College Football Recruiting Show: 5-Star TE Linkon Cure Commits LIVE! | Future 50 Event Recap

e [Music] welcome in to the college fo footb recruiting show alongside Blair and gulo I am Emily proud a reminder as I always do at the beginning of the show to hit that like button and make sure that you are subscribed we have an absolutely Loaded show today we are so excited to bring you the live commitment of five- star tight end Lincoln cure he is ready to go as are we but we have some business to take care of first Blair I want to ask you first off about the situation at Utah I find this extremely interesting you've got the defensive coordinator Morgan scaly already being named the head coach in waiting for when Kyle Whittingham eventually hanging up his whatever proverbial coaching cleats uh what impact does this potentially have on recruiting when you already have a head coach in waiting it brings a lot of stability to those recruiting efforts Morgan scall has been there for a long time he played at Utah in the early 2000s and Kyle Whittingham has become an institution in Salt Lake City he's been the head coach since 2005 so this will be his 20th season at the helm for the youths and when recruits are wondering what the future of the program is going to look like without without K Whittingham it's really important for them to get out in front of it and say hey Morgan scall is going to be our our next head coach it brings stability to really a program that has been built on stability talk about stability Kyle Whittingham entering his 20th season at the helm again no signs of slowing down this is just if and when the 64-year-old plans to retire that is just something that we wanted to begin the show with I'm curious from your perspective um as somebody that covers a lot of things happening in the state of Utah but Blair we had so many commitments happen over the weekend so let's go ahead and hit you with some headlines we call it commit HQ and man that was running this weekend let's start with four-star linebacker Noah Mel the Bonita backer joining a top 10 agies class Blair what does this addition mean for Mike elco's 2025 Hall it's really significant Emily it's a recruiting win because they were up against Oregon and USC A&M now has three of the top four commitments on their list from Southern California Mike Elco is doing a great job of of really attacking an area of need and Mel is a gifted linebacker he should be able to make a ton of plays in that A&M defense elsewhere how about those TPS Mike Loxley Landing his highest ranked quarterback commit at Maryland when Elite 11 QB Malik Washington picking his home State team it's hard to truly understate what this means for Maryland but Blair how did Loxley we'll say lock it up the relationship was really important here Emily Malik Washington actually told us at the Elite 11 finals a couple weeks ago that Maryland never pressured him into committing early that really resonated with him it showed him that they were invested in him as a recruit and it's paid off now that Malik Washington readies himself to recruit for Maryland elsewhere in the top 247 the number five tight end in the 2025 class danan bra committing to Oregon the Kansas product joins a top five Ducks class and brings what to it Blair one of my favorite players that I was able to watch in person this offseason tremendous physical ability at the position of Need for Oregon which hasn't signed a top 247 tight end since the 2021 class when the DX Ducks landed to that cycle bra is big he's athletic he's a great pass catcher and a player I could see making a huge impact from day one in Eugene we got another one top 40 Prospect dejon Lee committing to Alabama over the weekend the Mission Vio quarterback cornerback locked it in with the tide what does this addition mean for what Caitlin dbor is trying to do Bama now has its Cornerstone defensive back in this class A Long 64 190lb corner with really good ball skills I think the upside is through the roof here and we might be looking at a future all SEC type of impact with dejon Lee and Emily they call him mustard so already one of the better nicknames on that roster love it all right happening this afternoon top 247 Edge Smith rugo committing to Texas over just official today SEC rival Oklahoma and breaking just now zerus rainy Sal a former or a current Force star linebacker has officially committed to Washington he is the top ranked player in the state and plans to suit up for the hometown Huskies let's welcome in now our national recruiting analyst Brandon Huffman and director of scouting Andrew Ivans we're going to do a little uh future 50 recap but add in some recruiting Intel but before we get into all of that Huff your reaction initially to zus rainy Sol and just the overall chaos that the month of June and now as we entered July has brought in term of commitments oh sounds like we are having some audio issues with Brandon Huffman so uh we'll go to Andrew Ivans on this one you've been tracking just the chaos that we've seen all the commitments the rankings have been moving up and down this month what's your reaction to everything we've seen well Emily I was scared that was my computer and uh I hear what Huffman had to say no look this has kind of turned into commitment season uh in July 4th specifically so the past couple of Cycles that's really when kids have made decisions now that summer official visits are a thing and really for me what I've been keeping my eye on is you know the jockeying in the team rankings it seems like there's a handful of schools that are going to have a chance at the number one