College Football
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Alabama finds its QB; Ryder Lyons is set to announce: What I’m hearing on recruiting trail

June official visits are more than halfway over, and the dominoes are starting to fall on the recruiting trail. Nearly half of the nation’s top 100 prospects have issued a commitment, and more announcements are coming this week.

So what’s going on across the recruiting landscape? Here’s what you need to know, as well as what I’m hearing.

(Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.)

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• The biggest news on the trail this week: Alabama has its quarterback as Kalen DeBoer continues to build his first full class. The Crimson Tide flipped four-star Omaha, Neb., native Jett Thomalla from Iowa State on Tuesday, giving DeBoer and his staff their second commit of the month and a quarterback to build the class around. Thomalla initially committed to Iowa State in April but received an offer from Alabama about a month later and announced on Tuesday that he’d made the switch.

Thomalla is ranked No. 232 overall and the No. 16 quarterback in the 2026 class. He has a big arm and is pretty crafty on the basketball court, too. He finished his junior season at Millard South High School with 3,664 passing yards and 47 touchdowns with just three picks.

This is a nice pickup for DeBoer and Co., who are in solid shape at the quarterback position with Keelon Russell, a five-star prospect in the 2025 class, already on the roster.

• This is shaping up to be a big week for announcements. Five-star athlete Brandon Arrington, No. 10 overall and the top player in California, announced Monday that he will issue a commitment Thursday. Fresh off an official visit to Alabama, he eliminated the Crimson Tide and is choosing between Oregon and Texas A&M.

He visited the Ducks earlier this month and previously announced he planned to be in College Station this weekend. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder is one of the fastest recruits in this class, boasting times of 10.27 seconds in the 100 and 4.27 in the 40.

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Also on Thursday, four-star edge Cincere Johnson, the nation’s No. 71 prospect, is expected to choose between Ohio State, Alabama and Penn State. The in-state Buckeyes had the Cleveland native on campus over the weekend.

On Friday, stay tuned for four-star safety Joey O’Brien, the nation’s No. 65 prospect, from Glenside, Pa. He is down to Oregon, Penn State, Notre Dame and Clemson.

• With the nation’s top prospect, offensive lineman Jackson Cantwell, committing to Miami (Fla.) last month, five-star defensive lineman Lamar Brown is now the highest-rated uncommitted recruit. Brown is from Baton Rouge, La., and is scheduled to visit nearby LSU this weekend.

“He started by going (on an official visit) to Miami,” said Andy Martin, Brown’s coach at University Lab, just a mile away from Tiger Stadium. “Then he went to Texas. He went to Texas A&M last week, and the fourth one will be at LSU this week.

“I think he’s going to take his last visit and then look to talk to his family, see what he wants to do and then look to commit on July 10.”

Brown initially canceled his LSU visit this weekend, which would have been a massive blow for the Tigers, but he changed his mind on Wednesday and is indeed heading to campus this weekend. He shared a social media post on Monday about the challenges of the recruiting process and how intense it can be.

“I think he’s handled it pretty well. It is a lot on (these recruits),” Martin said. “Everything is sped up so much, where it used to be you had a little bit of time and you were into your senior year and you were trying to decide and that type of thing.

“And now, it’s just all the visits are now in the summer, and then everything’s happening so early. So it’s a learning experience for these guys. … It’s also a lot of pressure for a 17-year-old.”

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Martin said LSU was the first to offer Brown, with Tigers coaches making it clear he is a top priority. However, Brian Kelly and his staff have had to compete with nearly every program in the country since then, and continue to do so now.

“Since his freshman year, (LSU has) been on him and has done a good job recruiting him,” Brown said. “I think A&M’s doing a good job recruiting him. I think Texas came in a little late on him trying to get in, and Miami’s kind of been there, but A&M and LSU have really been in there the entire time, and LSU’s really from the very beginning really recruited him hard.”

• Sticking with top uncommitted blue-chippers, it appears five-star quarterback Ryder Lyons, out of Folsom, Calif., could be nearing a decision soon.

