USA TODAY High School Sports’ Friday Night Notes is a weekly football recruiting recap that looks at the latest news from around the country—from the high school and college level.
The details surrounding Bryce Underwood’s flip have come to the surface and Dave Portnoy may have played a more significant part than initially thought.
Colorado landed its quarterback of the future a few weeks ago but also saw some massive gains in its 2025 class late Thanksgiving night.
Is the Deuce Knight recruitment sage over? Auburn’s four-star quarterback commit was back at Ole Miss on Friday, raising eyebrows for what seems like the millionth time during the recruiting process.
Those are just some of the headlines that stole the show as we inch closer to the end of the regular season and the first day of the Early Signing Period.
Let’s dive a bit deeper into that in the latest edition of Friday Night Notes.
Deuce Knight makes his way back to Oxford…again
There hasn’t been a more tumultuous recruitment journey this cycle than that of top-50 quarterback and Auburn commitment Deuce Knight.
A Mississippi native, Knight flipped his commitment from Notre Dame to Auburn in early October. While that seemed like the end of things, it’s actually far from the truth.
Lane Kiffin and the Rebels only intensified their pursuit in the last two months. Kiffin even visited Knight’s school during Ole Miss’ off week.
Over the last four weeks, Knight has taken trips to Auburn and Ole Miss. He was in Oxford to see the Rebels knock off Georgia on November 9 before returning to Auburn last weekend. On Friday, he was back at Ole Miss for the Egg Bowl alongside highly-coveted 2026 five-star quarterback Jared Curtis.
Oregon lands a football and basketball standout
Schools have started to make building its 2026 a priority as the Early Signing Period approaches, and few have done better than Oregon.
The Ducks boast the No. 1 class so far in the 2026 cycle. That class got even better on Saturday as the cycle’s No. 2 tight end and top-35 prospect Kendre Harrison committed to the program.
Not only is it a win on the football side of things for the Ducks, but it’s also a win for them on the hard court—the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder plans to play both basketball and football in Eugene.
Colorado has a Thanksgiving night to remember
Deion Sanders has taken Colorado to a new level this season, bringing attention to the program not seen in Boulder since the early 1990s. That attention has drawn the eye of several top recruits as well.
A few weeks ago, the Buffaloes landed the quarterback of the future, Julian Lewis. On Thanksgiving night, they proceeded to land multiple recruits to boost their 2025 class.
On “Nightcap” with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson, four-star offensive tackle Carde Smith, four-star EDGE London Merritt, three-star EDGE Alexander McPherson and three-star receiver Quentin Gibson all committed to the Buffaloes.
With those commitments, the Buffaloes now have 15 pledges in their 2025 class. That class also ranks No. 32 nationally, jumping several spots.
UCF sees mass flips, decommitments following Gus Malzahn exit
It’s been a year to forget if you’re anyone associated with the UCF Knights.
On Friday, UCF closed out a disaster of a season, losing to Utah 28-14. Then, on Saturday, it was announced that Gus Malzahn was resigning to join Florida State as the Seminoles‘ new offensive coordinator.
That news was promptly followed by multiple decommitments and a player entering the transfer portal.
Defensive lineman Derrick LeBlanc is the current player set to hit the portal. As for the decommitments, they lost pledges from four-star 2026 cornerback Jamarrion Gordon and four-star offensive tackle Chastan Brown.
Dave Portnoy breaks down Bryce Underwood flip
In September, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy began pursuing to keep Bryce Underwood, the No. 1 player in the 2025 class, in Michigan.That plan included Portnoy announcing he would spend $1 to $3 million annually for a program changer to come to Michigan.
Last week, that plan came to fruition as Underwood flipped his commitment from LSU to the Wolverines.
While Portnoy may be viewed by Michigan fans as the ultimate hero in this situation, he talked earlier in the week on “Barstool’s College Football Show” about why that isn’t the case.
Portnoy explained that in early October, he got a call from a woman named Jolin, whose husband is billionaire Larry Ellison. In the clip below, Portnoy details how those conversations led to Underwood’s class-changing decision.