rank class but a lot of coaching staffs they're done with the visits they're heading off to vacation and before they do that before they start preseason camp they want to lock in as many of of these guys as they can so we've seen a ton of big names come off the board the past few days we saw this past weekend you guys just rattled through them we're going to have more here um in the coming days and really in the coming weeks and I think we're going to enter August and we're going to have a good idea all right who has the top recruiting class in the country and then you know what are those other schools that have made Moves In the team rankings I mean recruiting is so hot that it's frying the audio on my microphone and that's what we have going for us right now there's just so much action going on we can't even remember to hit mute or unmute but with Randy s's commitment I mean that's a big pick up for Jed fish he wanted to start to make a big presence in the state of Washington he was able to get the number two player and the number four player a week ago but today to get the number one player if you guys remember he announced on our show back on the day of the national championship game chose the Huskies and then four days later kayin debor left for Alabama he almost committed to Florida State a few days before that at the All-American Bowl but ultimately picked Washington and now he comes all the way back and stays home to go to the Huskies and I think you're going to see you know a lot of these guys that are still available not be as loyal to the soil as Washington fans like to to say there's a couple other guys that are coming off the board here in the next couple of days Marco Jones out of the bay are will announce on Tuesday Caleb Edwards the number one offensive recruit in Northern California also announcing on Tuesday SEC schools are leading for it so we're seeing as conferences are falling apart in these last couple of days some conferences are coming to an end other conferen are expanding those new conferences and those new schools in those conferences might be seeing some players outside their normal footprint calling that school home Andrew you heard Huff there mention Caleb Edwards the big tight end from Northern California as well as Marco Jones a four-star Edge hybrid linebacker that we really like out here in the Golden State what do you think of those two prospects as recruits and his players well Caleb Edwards I know Huffman over there is a big fan of him a guy we saw at the national combine we've seen him at a ton of events the first thing that stands out about him you said big lirer I mean he is long 6 fo5 235 pounds he's got a monster catch radius what stands out to me about Caleb aside from the size is the fact that he has inline experience as a blocker he's played in an offense that features a ton of 12 and 22 Personnel he can go up and get the football it kind of reminds me a little bit of Los Angeles uh Chargers tied end Donald P Perham who had a basketball back Caleb Edwards another multisport athlete so a lot to like with him Marco Jones he's you know one of the more unique I would say second level Defenders on the west coast he strikes people uh he can play fit into a variety of different roles I think we could deploy him as a situational Edge rusher but overall just a high floor type of prospect someone's going to be getting a guy that's ready to go day one and I think he can do a lot of different things that's why so many different schools are involved he can fit a an odd front an even front uh I just love the motor and how he plays fast like I said he's going to pop people and he's going to roll through his hips so uh someone's going to get someone uh that can make plays in the Box all right let's go ahead and get to some future 50 talk a star studded event this weekend in Florida uh Andrew you were there highly anticipated performance from the number one player in the class of 2026 and that is quarterback fison Brandon how'd he look he looked like the real deal uh I'll say this faas and Brandon that check in I he had his hair back in some in some rows I didn't recognize him at first glance but I was like I want this guy on my team turns out it's the number one player uh in the class of 2026 it was a deep group of quarterbacks you had six seven guys throwing I thought FaZe and Brandon uh during the camp session on Saturday morning he was the most consistent of the bunch I also like what we saw from him on Friday night they did some five on five so it wasn't seven on seven it was five on five flag football that's because they're preparing for the 2028 Olympic Games remember flag football is coming USF USA Football was out there I thought FaZe and Brandon threw an accurate football he took care of it this is what we wanted to see from this guy and we've talked about the athlete in the past he can beat you with his legs you can't really do that in this Camp setting you're not you're not really moving around all that much but I thought it was a solid showing for him what was also notable you know when he checked in all the other quarterbacks that were there and these are some of our top ranked guys you could tell right away they all thought that Brandon was kind of the alpha so really really strong performance of him he's a one-year starter at Grimsley High School but we love his developmental upside what he's going to be I expect a big Junior season from him and he'll enter his Junior season having made a decision he told Anna Adams of 247 Sports last week that he's down to a final Flor that includes Alabama LSU Tennessee and North Carolina