Ducks Digest

Jaylen McClain Planning Oregon Visit

McClain has more than 30 scholarship offers and recently placed the Ducks in his top 10.

Max Torres

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With a loaded safeties room set to lose a number of key contributors after next season, the Oregon Ducks are weighing their options in the 2024 recruiting class.

One player they've highlighted as a priority is West Orange (NJ) Seton Hall Prep safety Jaylen McClain. He spoke with Ducks Digest about the latest in his national recruitment.

The 6-foot, 185-pound defensive back has taken recent visits to a trio of programs including in-state Rutgers, as well as Penn State and Tennessee.

"I really like Tennesse. Coach (Tim) Banks, and Coach (Josh) Heupel, they have a lot going on over there," McClain said. "It's headed in the right direction."

The New Jersey product recently released his top 10 schools, which included Oregon. 

The month of February hasn't included any visits, but he's stayed in contact with a number of programs.

"I'm definitely in contact with Oregon, Penn State, Michigan State, USC, Notre Dame and I'll say Miami too also. I'm in contact with them a lot and Rutgers obviously."

McClain is working on penciling in his spring visit schedule but plans to see many of schools in his top 10.

"I don't have any set up but I definitely plan on getting down to Penn State, Oregon, Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, USC, Stanford and Notre Dame."

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Multiple members of the Oregon staff, including Dan Lanning himself have lead the charge for the Ducks in their pursuit of the talented defensive back.

"I hear from them pretty often. Almost every day I would say," McClain said. "I talk to coach Kam (Araghi), Coach (Chris) Hampton, I talk to Coaching (Dan) Lanning, Coach (Tosh) Lupoi, Coach Coby (Sayyah)."

Chris Hampton is one of the newer faces on staff in Eugene but the two have already hit it off early in their conversations. 

"I definitely like Coach Hampton. He's a cool guy, just got there. He has a scheme ready for them that's gonna put them in a good situation. 

"I feel like that's a scheme I could also fit in. So that's another factor to why they're in my top 10 and just the connection I have just to the whole organization and school in general. Coach Hampton is a big part of that."

McClain wants Oregon to be one of his first visits when the recruiting trail opens back up and that's because of how the staff has shown him he's a priority. 

"Definitely how excited they are about me and how much love they show towards me and my family and how they're pushing to get me out there," the safety said on what stands out about Oregon. "It shows how important I am to them, so that's big."

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The Ducks landed in his top 10 earlier this month but they could be pushing their way higher up the list as this recruitment rolls on.

"They're definitely high in my recruitment. When I dropped my top 10 those are all schools I'm pretty high on, but I'd definitely say Oregon's definitely high on my board."

As he works on setting up his next slew of visits, he knows he's a recruit that doesn't want to waste any time setting up his official visits.

"I definitely want to get my officials done in June so I can have an idea of where I want to go before the season starts."

Don't be surprised if his college commitment comes shortly after he takes his five official visits.

"Definitely within that summertime. Any time around there," he said of a decision timeline. "I'm trying to get my decision over with basically by the first game or anywhere before the season. Probably like June, July, August."

McClain mentioned things like connections with the coaching staff, a strong business or sports management program as well as the environment as factors that will decide where he ends up playing his college football.

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Max Torres
MAX TORRES

Max Torres is the publisher and lead editor of Ducks Digest. He's covered the Oregon football and recruiting beats for four years. He's based out of Long Beach, CA and travels around Southern California and the country covering top high school football prospects.

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