“It sounds like he’s gonna make an announcement on Tuesday,” Folsom coach Paul Doherty said this week. “He went to Oregon this past weekend, and he’s going to BYU this weekend. I think he’s really high on both. They both have pros and cons, and nothing’s gonna be perfect, but all I try to counsel him on is that he’s picking from two incredible opportunities. You can’t really go wrong.”

Lyons, the No. 19 overall and highest-ranked uncommitted quarterback, will not play until the 2027 season after taking a mission trip with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he plans to sign as a 2026 recruit. He was initially linked to USC, which pursued him for an extended period, but he has since narrowed his list down to his final two contenders.

How’s he feeling about that decision?

“He’s got a really, really good relationship with (offensive coordinator Will) Stein at Oregon,” Doherty said. “(Head) coach (Dan) Lanning is a very, very strong personality. He’s recruited him really well. They’ve recruited him the hardest. He would love to go to school there.

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“I think he’s genuinely committed to his faith, and I think that weighs a lot at BYU. BYU is in the Big 12, and you’ve got a chance to play maybe sooner rather than later. I think that weighs on him a lot. Both are great schools. If football doesn’t work out and you get a degree from either of those schools, I think you’ll be all right.”

• Houston has just seven commits in its 2026 class and has picked up only one pledge this month. However, who cares when the month of June brought the Cougars their biggest news of the year already? Five-star quarterback commit Keisean Henderson, No. 18 in the 2026 class, canceled an official visit to Florida State and has since shut down his recruitment, he confirmed on his social media accounts.

Houston has its quarterback — and maybe the school’s next generational talent. If he signs, Henderson would be the Cougars’ highest-rated recruit since defensive tackle Ed Oliver (No. 6 nationally) in the 2016 class and their highest-rated quarterback in the modern recruiting era. The Spring, Texas, native intends to stay home, and Willie Fritz is that much closer to the biggest recruiting win of his career.

• South Carolina’s class ranks 43rd nationally. It includes only eight commitments, but the Gamecocks got some big news earlier this month when twins Aiden and Andrew Harris, North Carolina natives, committed to coach Shane Beamer. Aiden is ranked No. 52 overall and the No. 5 defensive lineman, and Andrew checks in at No. 329 and the No. 31 edge. The Gamecocks are also a finalist for four-star quarterback Landon Duckworth, No. 51 overall and the No. 6 quarterback. Auburn is his other finalist.

• Sticking with South Carolina, four-star cornerback Samari Matthews from Cornelius, N.C., is expected to take an official visit to Columbia this weekend, fresh off a visit to Texas last week. The nation’s No. 57 prospect, Matthews has already visited Miami, Florida State and Texas, and plans for the Gamecocks to be his final visit of the summer. He is eyeing a commitment in mid-August but said he could move that date up once he wraps up visits and talks with his family.

“I’m feeling great, but happy that it’s almost over,” he said. “The recruiting process has been fun and I’m blessed to be in this position, but it has been a lot at times.”

• Four-star defensive lineman Nolan Wilson, from Picayune, Miss., is eyeing a commitment around July 4 and has been soaking up every minute of his official visits to Alabama, Auburn and Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide, Wilson said, stood out for the way they treated his family. Auburn spoke with him about how the Tigers view him in their system and what his ceiling could be in their defense. The Rebels took him to a local lake for a fun day on the water.

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“When I went to ‘Bama, I just instantly, instantly felt the love from the staff, the people. They were showing my family a lot of love, too,” Wilson said. “And that’s something I think some schools skip over. It’s good to know that Alabama treats my family perfectly when I’m not around. I have a great relationship with Auburn because I have an ex-teammate (Jamonta Waller) who goes there.

“When I went to (Ole Miss), they really planned to (do) what I like. … It really shows that they’re paying attention to what I’m saying and they’re really letting me know that they want me to be up there.”

Wilson said the Rebels have pitched him on staying home and that the “Best in Mississippi stay in Mississippi.” Next up, he heads to Miami before potentially swinging by Alabama and Auburn again. He currently has a hunch about what he wants to do.

“But it’s so small that it can change at any point,” he said.

(Photo of Jett Thomalla: Patrick Breen / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

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