State now this is looking like it could be a Tennessee Alabama battle for him for the number one player in the country in the 2026 class and both of those two schools are making a big pitch to get him they both are really trying to push this cycle we're seeing quarterbacks committing earlier and earlier in that 2026 class and so Brandon actually moved up the date of when he was planning to announce he was planning to do it a little bit later in the fall now he'll do it on August 3rd it'll be down to those three SEC schools and the ACC School in NC State but again it's looking more like it might be a top two rather than a top four with Tennessee and Alabama he said he's ready to make a decision he wants to enter his Junior season without any distractions and we'll know where he's heading on August 3rd Andrew when you read the top performers over at 247 Sports from this future 50 event zidan Morgan's another one that Drew a lot of rave reviews what can you tell us about his showing instant eye catcher Saran Morgan was a late arrival uh but you couldn't miss him on Saturday this was a really talented group of pass catchers I think the guys uh that put on the future 50 for Under Armour they did an excellent job of of getting big large athletes guys that can go and get the football to me sedarian Morgan he is super smooth yet he is very explosive we saw him in routes on air he came uh down with anything that really entered his zip code out on the perimeter you know this is a guy that we shot up all the way from unranked to number 20 overall when we expanded that top 247 back in April that's because we lik what we saw from him at an Under Armour camp in Nashville at the time he had just a few scholarship off offers but this is a name that everyone needs to know Alabama leads on the crystal ball Ohio State's involved everyone is going to be after sedarian Morgan and that's because he's a mismatch right catch and run he can do it all I thought it was an encouraging showing for him alongside some of his peers right A lot of these other guys have a ton of hype behind them sedarian Morgan made a name for himself over the weekend and that's a name that Alabama would love to add to the commitment list whether they have to do it a little bit further down the line or whether it can happen sooner rather than later the tie would love to keep keep the instate kid there but they've got to deal with auburn their cross state ironball rival is also in that mix for him Florida state which had Keon Coman last year do really well in that system under Mike norell they're a factor and then Ohio State which has been seemingly picking and choosing who they wanted at receiver over the last seven eight 10 years they're also a factor but Alabama with Jamarcus Shepard you look at the development of Roma dun Jaylen McMillan and Jaylen pul who were all drafted in April with the development that they had under Shephard now he's at Alabama he's got kayin dbor as the head coach there and you've got Nick Sheran who was a part of the Washington offense under with Michael penck there that's attractive to receivers and it's going to be something that with Ohio State and their track record they're going to have competition now with Alabama and then they're not going to want to lose an instate player so right now the tide are doing everything they can to hold on to Morgan and keep him inate for college all right I want to ask about another 2026 five-star jet Washington could be referred to as an athlete I know we use that term in the football sense but man he's also the nephew of Kobe Bryant and is pretty prolific on the basketball court too but Andrew on the field how did he fair this weekend well he had the takeaway of the weekend made a one-handed interception he looked like he climbed an imaginary ladder back there this is a kid that uh weighed in at just over 200 lb you're right we list him as an athlete early on he was kind of identified as a wide receiver but it's clear his ceiling is highest somewhere on defense it could be at safety could be maybe as an overhang linebacker but the way he moves at his size you see it's 6'4 again listed there at 175 he has put on some good weight I think his ability to flow downhill and locate the football is very unique in this class he's a guy that you just want to take him now and figure it out later so jet Washington instant eye-catcher in that DB line really good in the footwork drills on Saturday everyone's going to be after this kid and that's because he's a rare athlete uh and he moves extremely well like I said yeah he mentioned a couple of the schools that are really standing out to him right now Notre Dame Oregon Alabama and Tennessee but it was the school just a couple miles down the road from where his uncle Kobe Bryant starred at the old Staple Center at USC he said he grew up watching USC he's obviously got those ties to Los Angeles with his with his uncle being a local Legend in Los Angeles for his career with the Lakers his cousin attends USC so it's certainly going to be a school that's going to be a factor for him in the long run but one caveat there the Trojans have yet to offer we'll see if maybe with Lincoln Riley kind of striking out on some of the guys he had commitments from down to the southeast if he starts to move his focus a little bit more West in the 2026 class moving forward Washington also said that Ohio State for obvious reasons is another school that he's attracted to and then UCLA also given those Los Angeles ties another school that he's hoping will get involved with an offer at some point but keep an eye on the charans there if they