Commitment Preview: WR Braylon James Ready To Announce His College Decision
One of the top players in the country, and one of the top prospects on Notre Dame's 2023 recruiting board is set to announce his college commitment this evening. Of course I am talking about Round Rock (Texas) Stony Point wide receiver Braylon James.
James will be committing this evening at 7:30 PM ET. Irish Breakdown will be going live at 7:00 PM ET to begin previewing his announcement and will then break down what it means as soon as his decision is announced.
The 6-3, 185-pound wide receiver has steadily rose up the recruiting rankings, checking in as the nation's No. 46 overall player according to ESPN. James ranks as the nation's No. 72 overall player on the 247Sports composite ranking.
James The top contenders for James are Notre Dame, Texas, LSU, Stanford, Georgia, Texas A&M and Oregon, but five schools are considered the primary contenders.
Notre Dame - When Chansi Stuckey was hired to coach receivers for the Irish it immediately got them in the ball game. Stuckey recruited James during his stint at Baylor and that relationship carried over when he was hired by Notre Dame. James took an immediate liking to Notre Dame once the Irish staff started to turn up the heat upon Stuckey's arrival, and it was clear he then became one of the must-get targets in the class.
An outstanding student, James has spoken often about wanting to go somewhere education is important, so the Irish clearly stood out to him even before his visit. James visit the Notre Dame campus in March and the Irish immediately became a top contender.
Texas - Texas has worked hard to get in a good position with James, who is one of the best players in the Longhorn State. No team has had James on campus more than Texas, who hosted James on at least four different occasions, including his most recent trip, which took place on March 26.
Steve Sarkisian's high-powered offense is certainly intriguing to James, but the one thing working against Texas is the fact James is on record as wanting to go further away from home, something Texas has obviously worked to steer him away from doing.
LSU - LSU made a strong move for James this winter, which included a visit in early March. The Tigers have been pushing hard for James, and a number of connections on the staff have helped them charge up the top schools list for James. Running backs coach Frank Wilson and wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton both have long histories with the James family, and of course LSU's head coach offered James when he was at Notre Dame.
James has mentioned in the past that relationships and playing time will both be very important for him, and LSU can offer both.
Stanford - As mentioned before, James is very, very high on programs with excellent academics. Stanford was once considered the very early leader for James and he has always had very glowing things to say about the Cardinal program. The problem for Stanford is once Notre Dame got more involved he had a program on his list with excellent academics and significantly better on-field results in recent seasons.
Texas A&M - Another in-state program, Texas A&M has also had James on campus multiple times, but the Aggies have never been able to move as far up his list as Notre Dame, Texas, LSU and Stanford. Heading into this decision it would seem Texas A&M and TCU, the other in-state school to make his Top 9, are on the outside looking in.
James hauled in 47 catches for 568 yards and six touchdowns as a junior while playing in Del Valle (Texas) High School's run oriented offense.
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