Man, this recruitment is nuts. The back and forth, the analyst buzz, the speculation, the prognostications. It's all over the place.
On Saturday night, though, we'll have a little clarity. At least for now. Calvin Russell lll, a long-time Syracuse football priority target, is expected to announce his college decision around 9 pm.
That being said, even if the Orange's name isn't called on Saturday evening, amid Russell's birthday party, I'd wager that head coach Fran Brown and his top-flight staff will continue to pursue the elite 2026 five-star wide receiver and top-25 national prospect.
Russell, per a graphic for his birthday party and commitment announcement, has whittled down his list to Syracuse football, Oregon, Florida State and Michigan. I've been told that at this juncture, his recruitment likely boils down to the Orange and the Wolverines.
The latest piece from top expert Steve Wiltfong, who is vice president of national college football recruiting and the transfer portal at On3/Rivals, reads: "Source: 'My gut says Michigan' for five-star target."
Take it for what it's worth, my friends.
Syracuse football will know where it stands with 5-star WR Calvin Russell lll.
When I wrote this article, I didn't see any analyst predictions for Russell on 247Sports. There's one projection in Michigan's direction for him via On3/Rivals, but it's not from Wiltfong.
Coming off his recent official visit to the Wolverines, before the dead period in college football recruiting hit, Michigan appeared to pick up a lot of steam with Russell, who won a state title as a junior at Northwestern Senior High School, an excellent program that the 'Cuse staff recruits extremely hard these days.
Russell, who wants to play hoops in college as well, holds a scholarship offer from Syracuse basketball, too. My take is this: Brown has likely forged the strongest relationship with Russell, and basically the entire Orange staff is recruiting him hard.
On the flip side, while I've heard that Syracuse's NIL is competitive for Russell, to think that the Orange could outbid Michigan is unrealistic. Also, while the 'Cuse was 10-3 a season ago, Michigan plays in the Big Ten Conference, one of the top two leagues for college football along with the Southeastern Conference.
Two terms ago, the Wolverines won a national championship. So one could argue, reasonably, that Russell would be playing on a bigger stage at Michigan than on the Hill.
If I hear any more chatter throughout the day, I'll share. We'll, of course, have coverage, too, following Russell's announcement.