Currently sitting at No. 8 nationally in 247Sports' rankings for the recruiting class of 2026, the Oregon Ducks are battling it out to land the top athletes in the nation. As of Friday, the Ducks have eight commitments, with two five-stars and three four-stars. However, it looks like the USC Trojans might be getting an upper hand on another five-star recruit.
California cornerback recruit Brandon Arrington is currently building a tighter relationship with the Trojans, according to On3 Sports' recruiting expert Chad Simmons.
According to Simmons, USC coach Lincoln Riley and crew have made an extra effort to keep California talent in the state, therefore heavily pursuing Arrington. Arrington had an unofficial visit with the Trojans on March 25, his first since getting an offer on May 21, 2024.
“Yeah, we want to get California kids,” Riley said when discussing recruitment in 2023. “We want to get local kids. We want them to be the right kids, the right kind of kids, right kind of students, right kind of players that fit within what we’re building. Not ones that go against the grain of what we’re building.”
“I feel good about USC,” Arrington said to On3 Sports about his most recent visit. “I feel like they’re going in the right direction and it’s going to be something special these next few years.”
All love at SC ❤️✌ pic.twitter.com/W9unGBVkbC
— Brandon “Dash”Arrington jr 5 (@brandonjubie2) March 27, 2025
Arrington has another visit scheduled with the Trojans for June 17. Before then, Arrington will visit Penn State (May 2), Texas A&M (June 5), and Oregon (June 13). Arrington has already made a visit to Eugene, visiting the facilities for Junior Day in January of this year. He's also gone to Georgia and Alabama for unofficial visits.
According to Simmons, Texas A&M is also a factor the Ducks should watch out for when it comes to Arrington's recruitment. The Aggies were "setting the pace" for Arrington's recruitment during the season, with the athlete visiting College Station for his first unofficial visit at the start of the 2024 season on August 31.
However, the Ducks aren't out for Arrington, as he's applauded Oregon coach Dan Lanning many times in the past, as well as stating that to him, Oregon has "stuff that many people don't have."
Legendary part 2 pic.twitter.com/raf0Wz7Yss
— Brandon “Dash”Arrington jr 5 (@brandonjubie2) March 30, 2025
During his busy schedule of football visits, Arrington is also showing his versatility on the track, with Arrington achieving the San Diego Section record and the No. 2 all-time state record for a 20.37 time in the 200-meter race.
With his intense speed, athletic frame to add weight, and improvement on zeroing in on passes and the transition to run, Arrington could add some essential talent to a cornerback room with several veteran athletes that have departed from the Ducks as of late.
"Can run more than just go routes and has improved as a route runner and in his ability to set up an opposing corner," 247 Sports National Recruiting Analyst Greg Biggins said of Arrington. "The speed definitely shows up on the football field and he’s explosive enough to out-run the angle and get behind a defense. Shows toughness going over the middle and doesn’t shy away from contact. Has upside as a long cover corner as well but upside is probably highest as a receiver and his ceiling is as high as any skill player in the Region."
More must-reads:
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!
Archie Wilson came all the way from Australia to play football at Nebraska, and the freshman punter is admittedly feeling a bit homesick. Wilson recently enrolled at Nebraska after growing up in Victoria, Australia, and playing a different brand of football. The 18-year-old spoke with the media for the first time on Tuesday, and he was asked about his family back home. Wilson became overwhelmed with emotion. "I love them a lot. I've got two little brothers and my mom and dad ... yeah, that's the tough part about being here," Wilson said. "I love them a lot, but they know this is what's best for me, and it's good I can still talk to them plenty over the phone, and they're coming here to see the first few games, so I'm looking forward to that." Wilson is a rugby-style punter who trained at Prokick Australia, which is a program that trains Australian athletes to become punters and kickers in American football. Several current NFL players and Division I student-athletes came from Australia and trained with Prokick. Nebraska will have a new starting punter this season after three-year starter Brian Buschini graduated, and Wilson is competing for the job.
