They say history tends to repeat itself.
Almost three years ago, 247Sports’ Chris Hummer wrote a story about how five-star running back Zach Evans’ insane recruiting had finally come to an end.
247Sports director of recruitment Steve Wiltfong called the circus of a recruitment Evans never publicly committed to a school an “all-time runner” after the ballyhooed ball carrier dropped out of an LOI with Georgia only to eventually enroll at TCU, a school he’s never really been associated with in the past (two years later, Evans switched to Ole Miss and is now preparing for the 2023 NFL Draft).
And while Evans may have set the precedent for what to expect from high-profile 17- and 18-year-olds tasked with making life-changing decisions, is a five-star cornerback Cormani McClain gave his best on Thursday to conquer the future pro.
After failing to sign with Miami — a school he’s signed to since late October — McClain told 247Sports Thursday night that he’s heading to Colorado to play for Deion Sanders.
A shocker? Maybe for some casual players, but not for someone who’s been closely following the Lakeland, Fla. standout and his whereabouts for the past few months. When it was revealed on the 247Sports Signing Day show that McClain had not made contact with the Hurricanes on day one of the early signing period, rumors quickly circulated about what might come next.
Some people (including this author) speculated that Nick Saban was going after his old antics, but it didn’t take long for us to get to the bottom of what was really going on, as Wiltfong was quick to report that he’s the nation’s No. 1 Cornerback had spoken to Coach Prime.
Will this be Travis Hunter 2.0? Somehow everyone accepted that. After all, Sanders had teased that an encore was coming after making headlines on Signing Day 2021 when he pulled off the shocker of shockers and flipped Hunter — the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2022 — from Florida State to Jackson State the buzzer.
But as the 72-hour window for the early signing phase closed, McClain had yet to be announced as a signatory by Colorado (or Miami). This led to a lot of speculation about how the holidays and the new year will continue.
Below we introduce you to everything we know and reported on during McClain’s recruitment. From the time we first spotted him to when he testified Thursday night. Buckle up because this one is full of twists and turns.