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Photo of Huntington Beach QB Brady Edmunds - Ohio State-Commit
THE HEADLINERS: Where California's top high school football prospects are committed
Football recruiting season is in top form for elite talent in California from the Class of 2027. Of the top 30 recruits, according to 247Sports, 22 have already committed to colleges, a rather staggering amount. Also 33 of the top 50 and 52 out of the top 100.
The contact May period is almost done and winds down May 23 — it started April 15 with college coaches allowed to make in-person, off-campus recruiting contacts and evaluations at high schools on recruit’s home.
That is why we’ve seen such an uptick of camps at high schools, most recently at nationally recognized type programs as St. John Bosco-Bellflower (May 13) and Serra-San Mateo/De La Salle-Concord (May 11).
A new trend of California colleges taking over the recruiting market has transpired thus far with USC (9), UCLA (9) and Cal (7) dominating the top commits from the Top 100 thus far with nearly exactly half (25) of the 52. Many top recruits in recent years have opted out of state, but not this class.
Washington (6) has secured the next most followed by Oklahoma (4) and Arizona State and Kansas with two each. The rest of the colleges have only one commit thus far: Miami, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Oregon, BYU, San Diego State, Fresno State, Michigan, Arizona, Sacramento State, Oregon State, North Carolina and Washington State.
Of those only three are California schools — all state schools: Sacramento, San Diego and Fresno — and perhaps most notably former Pac-12 schools Oregon, Arizona State and Arizona have combined to nab just four of these gems. Oregon, for instance, nabbed eight of California’s top recruits from the Class of 2026.
Here is a look at the Top 20 California recruits who have committed.
STATE RANKING (247SPORTS), NAME, SIZE, POSITION, HS, COLLEGE
1. Donte Wright (6-1, 170), cornerback, Long Beach Poly, Miami
2. Honor Fa’alave-Johnson (6-1, 190), athlete, Cathedral Catholic, USC
4. Quentin Hale (6-3, 192), wide receiver, Corona Centennial, USC
5. Myels Smith (6-3, 295), defensive lineman, Inglewood, Texas A&M
6. Danny Lang (5-11½, 160), cornerback, Mater Dei, USC
8. Taven Epps (6-3½, 226), linebacker, Tustin, Oklahoma
9. Drew Fielder (6-6, 280), offensive tackle, Servite, USC
10. Gavin Williams (6-1, 185), safety, Damien, USC
11. JuJu Johnson (5-11, 170), cornerback, Long Beach Poly, UCLA
12. Jon Ioane (6-3, 295), athlete, Tustin, Washington
14. Troy Bowens (6-4, 250), defensive lineman, Sutter, Cal
15. Nicol Bland (6-1, 185), wide receiver, Orange Lutheran, ASU
16. Khalil Terry (5-11, 185), safety, Tustin, UCLA
17. Alifeleti Tuihalamaka (6-4, 260), DL, Oaks Christian, USC
18. Myles Baker (6-1, 185), safety, Sierra Canyon, Cal
19. Charles Davis (6-5, 200), tight end, Westlake, Cal
21. Pole Moala (6-0, 185), safety, Leuzinger, UCLA
23. Demare Dezeurn (5-10, 170), wide receiver, Westlake, Oklahoma
24. Brady Edmunds (6-5, 220), quarterback, Huntington Beach, Ohio State
26. Elija Harmon (6-3, 280), defensive lineman, Inglewood, Oklahoma
Noteworthy
- This top list is normally dominated by St. John Bosco, Mater Dei and Corona Centennial, but curiously boasts only two — Mater Dei’s Lange and Centennial’s Hale.
- Instead, Tustin (3), Inglewood (2), Westlake (2), Long Beach Poly (2) have multiple 4-star recruits
- Only one quarterback on the list — Edmunds — and he’s headed out of state
- Of USC’s nine of the top 100, five are on the Top 10
- Seven of the 20 are defensive backs, another unusually high number
RECRUIT SCOOP: 2028 Tomball RB Ian Thomas talks about his rise to National Recruit
2028 Tomball running back Ian Thomas is coming off a breakout sophomore year in 2025 where he rushed 203 times for 1,523 yards with 20 rushing touchdowns while also having 212 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.
His play on the field led to Thomas being ranked as the number 39 player overall in the class of 2028, the number five player in Texas and the number one running back in the country according to 247Sports.
Thomas had received word that he was going to be ranked in the new updated rankings but was not expecting to see himself being the number one running back in the country.
"I had gotten a text about the rankings coming out and I went to go check 247 and saw that I was ranked number one in Texas for running backs but when I clicked all states I realized I was number one in the country in 2028 which was pretty cool," Thomas said. "I haven't always been ranked that high so it was a pretty amazing experience."
The rising junior has seen his recruitment take off following the release of the rankings picking up 13 offers from division one programs from across the country.
"It's been a little crazy and a little fun because I've never really received this kind of attention before," he said. "It's a lot going on right now but a lot of fun as well."
One offer Thomas received this spring was from Texas A&M, a school the star running back is pretty familiar with as his father Rodney Thomas was a star for the Aggies back in the 90's.
"It meant a great deal to me because my Dad was a big part of Texas A&M," Thomas said. "It just really means a lot to me to get the offer from that school specifically."
Thomas will have a busy summer prior to his big junior season as he plans to take trips to Texas, Georgia, Wisconsin among others.
As far as his junior season, the Tomball running back has big goals for himself and for his team this upcoming fall.
"I want to be able to rush for over 2,000 yards this year, that's a big goal for me," he said. "Also just becoming a better leader this year as I'm an upper-classman now."