Recruiting Notebook: Commitments, Updates Ahead Of Week One

Commitments

Ja’Kobi Lane – 2023 Red Mountain, Wide Receiver

On Aug. 26 senior Ja’Kobi Lane announced his commitment to USC. The decision comes weeks after visiting several programs including Oregon, Washington and Kansas State. Going into his visits, Ja’Kobi said Oregon was his dream school and he was impressed with everything the Ducks had to offer. However, it was USC that come out on top as the best fit for the wide receiver at the next level. 

 

Gavin Geweniger – 2023 Chaparral, Defensive End

Gavin joined the Recruiting Roundup for a deep dive on his commitment to Stanford. The defensive end made it clear throughout his recruiting process that if an offer from Stanford came along, it would be near impossible for him to turn it down. After receiving acceptance to the prestigious university for academics, Geweniger made his commitment official on Aug. 20. 

 

Genesis Smith – 2023 Hamilton, Safety

Genesis Smith has set the bar high for creative commitment announcements. Genesis will be staying somewhat close to home after concluding his final season as a Husky. His announcement to become an Arizona Wildcat came in the form of a thoughtful video posted to Twitter on Aug. 27. Genesis had over a dozen options to choose from but ultimately will be landing in Tucson. The Hamilton safety made a huge impact on the Huskies producing 40 tackles in his junior season. 

https://twitter.com/Genesis_Smithh/status/1563710002354966529

 

 

Updates

Tré Spivey – 2023 Hamilton, Wide Receiver

On Aug. 3 Tré gave his mom and her alma mater a shoutout after receiving an offer from Oklahoma State University. After the Huskies scrimmage against Pinnacle high school Tré broke down his thoughts on the offers he currently holds. 

“That’s where she went so she had a lot of pride in that,” Spivey said. “It’s not about where my family is but how comfortable my family is with me going to a certain place.”

Spivey said it’s important to him that his family also feels a connection to the school and program he ultimately chooses. 

Smooth and Steady

“It peaked at a point where I was getting a lot of offers and it’s just been slowly getting more now,” Spivey said. 

He added that Kansas State, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Wisconsin and BYU have been showing him a lot of love. Spivey says he’s been paying attention to the amount of movement in the transfer portal and finds it really important to choose a school that he will stick with for the entirety of his college football career. 

 

Sirri Kandiyeli – 2023 Mountain View, Offensive Lineman

Sirri was praised by coaches at Mesa media day for setting the standard for Toros Football on the field and in the classroom. The versatile senior offensive lineman says he’s really seen his recruitment explode and has a few universities showing him a little extra love. He also stressed the importance of committing to a program that will also challenge him in the classroom. 

“At the end of the day football will only last you so long even if you do end up playing in the pros,” Kandiyeli said. “I was raised being told to do well in school and work hard in everything I do.”

 

Duce Robinson – 2023 Pinnacle, Tight End

Pinnacle triple-threat athlete Duce Robinson is very humble about his recruitment. He’s not one to share his accomplishments on Twitter (and he’s got plenty of them) and he’s been very level-headed about his approach to his recruitment. USC, Alabama, Texas, Georgia and Oregon are the programs that Duce is focussing on most at this point. All of these programs have expressed the ability for him to play both baseball and football. 

Duce recently took his official visit to USC and raved about the experience and said they set the bar high for future visits. Even when speaking about his visit to USC his response was about how the experience was for all the recruits – not just himself. 

“I can’t talk highly enough about their recruiting department and what they did,” Robinson said. “Every player from the top recruit to their bottom was taken care of and they set up some really cool events for guys who were on their officials. Even guys that were on their unofficials were taken care of.”