extend an offer to the nephew of K Bryant Andrew we are about to head out to the great state of Kansas to hear and get the reveal from Lincoln cure one of the elite tight ends in the country I want to ask you since you're a a quote tight end guy what makes him such a special player well he checks off all the boxes right he's a uh large perimeter wide receiver at this stage and when you look towards the NFL draft a lot of these tight ends that go day one day two they aren't playing tight end in high school they're more outside wide receivers they're also multisport athletes Lincoln cure is just that Kansas 3A back-to- back champ in the 300 meter hurdles he also LED his team to the state finals in basketball scored 14 points uh in that title game he can do it all and I also think what stands out about Lincoln cure the work e work ethic excuse me I was with Tom ly on Thursday right before the future 50 he was on the phone with Lincoln cure Lincoln was finishing up some farm work uh out there in Kansas he was covered in mud he said I'm the hardest working fivestar there is out there I might have to agree with him I don't know how many guys are moving uh you know moving around hey and digging trenches in the off season but he's a guy with ball skills I think he's got a ton of growth potential having sized him up at the Battle Miami camp or tournament back in January a guy to like a lot kind of reminds me last of last Cycles Carter Nelson who finished very high on my freaks list Andrew Ivans Brandon Huffman thank you both so much for being here of course you can read more about the future 50 event and all the latest commitments and recruiting news which are coming Fast and Furious over at 247sports.com also listen to the 247 Sports football recruiting podcast with Andrew Ivans and Cooper pagna new episodes drop Tuesday and Wednesday you can watch right here on the 247 Sports YouTube page or listen wherever you get your podcast five star tight end Lincoln cure is set to make his College choice in minutes the Goodland Kansas native has wowed our scouting team with his high school tape and impressive numbers on the track he is a two-time Kansas champion in track and an Allstate Talent on the football field so let's take a look at his Prospect profile he is one of the top players in the state of Kansas he is the number two tight end in the country and number 26 overall player in the 2025 class he has narrowed it down to to four finalists we've got two in his home State Kansas and Kansas State also Oregon and Texas A&M are in the mix so without further Ado let's go ahead and welcome in Lincoln cure Lincoln um when we were getting you hooked up you were saying you're a little nervous apparently it's a full crowd in there how are you feeling now yeah yeah let me show them off real real quick it's a back house wow a lot of people watching online to waiting to see where you are headed uh before we get to your official announcement we just have a few questions for you uh first off not sure if you were able to hear our director of scouting Andrew Ivans just gush about um the kind of prospect that you are but it says enough that he named you a five star he said that you check all the boxes what does it mean to you to know that you are one of the most highly sought a after prospects in the nation it it really means everything to me um you know have that five star affiliated with my name so yeah about I set I set that goal a while ago and I worked uh you know every single day I worked myself to exhaustion so to uh to have those five stars absolutely means everything to me Lincoln you were out here in California earlier this off season for the Cali power event I remember talking to you at the hotel checkin uh at the lobby and you were talking about trading in equipment bag for equipment bag because you were going from sport to sport to sport uh obviously that is isn't a thing that you're able to do alone or by yourself who do you have there with you to thank and and who's sharing this moment with you yeah so I have my I have my dad here and my mom here and then obviously you know just just the bank that Community I have the one of the best communities in the world and they they always have my back so that means everything to me they certainly showed up today again a huge Community online waiting to hear where you are headed Lincoln the floor is all yours uh I I try to keep this short and sweet um first and foremost I'd like to thank God for the blessing of an opportunity to have the experiences uh and be in the position I am today none of this was possible without my faith thank you to everyone who came out today to support me in my decision it really does mean the world to me that I have an amazing community that continues to be there for me as you all know this process was quite literally a dream come true I remember going to bed every single night as a kid promising myself that one day I'd be the one catching touchdowns for my favorite colleges some see it as a dream but I promised myself I'd make it my future me and my brother Leighton would go out every single day and throw the football around we we would ask for real conditioned college football helmets every single Christmas just so we could feel a little bit more like our favorite players while hitting each other we would go out and get all our friends around the block and play every chance we got unfortunately that's probably where most our injuries and fights happen but I know every single person there that was you know those are memories that we' never forget um but you know we breathe and we live sports as much as me and