A Minnesota Vikings wide receiver's season is already over. The Minnesota Vikings announced on Tuesday that wide receiver Rondale Moore is being placed on season-ending injured reserve due to a leg injury that he suffered in the team's first preseason game against the Houston Texans this past weekend. It is a devastating blow for Moore, who is now being sidelined for an entire season, before it even begins, for the second year in a row. Moore signed a one-year, $2 million contract in free agency with the Vikings this offseason in the hopes he could return from a different injury that cost him the entirety of the 2024 season. Moore was a member of the Atlanta Falcons in 2024 after being acquired in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for backup quarterback Desmond Ridder. This is now two different teams that Moore has been a part of, but will never play a game for them due to injuries. Moore was injured while returning a punt. He began his career with the Arizona Cardinals, catching 135 passes for 1,201 yards over three seasons before being traded. He was never going to be counted on to be a key contributor for the Vikings offense this season, especially given the superstars they already have at wide receiver in Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, but he still had a chance to be an interesting depth player. Now it is fair to wonder what the rest of his career might even look like. Missing two full seasons due to two different leg injuries is going to be a brutal thing to try to come back from. Missing two seasons for any reason is difficult, but when you add the leg injuries to the equation, it makes the obstacle even steeper.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has been named in a lawsuit that was filed in Hawaii on Friday. Ohtani and his agent, Nez Balelo, are being sued by a real estate investor and a broker in Hawaii who have accused Ohtani and Balelo of sabotaging a $240M real estate deal for a development on the Big Island. According to court documents that were obtained by Jimmy Golen of The Associated Press, real estate developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and real estate broker Tomoko Matsumoto say Ohtani and Balelo deliberately had them removed from the project “for no reason other than their own financial self-interest.” The lawsuit claims Ohtani was brought into the deal for his promotional value and that he and his agent pushed the founders of the project out using “threats and baseless legal claims.” “Defendants must be held accountable for their actions, not shielded by fame or behind-the-scenes agents acting with impunity,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiffs bring this suit to expose Defendants’ misconduct and to ensure that the rules of contract, fair dealing, and accountability apply equally to all — celebrity or not.” Hayes and Matsumoto have also accused Ohtani and Balelo of trying to push them out of a similar neighboring development project. The $240M Big Island development is located along Hapuna Beach, which is rated one of the top beaches in the world. Matsumoto was supposed to be the listing agent for the properties, which average more than $17.3M each. A brochure for the project stated that Ohtani, who was called “Japan’s Babe Ruth” has committed to buying one of the 14 properties and acting as a “celebrity spokesperson” for the development. Ohtani signed a 10-year, $700M contract with the Dodgers prior to the 2024 season. The two-way star is having another monster year with a .284 average, 42 home runs, 78 RBI and a 1.013 OPS entering Tuesday. Ohtani has also returned to pitching this season and has a 2.37 ERA across 19 innings. Ohtani was also connected to a massive gambling scandal last year, though Major League Baseball determined that the 31-year-old was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell thinks he set his team up for failure last season with the messages he sent. The Lions won the NFC North and the top overall seed in the NFC Playoffs by going 15-2, but lost in their first playoff game to the Washington Commanders. In a new interview with WXYZ in Detroit, Campbell confessed that he thinks his messaging led the Lions to get too complacent after achieving the goal of securing the No. 1 seed. “There was a little part of me last year, I’m like, Man, did I put such an emphasis on the one-seed, playing at home, all these things that it was almost like — the set of circumstances, we had a bunch of injuries — that it was like, [sigh]. We took a deep breath,” Campbell said. “And then it was like, ‘Oh man, we reached one of those goals,’ but the ultimate goal is the Super Bowl.” “So I just, in my own head, did I set us up for failure by the way that I spoke about it? I think about little things like that. Whereas, you know what? We didn’t lose on the road last year. What if we had gone on the road?” Campbell is quick to take responsibility when his team loses, but last year’s playoff exit was particularly shocking. The Minnesota Vikings pushed them all the way to Week 18, giving them no real opportunity to exhale. Their playoff bye may have given them an opportunity to do that when they shouldn’t have. Of course, Campbell was plenty confident in his team heading into the playoffs. Still, the messaging will clearly be different in Detroit this season.