree. You can follow him on Twitter @WilnerHotline or send an email at jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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