Leon compete with each other and I'll never admit to him but uh I don't think he'll ever understand how much I look up to him as a player and as a person um thank you to all the coaches that I have had an opportunity to play and work for thank you to each and every one of you for the impact you have made in my life I promise it has not been unnoticed and I I'm so appreciative of the knowledge and Leadership you have instilled in me thank you for pushing me and demanding greatness out of me every single day thank you for the times you guys have pulled me aside and made sure I kept my head up when things weren't going the best thank you for always reminding me of my potential and the impact that I could have on my team thank you for the time and the energy you sacrificed and spent away from your families just so you could come be a coach and a role model to us kids thank you for stepping aside and letting me be a leader thank you to all my family for always being there for me as you can see we got a lot of cillers in the crowd so um I always look forward to holidays just so I can be around all my grandparents uncles aunts and cousins all of you always made me appreciate what it meant to be a part of a close family like ours and always have each other's backs it's one of the things I always remember and value about my life thank you for making me feel loved thank you to all my friends throughout this process my best memories were always spent with you guys no matter what sort of thing we were doing I wish I could break down some memories but they're just too many thank you for all for all of those thank you guys for treating me as Lincoln and nothing more thank you guys for being my brothers thank you thank you to all the Collegiate coaches who I was blessed to be recruited by it was a lot of fun getting to go experience things I only got to watch on TV thank you guys for all the visits you made out to Goodland to see me and my family thank you for all the visits I got to make to your colleges one of the hardest things about this process was only getting to choose one school it was truly amazing getting to develop relationships that go far beyond football and I will forever cherish that and last but not the last but not least thank you to my mom and dad from the moment I was born you guys raised me the right way and told me to be a leader every day thank you for taking me to all my travel League games and demanding me to do better thank you for all the time and money you spent on me just so I can be happy thank you for all those times we argued thank you for pushing me to my limit every chance you got thank you for all the sacrifices you made for me thank you for being my parents I promise it's all going to pay off one day you guys are the real heroes and to all the kids watching no matter where you are what you want to do it's possible to reach your dreams it's possible for each and every one of you to be in the seat I am today I'm a living example of it I believe in you believe in yourself it's you against you throughout this process I have not forgotten who I am and where I come from I pride myself on staying humble and staying true to myself I can't sit here and say this was even slightly easy I pushed myself to exhaustion every chance I got I struggled mentally because I wanted it so bad and refused to fail I worked myself to tears I dealt with a crazy amount of pressure and stress on me to be the person athlete I am today all that is just a slight fraction of it but I do it again in the heart I loved every second of it I loved the lonely hours I loved being able to work as hard as I have I love and I'm so proud to be able to say that I am from out in the middle of nowhere Goodland Kansas but I'm not done yet and I'm nowhere close to where I'm going to be thank you all for being a part of my journey as I hope to be a part of yours this is just the beginning so with all that for the next three to four years my story will continue Kansas State University [Applause] w [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] there you have it breaking news five star tight end Lincoln cure has picked the Kansas State Wildcats Lincoln take us back what was the moment when you made this decision all right it seems like we have unfortunately lost his audio um Blair that was I don't know about you but I was getting a little Little Misty I can hear in there can you hear me now it okay it sounds like we do have l back there we go okay let's start from the beginning tell me again what was the moment that you picked Kansas State um yeah so Kansas state has always uh it held a special PL place in my heart I got to go to games as a kid and uh watch Colin Klein and uh you know uh lock it you know all those all those great players you know it's kind of where I developed my love um for football but um yeah I mean I I had a moment at my uh official visit I I didn't sleep at all from Saturday to Sunday and uh I texted Taylor brat the main recruiter um um you know I texted him at about 7:15 in the morning um you know can you can you bring me to the stadium I just need some time to think so uh yeah I went up to the stadium uh you know section 227 c18 and uh you know kind of just let it all out right there because you know that's kind of where my journey started um I went to Camp there June 9th and June 10th got my first offer you know they they offered me with you know not not having much film just kind of having my background as an athlete so that always uh that always meant a lot to me how much they trusted me and what you what I was going to become but um yeah just kind of let it all