ACC recruiting thoughts: 17 thoughts on 17 teams following June official visits (2024)

After another hectic month of June official visits, college football’s recruiting dead period kicked off on Monday. It will run until July 24, meaning now is the time for recruiting departments across the country to finally take a breather before the season starts.

In the meantime, several of the nation’s top prospects are expected to issue commitments in the coming days and weeks, looking to end their recruitment before their senior season of high school football begins.

Let’s check in on each program in the ACC.

Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.

Boston College

Boston College went to work this month, picking up 13 of its 19 commitments in the class since June 3. Most importantly, the Eagles landed their quarterback, three-star Oklahoma native Shaker Reisig. Reisig was previously committed to Utah but took an official visit to Boston College on June 14 and decommitted from the Utes on June 17. One day later, he announced his pledge to coach Bill O’Brien and the Eagles. Reisig is ranked No. 834 overall and the No. 45 quarterback in the class, and he has plenty of experience at the Class 6A-I level of high school football in Tulsa, Okla. As a sophom*ore, he threw for 2,656 yards with 27 touchdowns and just three interceptions. As a junior, he threw for 2,366 yards with 25 touchdowns against six picks. Is O’Brien onto something here?

Go eagles! 🦅 #committed @BCFootball pic.twitter.com/O1NtIa6gLL

— Shaker Reisig (@ShakerReisig) June 18, 2024

Cal

Cal lost its quarterback in this class when three-star Robert McDaniel decommitted last month and committed to Arizona shortly thereafter. But the Golden Bears hosted their newest target on an official visit over the weekend, and he just might be the most intriguing under-the-radar prospect in this class. Jaron Keawe Sagapolutele is a three-star out of Hawaii, ranked No. 716 overall and the No. 39 quarterback. But the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder dazzled last week at the Elite 11 Finals with his arm strength, physical tools and confidence. And he loved his visit to Cal. “That was truly a blessing,” he said. “The coaching staff is great. Amazing. And everything — they just really checked off a lot of my boxes. I was just so happy that I got to do that.”

Clemson

Clemson has had a quiet month thus far, picking up just two commitments, but the Tigers recently threw their name into the mix with another blue-chip wide receiver who is one of the top players in Alabama. Four-star Dillon Alfred committed to Ole Miss in April but backed off that pledge on Monday. Also on Monday, Clemson offered Alfred after hosting him for a camp earlier in the month. The Tigers have just one wide receiver in this class in three-star Carleton Preston out of Woodbridge, Va. Landing a receiver of Alfred’s caliber would be a two-fold victory for coach Dabo Swinney: The Tigers would pick up a talented player to beef up the position and it would come at the expense of him playing in the SEC.

Duke

The Blue Devils are up to 21 commits in Manny Diaz’s first class, with 11 coming this month. But Diaz’s most critical task between now and December could be hanging onto a commitment he received in February. Four-star linebacker Cameron Smith, out of St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia, is ranked No. 257 nationally and is the Blue Devils’ only blue-chipper in this class. If he signs, and if his ranking holds, Smith would be Duke’s first top-300 recruit since defensive lineman Vincent Anthony in the 2022 class. Syracuse is making a run at Smith, and he visited the Orange officially this month. It will go down as a massive recruiting victory if Diaz can hold onto him.

Florida State

Florida State has just six commitments in the 2025 class. No other ACC school has fewer than 10. But give the Seminoles credit: All six are blue-chippers, and four rank among the top 200 players in the nation, including both of FSU’s commits last week. Defensive lineman Kevin Wynn, out of Greensboro, Ga., picked the Noles after taking official visits to Georgia, South Carolina, Texas and, most recently, Florida State. Wide receiver CJ Wiley, out of Alpharetta, Ga., picked the Seminoles over Georgia and LSU )where his father, Chuck, played) after visiting both schools earlier this month. Wynn’s hometown is about 45 minutes from Athens, Ga. Wiley is an hour and a half away. These were two massive pickups for coach Mike Norvell.

Georgia Tech

How about the Yellow Jackets? Georgia Tech picked up 16 commits in June after entering the month with just three players in its class. Nothing was more impressive, though, than securing a commitment from four-star prospect Dalen Penson, ranked No. 148 nationally and the No. 18 cornerback, out of Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Ga. Penson joins interior offensive lineman Justin Hasenhuetl as the two blue-chippers in the Jackets’ 2025 class. And both are in-state prospects.

BOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!! FIFTH COMMITMENT OF THE DAY!!! Georgia Tech has landed 4 ⭐️ ‘25 DB Dalen Penson out of Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Georgia!

The 5’10” 165 lb. corner was the 2023 Georgia Region 5-AAA Athlete of the Year!

Welcome to The Flats, @dalenpenson! pic.twitter.com/WHrmMy4sMO

— Georgia Tech Coverage (@gtcoverage) June 10, 2024

Louisville

Louisville picked up five commits this month, but the Cardinals have yet to have their breakthrough with this class. Only one of their 10 total commitments is ranked in the top 700 and none are blue-chippers. Coach Jeff Brohm has had plenty of success in the transfer portal and has proven he can develop talent, so it might not be time to panic. But it’s hard to reconcile that the same team that played for an ACC championship just six months ago has the league’s third-lowest average player rating at the moment. The Cardinals are ahead of only Cal and Boston College.

Miami

Mario Cristobal is one of the elite recruiters in college football, but it feels like the Hurricanes are still waiting to make their big splash with this class. Miami landed five prospects this month, but only one (four-star cornerback Amari Wallace) is a blue-chipper. Whereas FSU has two of the top five in-state prospects committed, Miami has just one of the top 20. We can expect Cristobal to make some big moves late in the cycle, but it feels like the Hurricanes could have made more headway in the ever-important month of June. It will be fascinating to see if more commitments are coming this summer or if top prospects are in wait-and-see mode to see how Miami fares on the field first.

