The Hotline is delighted to provide college football fans with a regular dive into the recruiting process through the eyes and ears of Brandon Huffman, the Seattle-based national recruiting editor for 247Sports. He submitted the following report on Oct. 31 …
Here comes Ralphie
With a bowl berth secured, Colorado is heating up on the recruiting trail.
The Buffaloes were known to prefer the transfer portal under Deion Sanders. Now that they are back in the Big 12, they have focused on two states with Big 12 schools, Florida and Texas, and flipped a pair of pledges to other Big 12 schools.
In July, UCF received a commitment from defensive lineman Christian Hudson, a top 50 prospect from the Sunshine State.
Four-star receiver Adrian Wilson announced he would be headed to play for Sanders, just three days after de-committing from Arizona State.
While the Buffaloes have just 10 high school commitments, Wilson becomes the second highest-rated pledge in the class.
Pasadena flipper
BYU is unbeaten, and UCLA is scuffling. John Muir High School’s three-star edge rusher Cole Cogshell is the latest example.
Cogshell committed to BYU in the summer, but his senior film prompted his recruitment to skyrocket and his stock to rise in the rankings.
On Monday, he decommitted from the Cougars.
On Tuesday, UCLA sent him an offer. By Wednesday, Cogshell was the newest member of the Bruins’ class of 2025.
Cogshell told 247Sports’ Blair Angulo the opportunity to play in front of his friends and family at the Rose Bowl was too great to pass up.
He’ll get a head start on playing in the Arroyo Seco when John Muir High School, the alma mater of perhaps UCLA’s finest athlete, Jackie Robinson. They’ll take on crosstown rival Pasadena in the 77th Turkey Tussle on Friday, Nov. 1 at the Rose Bowl.
Beavers gain momentum
Saturday could not have gone much worse for Oregon State when the Beavers faced former Pac-12 rival Cal in Berkeley. Only a late score avoided a shutout in their 44-7 loss.
It wasn’t all bad: OSU flipped a pair of out-of-state recruits, one before the Cal game and one early this week.
Three-star prospects, Niklas Fisher from Texas, and Bleu Dantzler from Arizona, had taken official visits to Corvallis a week earlier when the Beavers hosted UNLV.
Dantzler is making a lateral move within the rebuilt Pac-12. He was committed to Utah State, but the Aggies are still under an interim coach and looking to make a permanent hire.
There’s uncertainty about their head coach in 2025 with their impending move to the Pac-12 in the summer of 2026.
Fisher had initially committed to Texas State, but a late push from Oregon State, including an official visit, secured the top-60 edge rusher from Texas for the Beavers.
Wildcats flip one, land another
It was a rough weekend for Arizona, once a preseason Top-25 team. The Wildcats have now lost four in a row, including three in Tuscon since their win at Utah on Sept. 28.
Arizona also flipped a commit from one former Pac-12 school, then pulled in perhaps the fastest-rising prospect in Northern California.
Last week, longtime Cal commit Carter Jones, a linebacker from Southern California, decommitted from the Bears. Then, he announced he would be headed to Arizona.
The big win came on Wednesday when Louis Akpa, an offensive tackle from Serra High School in San Mateo, committed to the Wildcats.
Arizona head coach Brent Brennan had long recruited Serra when he and his staff were at San Jose State. Akpa, who, like Brennan, played in the West Catholic Athletic League, connected with offensive line coach Josh Oglesby, formerally of San Jose State.
Akpa had visited Boise State officially and had set an official visit to Oregon State while lining up dates with Cal and Minnesota.
Yet on the visit to Arizona, he felt the move was Tucson.
Akpa had some help. His host was former Serra teammate Jabari Mann, a San Jose State signee who got out of his letter-of-intent once Brennan left for Arizona. Eventually, Mann joined Brennan in Tucson.
What makes the three-star prospect so intriguing? He was a former basketball player who made the move to football and didn’t become a starter until this fall. At 6-foot-6 and 260-pounds with a long and lean build, his recruitment took off during the summer camp circuit. His senior-year film led to Akpa racking up Power Four offers.
Now he’ll head to the Big 12.
Related Articles
Mailbag special edition: All about Oregon as the No. 2 team (behind Georgia) on my AP Top 25 ballot
Stanford preps for early wake-up call Saturday at NC State
West Coast recruiting: Colorado targets high school prospects, UCLA’s big flip, success for Arizona and Oregon State
How the Pac-12 Enterprises rose from the ashes and helped convince Boise State, San Diego State to join the conference
Ex-49ers coaches Seifert, Shanahan, Holmgren among semifinalists for Hall of Fame
Washington’s last chance
The Huskies had several opportunities to impress recruits this year. Their final home game on lands on Friday, Nov. 15.
It can be a difficult night for recruits to attend games, this week’s date with USC is the Huskies’ final Saturday game of the year on Montlake.
They’ve made it a big day for visitors, both locally and nationally to see head coach Jedd Fisch’s team one final time.
How does the No. 1 safety in the country in the 2026 class sound?
The Huskies will have Mississippi native Bralan Womack in the stadium on Saturday. That’s a significant visit from a player with scholarship offers from a who’s-who list of the top programs.
The Huskies staff has been working hard to stay in the mix. Now, they’ll get Womack on campus.
Washington will also host the top-rated player in their own state, Zaydrius Rainey-Sale, and Top247 linebacker Tristan Phillips in attendance, as well. (Rainey-Sale has committed to UW.)
All eyes will be on Womack.
*** Send suggestions, comments and tips (confidentiality guaranteed) to [email protected] or call 408-920-5716
*** Follow Huffman on the social media platform X via @BrandonHuffman and support @AveryStrongDIPG
*** Follow Wilner on the social media platform X: @WilnerHotline
