{"id":680342,"date":"2026-06-02T18:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680342\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T18:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T18:58:10","slug":"fresh-off-official-visit-to-texas-am-4-star-edge-frederick-ards-iii-commits-to-the-aggies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/680342\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresh off official visit to Texas A&M, 4-star EDGE Frederick Ards III commits to the Aggies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas A&M<\/a> didn\u2019t need any more time.<\/p>\n

And neither did Frederick Ards III<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The four-star EDGE from Orlando (Fla.) Jones<\/a> took his official visit to College Station over the weekend and left knowing exactly where he wanted to play his college football.<\/p>\n

Ards, the No. 62 prospect in the Rivals300<\/a>, has committed to Mike Elko<\/a> and the Aggies, shutting down a recruitment that included Alabama<\/a>, Florida<\/a>, South Carolina<\/a> and several other national powers.<\/p>\n

The 6-foot-3.5, 220-pound pass rusher entered the official visit with Texas A&M already sitting near the top of his list. The plan was to finish the process, take additional official visits and continue evaluating his options.<\/p>\n

[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]<\/a><\/p>\n

That changed quickly.<\/p>\n

There will be no trip to Alabama. No official visit to Florida.<\/p>\n

After spending the weekend in College Station, Ards made his decision. That feeling of being a priority ultimately separated the Aggies from the rest of the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cI built close connections with the coaching staff, and I could honestly see myself succeeding on and off the field at Texas A&M,\u201d Ards told Rivals. \u201cThey\u2019ve always wanted me. They\u2019ve made me a strong priority. I felt wanted by the A&M staff. That was always the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

That feeling of being a priority ultimately separated the Aggies from the field. <\/p>\n

South Carolina made a strong push this spring and gave Ards plenty to think about. Alabama and Florida remained major contenders throughout the process as well.<\/p>\n

In the end, Texas A&M\u2019s consistency won out.<\/p>\n

A major reason was the relationship with defensive line coach Elijah Robinson<\/a>. He has known him since his time at Syracuse. <\/p>\n

\u201cRelationship I\u2019ve built with coach E. Before he was at Texas A&M, he was at Syracuse. Just brought it over to Texas A&M. Getting to know the whole staff and build a relationship with them. A&M is just really high in my recruitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many other coaches were involved too, including Mike Elko<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI like the defense under Coach Elko. He is a defensive freak. like what he\u2019s building as a program. The way they recruit and the team they are building has had my attention for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message from the staff never changed throughout the recruiting process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey keep everything real with me,\u201d Ards said. \u201cThe staff has always been real. They are honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ards becomes commitment No. 17 for the Aggies, who currently boast the nation\u2019s No. 1 recruiting class<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the momentum may not be slowing down anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Texas A&M continues to trend for several other high-profile targets as Elko and his staff build one of the most impressive classes in the country.<\/p>\n

Now Ards is officially part of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Texas A&M didn\u2019t need any more time. And neither did Frederick Ards III. The four-star EDGE from Orlando…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":680343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[622,399,260378,296384,398,396,397,99],"class_list":["post-680342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ncaa-football","tag-fl","tag-football","tag-frederick-ards-iii-27-jones","tag-jones-tigers-orlando","tag-ncaa","tag-ncaa-football","tag-ncaafootball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=680342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/680342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/680343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=680342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=680342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=680342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}