East Coast Spotlight: Five prospects on Flip Watch
The Early Signing Period is a week and a half away and there are a lot of rumors flying around. Committed players are taking visits to other schools and coaches are making their final pitches. Here are five prospects from the East that should be on Flip Watch as Signing Day nears.
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Even though Smothers didn't play this season because of transfer rules, there are still teams pursuing the talented Oklahoma commit. Smothers is saying all the right things and odds are good he signs with the Sooners but there were a number of reports saying he was at NC State the first Friday of this month.
The Wolfpack played a home basketball game against Pittsburgh and Smothers was reportedly in attendance. He says it isn't true and remains locked in with the Sooners but his situation bears watching with National Signing Day a week and a half away.
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It was a big win for Northwestern when it landed Robinson's commitment this past spring. With former players such as Dani Dennis-Sutton, Curtis Jacobs, D'Von Ellies and PJ Mustipher, Robinson comes from a school that is generally considered a Penn State pipeline. In fact, he was just in State College for an official visit this past weekend.
It wouldn't be a surprise to see Robinson end up signing with Penn State but the Nittany Lions aren't the only program pursuing the Northwestern commit. Notre Dame offered him late last week and, if he makes it through this week without flipping to Penn State, there is a chance Robinson could visit South Bend the final weekend before the Early Signing Period.
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Jones, a speedy athlete out of Charlotte, committed to NC State on Oct. 1 and said he was shutting down his recruitment. An offer from Notre Dame gave him pause but he ultimately decided to stick with the Wolfpack. However, a major push from Georgia has seen Jones take multiple trips to Athens, including an official visit this past weekend.
The Dawgs are a serious player for Jones and they'd like to see him flip to play in their secondary. NC State hopes Jones, who the program has recruited as a running back, will stick with the in-state school that prioritized him earlier in the process.
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Robinson, the highest-ranked player in Virginia's 2023 recruiting class, just took an official visit to Florida State and confidence inside the program is high that he'll end up signing with the Noles. Virginia originally landed his commitment on July 1 and he helped recruit a handful of other prospects to Charlottesville.
Robinson has another official visit scheduled to South Carolina this coming weekend and is expected to sign on Dec. 21, the first day of the Early Signing Period.
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Syracuse has its work cut out for it as the program tries to hold onto Sellers. The Orange lost offensive coordinator Robert Anae to NC State last week and Sellers was very close with him going back to when he was coaching at Virginia. Sellers originally committed to Virginia while Anae was there and then decommitted when Anae left for Syracuse and committed to him a second time. Now that he is moving on, Sellers could be looking to follow him as well. Sellers isn't very familiar with NC State but that could change.
Meanwhile, South Carolina has been pursuing Sellers throughout the fall. The in-state prospect has been in contact with the Gamecocks' coaching staff for some time but they do not have an offensive coordinator in place. It is also a possibility that Sellers doesn't sign until February. There is still a lot left to unfold in his recruitment.