North Carolina

It has been a quiet month for North Carolina. The Tar Heels’ most recent commitments occurred in April, from four-star edge Austin Alexander, three-star safety Javion Butts, three-star edge Anthony Kruah and three-star defensive lineman Devin Ancrum. Interestingly, the Tar Heels have more commits from Georgia (five) than North Carolina (two). It’s smart to make inroads in the talent-rich Peach State, but the Tar Heels’ pitch has revolved around keeping top in-state talent home. So far, UNC has just one top-10 in-state player committed, four-star quarterback Bryce Baker.

NC State

The Wolfpack have 11 total prospects in their 2025 class, and none are ranked in the top 600. That’s a problem, in terms of optics and momentum. But Dave Doeren and his staff are in the mix for four-star cornerback Jontae Gilbert, who would add instant credibility to this class should he pick the Wolfpack. Gilbert, an Atlanta native, is the nation’s No. 124 prospect and No. 14 cornerback. He visited NC State officially over the weekend and has the Wolfpack in his top five alongside Georgia, Georgia Tech, Louisville and UCF. He is scheduled to announce in August.

Pittsburgh

Recruiting has changed more than ever in the world of name, image and likeness, but relationships still matter. Pitt experienced that first-hand on Wednesday morning when the Panthers landed a commitment from four-star cornerback Mason Alexander, now the headliner of their class. Pitt was the first program to offer Alexander in April of last year, and he committed this week as the nation’s No. 298 prospect and No. 29 cornerback. That said, the Panthers need more of this if they’re going to build back up after winning just three games a season ago. Alexander is the only blue-chipper in the 15-member class.

100% COMMITTED @CoachDuzzPittFB @ARCHIECOLLINS_ @coachcsanders #RIPPops #HailToPitt #H2P pic.twitter.com/iLFfFFLZMw

— Mason “Money Man” Alexander (@MAlexander_15) June 26, 2024

Syracuse

Seven months into his new job, Fran Brown has to be getting close to putting the finishing touches on his first full recruiting class. The Orange already have 25 commits, the second-most nationally behind Rutgers’ 28. Of those 25 pledges, eight are from New York, four are from Pennsylvania and two are from Connecticut as Brown looks to make Syracuse a premier destination for talent in the Northeast. But only one is a blue-chipper, four-star edge Sharlandiin Strange. Brown comes from Georgia, where he learned under Kirby Smart. This is a good start, but it stands to reason he won’t be satisfied until landing blue-chippers is a rite of passage and not a pleasant surprise.

Stanford

It’s been seven years since Stanford signed a five-star prospect, and it’s a testament to coach Troy Taylor as a recruiter that the Cardinal are even in contention for one in this class after winning three games in each of the past three seasons. Five-star offensive lineman Andrew Babalola spent time with Andrew Luck and Condoleezza Rice during his official visit earlier this month and is eyeing a decision before his senior season starts. The Cardinal will have to beat out Auburn, Michigan, Oklahoma and Missouri for his services, but should Stanford pull this off, it’d have to be the biggest recruiting win of Taylor’s career.

SMU

SMU is in search of a 2025 quarterback now that Keelon Russell has flipped to Alabama, and on Monday, the Mustangs offered Sagapolutele, the Hawaii native who starred at the Elite 11. There figures to be a lot of competition for Sagapolutele, who recently visited Cal and is likely to land more offers in the coming weeks. If the Mustangs can’t land him, it will be interesting to see if coach Rhett Lashlee and his staff try to sign a developmental quarterback in this cycle or if they use the transfer portal and set their sights on the Class of 2026. All but three of the top 50 quarterbacks in the 2025 class are off the board.

Virginia

Virginia is on pace to finish with its highest average player rating since the Class of 2021. The Cavaliers’ current average of 86.19 is right on par with Syracuse (86.23), Duke (86.26), Pitt (86.30) and Wake Forest (86.27) and is higher than Boston College, Cal and Louisville, despite the Cavaliers finishing with a 3-9 record in 2023. This won’t be a flashy class nationally, or in the ACC, but it’s encouraging to see the Cavaliers show signs of progress.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech doubled its class size this month, from five commits to 10, but only one of the new pledges is a top-450 prospect: three-star defensive lineman Christian Evans. Virginia Tech had a winning season in 2023 for the first time since 2019, but the Hokies may have to show more on the field before they can start dominating the state in recruiting like they did in the Frank Beamer days. Right now, there are too many other options including Clemson, South Carolina, Penn State and the triangle schools in North Carolina. Clemson has commitments from the top two players in Virginia while South Carolina has secured the No. 4 player. The Hokies have a pledge from only one of the top 10 players in the state: four-star linebacker Brett Clatterbaugh (No. 8).

Wake Forest

The Demon Deacons got some bad news this month when three-star wide receiver Teriq Mallory decommitted and committed to West Virginia and three-star quarterback Cutter Woods flipped to South Carolina. Woods is the second 2025 quarterback to cycle through the Demon Deacons’ class; Florida native Locklan Hewlett decommitted in April and is now part of South Florida’s class. Wake Forest picked up just one prospect during June in unranked wide receiver Bryce Kania. A reset coming out of the dead period might be just what the Demon Deacons need.

(Photo of Dabo Swinney: Ken Ruinard / USA Today)

Grace Raynor is a staff writer for The Athletic covering recruiting and southeastern college football. A native of western North Carolina, she graduated from the University of North Carolina. Follow Grace on Twitter @gmraynor