Official visits have begun, and June — one of the most important months on the recruiting calendar — is just around the corner. With schools having wrapped up their 2026 classes in February, it’s full steam ahead for the Class of 2027, which is headlined by five-star Texas Tech defensive line commit Jalen Brewster and five-star corner John Meredith III out of Fort Worth, Texas.

Let’s dive into what’s going on for prospects and schools alike.

Note: All rankings are from the 247Sports Composite.

Notre Dame’s South Florida push

Fernando Mendoza just made history, becoming the first South Florida high school product since Tucker Frederickson in 1965 to be selected first overall in the NFL Draft.

Still, it’s hardly a secret that Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties produce elite college football recruits every year.

What does change year to year — in part because of staff changes across the sport — is which programs make the area a priority in their recruiting efforts. Notre Dame, clearly, is one of those programs of late.

This week, the Irish landed commitments from two South Florida recruits in the 2027 cycle: four-star safety Zayden Gamble of St. Thomas Aquinas and three-star safety John Gay of Chaminade-Madonna.

“We actually had Marcus Freeman down for the first time at our school in January,” said West Boca coach Dylan Potts, whose team has won back-to-back Class 6A state championships. “Obviously, (running backs coach) Ja’Juan Seider came over from Penn State last year, and he’s a Glades Central alumnus who has always recruited South Florida hard. So, they’re getting a little more active down here for sure.”

Potts said Notre Dame heavily pursued West Boca 2026 four-star running back Javian Mallory, but he ended up signing with Miami.

The Irish remain heavily invested in other South Florida-area targets, including 2027 four-star receiver Julius Jones from Aquinas, whose father was a running back at Notre Dame in the early 2000s.

Another big South Florida target for the Irish: 2028 four-star quarterback Neimann Lawrence of Plantation American Heritage.

“Marcus and I have talked in the past, but he’d never been here before January, at least since I’ve been the head coach,” American Heritage coach Mike Smith said. “He said he hadn’t been here to visit since he was coaching at Cincinnati.”

Notre Dame signed four players from the Sunshine State in the 2026 cycle, but none were from South Florida. The Irish’s last signee from South Florida was 2025 three-star defensive lineman Davion Dixon from Miami Palmetto.

2028 QB Niemann Lawrence shows nice touch on this TD pass to 2028 WR Eric McFarland @NEIMANLAWRENCE1 @cantguarderic @SouthFLExpress @IMGAFootball @mnw_fb pic.twitter.com/YAMi7JuiF4

— Jon Santucci (@JonSantucci) June 28, 2025

Quarterbacks to watch

The top-rated quarterbacks will always get the most flash, but if you’re looking for a few under-the-radar prospects to follow, allow the experts to guide you.

One Big Ten personnel staffer pointed to Marquise Reese out of Littleton, Colo. He has no ranking in the 247Sports Composite and just five Division I offers, but FCS powerhouse North Dakota State — which levels up to the FBS and the Mountain West Conference in July — entered the mix with an offer on April 17.

A Big 12 personnel staffer offered three names to watch, as well.

“The Buck Randall kid … if he was 6-foot-1, 6-feet, he would have so much more than he does,” the staffer said of the 5-foot-11 unranked Dallas native. “I feel like he’s kind of an under-the-radar guy that could have a big senior year, maybe goes (Group of 6) and lights it up and makes the jump at some point.

“I really like (Arizona State commit) Weston Nielsen. He’s a good one. And then (Oklahoma State) commit Carson White, he’s another solid player. … Both those guys are very different, but both are talented in their own right.”

Life without the spring portal window

The elimination of the spring transfer portal window has been well-received by the vast majority of college football staffers.

“It’s so much nicer,” an ACC personnel staffer said. “We were able to plan out the spring eval period much, much better. Just go and use our 140 eval days and make sure we’re hitting on all cylinders (for the 2027 recruiting cycle). Honestly, it’s much easier and much easier to plan, and we’ll be a lot cleaner and more efficient with our time.”

A Group of 6 staffer said he used the spring to self-scout his operation.

“What was our process? How do we feel we did? Did we really do the best we could have? What processes would have or could have been better if we implemented this or that?”

He also said it’s taken him some time to get used to the changes.

“There’s times I’m out there at practice — and I don’t know if you’re a ‘Talladega Nights’ fan — but I’m like Ricky Bobby. ‘I don’t know what to do with my hands right now.’ I’m supposed to be sitting here prepping and getting ready for these next guys to fill out this roster.”

Everyone agrees that the change has allowed schools to spend more time with the prospects in the Class of 2027 and beyond.

“I wouldn’t say that the portal hindered our ability to evaluate (high school recruits), but we can actually just spend a little more time doing it,” said a Big 12 staffer. “For us, when we get them on campus, we’re able to sit down with them, we’re having meetings with them, there’s a little bit more of a mental evaluation, I guess. We’re going to kind of get to that regardless. So I don’t know if the portal really affects the scouting aspect of high school kids.”

Kentucky’s fast start

New Kentucky coach Will Stein is off to a strong start on the recruiting trail, with a class that currently ranks No. 10 nationally. Stein is back in his home state to lead the Wildcats after spending three seasons as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and it’s obvious he picked up a thing or two from Dan Lanning about how to recruit aggressively.

The Wildcats have 12 commits, none more important than four-star quarterback Jake Nawrot, ranked No. 62 overall and the No. 5 quarterback in the Class of 2027. Should he sign with UK in December, which is the plan, he’d become the program’s highest-rated quarterback of the modern recruiting era.

“Having coach Stein come from Oregon, having (offensive coordinator) coach (Joe) Sloan come from LSU and (quarterbacks coach) (Nate) Dodson from Colorado, I knew I’d have good coaches in my room to help me,” Nawrot said. “I know that they’re changing (Kentucky) so that it can be a football school now. They’re changing everything — they’re giving guys money, they’re recruiting well. I think Kentucky could be up on the uprise.”

Nawrot, who chose Kentucky over Oregon, Kansas State, Iowa, Florida State, Northwestern and others, said he didn’t make his decision until about 30 minutes before issuing his commitment. He picked the Wildcats in part based on a gut feeling, but he also realized he would have been upset if another QB committed to Kentucky. Quarterback spots are filling up quickly, with 21 of the top 25 QB prospects already committed, and Nawrot knew the sooner he decided to lock down a spot, the sooner he could start helping his team of choice recruit talent around him.

Stein’s track record with Bo Nix, Dillon Gabriel and, most recently, Dante Moore also played a major role.

“(Coach Stein) is great. I think he’s very focused right now, and I think he’s just really invested in what he’s doing,” Nawrot said. “He gets these players better, gets the right guys around and just develops.”