Huffman – Pac-12 recruiting: Sanders lands another five-star, ASU’s scoop, news from Stanford and Cal and “all about the portal”

The Hotline is delighted to provide Pac-12 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.

Prime Lands His Primary Recruit

Boulder wasn’t hard for Jordan Seaton to find.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders landed his signature recruit Thursday when IMG Academy’s Jordan Seaton, the No. 1 ranked offensive tackle by the 247Sports Composite Rankings, announced for the Buffaloes in a stunner.

Seaton left the Buffs off his list of finalists, and prior to the announcement, the buzz was pointed in Tennessee’s direction. But then Seaton shocked the recruiting world by pulling out the Colorado hat.

That makes it two consecutive years at Colorado — and three in a row overall — that Sanders has reeled in a five-star prospect.

He grabbed cornerback Travis Hunter in 2022, when he was still at Jackson State, then cornerback Cormani McClain a year ago.

Now, in his first full recruiting cycle at CU, Sanders, who wears a sweatshirt that proclaims “I ain’t hard 2 find,” has landed Seaton.

Of the three, Seaton may be the most important, as Colorado’s woes along the offensive line were well documented. The blue chipper almost certainly will play as a true freshman.

Portal Priorities

Several schools lost key players when the NCAA Transfer Portal window opened Monday. Almost immediately, however, those same schools were clicking refresh on the portal and identifying potential targets.

Said one Pac-12 recruiting director: “We aren’t even worried about high school recruiting right now; we’ll sign who we have committed; we’re all about the portal right now. That’s where we’re at. That’s where college football is at.”

Schools that have been known to emphasize the portal, such as UCLA, are already doing it again. The Bruins will have four official visitors this weekend, all potential transfers. The list includes Notre Dame receiver Rico Flores, who played for Folsom (California) High School, and San Jose State tackle Fernando Carmona.

Spatula Season Underway

Steve Wiltfong, the 247Sports national recruiting director, calls this time of year ‘spatula season’ because so many recruits are flipping their commitments. Two Pac-12 schools were on the receiving end of that very action:

— Stanford had longtime Baylor commit Bo Tate, whose father played at Utah, flip to the Cardinal. Tate took an official visit to Stanford last weekend and committed shortly after. Coach Troy Taylor also flipped Old Dominion cornerback commit Javion Randall after he took his official visit to Stanford.

— Meanwhile, Arizona lost cornerback commit Quimari Shemwell to Utah. Shemwell was overshadowed a bit by his Oregon-bound defensive teammate at Long Beach Poly, Dylan Williams, but had a breakout senior campaign.

Stock Up for Sun Devils

It was a good week for Arizona State, with the Sun Devils landing a pair of top-five players from their respective states.

Fresh off leading Kahuku (Hawaii) High School to a state title, offensive tackle Filiva’a Saluni announced his commitment to the Sun Devils on Monday night. He’s the fifth-ranked prospect from Hawaii in the 2024 class.

One night later, Seattle (Washington) O’Dea running back Jason Brown, an All-American Bowl selection and a four-star prospect, announced he, too, would play for Arizona State.

Brown immediately became ASU’s highest-rated pledge in the class.

Both were in Tempe last weekend for official visits and were no doubt impacted by four-star tight end Jayden Fortier, the No. 1 recruit in Oregon in 2024, who committed to ASU in June.

More Commits

Cal went to Denton, Texas, and landed its newest commitment, receiver Josiah Martin. As a junior, he was a favorite target of Oklahoma’s star freshman quarterback, Jackson Arnold.

Martin is originally from Seattle and played youth football with two of Cal’s 2024 recruits, Garfield High School  teammates EJ Caminong and Rahshawn Clark.

And despite their loss to Washington hours later in the Pac-12 Championship Game, the Ducks started Friday with positive news: Orem (Utah) tight end Roger Saleapaga committed to Oregon.

A 247Sports composite four-star prospect — and the No. 5 player from the Beehive State — Saleapaga comes from the same prep program that produced Los Angeles Rams star Puka Nacua and former Oregon linebacker and current Chicago Bear Noah Sewell.

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