out in that moment right there unfortunately a lot of tears came out um you know made made the important calls I needed to make but um yeah coach kman came up there eventually and we're just sitting there alone with each other for a while so we just you know we talked over a lot of things and you know um what I've been preaching to myself for a long time is you know you can you can talk about academics you can talk about culture you you know you can talk about whatever you want but you know it's it's it's really that feeling um and you know that's that's one of the early conversations I had with Colin Klein you know he told me when you know you know um you know you can't really explain the feeling but you know when you know so uh had that feeling case stay and you know throughout the week I just kind of cherished that moment um you know obviously thought everything's through but you know that was the moment I kind of decided you know this is where this is where I can make the have the biggest impact as a person and not just as a player Lincoln we love the attention to detail you mentioned the section you mentioned the exact seat number I think that's something that a lot of K State fans can relate to as well with their experiences inside that Stadium when you think about the future of the program what is your message to those fans that are tuning in right now the trajectory of this program and what excites you the most man it uh it can be a more exciting time in the K State history I mean you know I have my quarterback ay Johnson I'll have uh Dylan Edwards as an athlete and then you got you'll have me so uh you know it's it's exciting well you know we got a lot of weapons and uh you know but I wouldn't even say that's the most important thing the most important thing in K State is their culture um it's guys I want to be around you know it's guys I can be friends with it's guys I want you know sacrifice everything for so that definitely means everything to me but uh you know K state has a bright future I'm just excited to be a part of it certainly are you said that uh it's a good time to be in the history of Kansas State you are making history at Kansas State as the highest ranked recruit ever wild cats right now are so excited that you have chosen to be a part of them Lincoln cure thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your big day go celebrate thank you so exciting what a win for Chris kimman and the Wildcats Landing one of the top instate prospects in five-star tighten Lincoln cure right away he is the highest ranked commit in the climate era and as I just said the highest ranked commitment in Kansas State history so with that let's bring on Tim Fitzgerald from go powerc cat.com it's been a long time since we talked to him but friend big time right now in Kansas State Landing their first ever five-star recruit what are they getting in Lincoln cure well first I'm nervous my mic's not working it is um it's good uh second they're getting a an incredible athlete you know he's from the Far Western part of Kansas I mean he's in the Mountain Time Zone uh so when you have a 65 athlete that can you know have Sprinter and go get the ball it's hard to compare him to what he's going up against on a week- toe basis uh but I think once he got to some of these camps and the seven on seven camps I know where Tom L saw him earlier this year his talent just kept showing up and you up the competition and he kept raising his game uh you know this is just a great keep for Kansas State it really is it's getting tough to recruit in the state people are beginning to figure out there's some players here um out of the top five kids in the state according to 247 he might be the only one that stays in State uh so this is a really nice get for him and as he mentioned uh Chris kimman is amassing some real talent on that offensive side of the ball for future Seasons Tim he's obviously excited about the future there in the little apple and I think he's now going to be a big time recruiter for for other prospects to potentially join him in that program who else should Kate fans be a aware of as this cycle rolls along well to be honest we've been so focused on this decision day um you know they've got plenty of other things going on right now but all arrows were pointed to Lincoln cure I mean this this I don't want to say make or break player in this class but it certainly elevates his class to something Kansas State fans haven't really seen and Blair you know this K State's never had highly recruited classes or excuse me highly ranked recruiting classes and yet they always perform at a high level this is a high level dude that uh the national you analysts such as yourself locked in on and said this dude can play uh so now I think they need to clean up this class had a few more you know skilled guys um always on the line they got defensive linemen are always a always a need for everyone and that's true for Kansas State I love it Tim thank you so much for being here we appreciate talking to you and getting the real Lowdown on a massive day for Kansas State you can check out more of his work at gopowercat.com for all things Wildcats Tim of the Gang has you covered on Kansas State all year long and tomorrow right here on the 24/7 Sports YouTube channel # commit HQ is back up and rocking with jvon Campbell's commitment the top 247 Edge we'll pick between Alabama Auburn Miami and his home state Kentucky Wild Cats tune in at 11:30 a.m. eastern to find out who he selects that'll do it for us today for Blair and gulo I'm Emily proud and this is the college football recruiting show so [Music]