re: Class of 2016 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: Waiting On Demetris Robertson Edition

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Son of a bitch I was just about to post that one lmao I missed by 1 post You deserve it though Brochacho

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I expected Magilla to be waiting in the wings to pounce on it like he did last year.

Mecole Hardman on the Pruitt hire (paraphrased of course):

-He likes the hire.
-Says Pruitt is one of the best DCs in the country.
-Alabama moves up his list now that Pruitt is on board.
-He's still probably not going to take an OV to Alabama though.
-When asked if Alabama was the team to beat for his services he said this:

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"I don't know," Hardman said. "It's pretty close. I don't know."

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JC Shurburtt CB'd Cavin Ridley to Alabama.

Wayne Davis on the Pruitt hire:

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"Another awesome decision by Coach Saban to offer Coach Pruitt the job. A great decision by Coach Pruitt to accept. The Tide keeps on Rolling."

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That was me hoss. I hadn't posted shite in a while and just scooped 10,000 from right under you

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It was you you prick.

I see you've finally returned to accept that Clinton arse-whipping like a man.

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Auburn has a pair of commitments in the game. Five-star Marlon Davidson is "sure thing" of the two. Tiger fans should be more interested in seeing cornerback John Broussard, whose ranking recently dropped to three-stars. Broussard had a hit-and-miss senior season and has plenty to prove on the All-Star stage. On Saturday, he'll be asked to cover a number of FBS-bound wide receivers. It will be interesting to see how he does.

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It's been a good week of practice for Florida commits, but it's hard to get a read on running backs during limited-contact workouts. That's why Saturday will be a big day for Gators' running back Lamical Perine. Perine has added size and looks the part of an SEC-ready tailback. How he does when the competition level is high and the reps are full-speed will be interesting, though. Perine recently received a bump in ranking and he'll look to prove it was deserved on Saturday.

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A.J. Brown is not committed to Mississippi State but is considered a heavy Bulldogs lean. He's been fantastic in practices this week and will provide some excitement for Mississippi State fans this week. On the other side of the spectrum is wide receiver Nero Nelson, who has been a bit of a surprise in practice. He'll be one to watch when things go full speed as well.

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Free Rivals' Content

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Nigel Knott does not lack for confidence.

It's 78 degrees, and the Rivals100 defensive back is wearing a neon yellow sweatshirt under his practice jersey. It matches his neon yellow gloves and his neon yellow socks. Knott is not interested in blending in with pack. Day two of practice at the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game is wrapping, and the brightly dressed Knott is jogging off the field laughing with his Team Mississippi teammates.

Asked by a reporter how people that know him best would describe him, Knott barely thinks before answering.

"Cool," he unapologetically shouts back.

He certainly looks the part this afternoon. He has diamond studs in his newly pierced ears. The stones, he says, are real, and so is Knott's talent. The four-star cornerback has offers from schools all over the country. He's most seriously considering USC, Oregon, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Florida State.

Still, Knott, a senior at Mississippi's Germantown High School, isn't incapable of self-doubt. In fact, it has somehow defined his college recruitment.

It's a strange dichotomy for a player made Internet famous by a video featuring him doing a backflip off the side of a house and catching a football in the process. Most of Knott's fellow All-Stars say they were aware of the viral vine months before ever meeting or speaking to its star. In a way, the over-the-top trick serves as a fitting calling card for a confident athlete.

Alabama All-Stars Lyndell Wilson and John Broussard, who will oppose Knott and Team Mississippi on Saturday, were aware of the video well before they arrived in Mississippi for the All-Star event. And if other players from Team Alabama hadn't heard of Knott or seen his work upon arrival, well, the touted cornerback rectified that.

"He was showing the video in the rooms last night," said Team Alabama safety Jeawon Taylor. "He pulled it up on his Instagram."

Knott says he still gets a steady trickle of replies to the video on social media. Some of them come in Spanish. Some come in French. Apparently the human trick has international appeal.

"I have people talking to me about the video and I don't understand the language," Knott said. "I saw some Japanese the other day. Last time I looked, it had more than 2.5 million plays."

But underneath the confidence lies a pile of indecision. Knott has twice set a college decision date only to push it back because of second thoughts. With both cancelled announcements firmly in the past, Knott doesn't mind speaking candidly about what he was thinking at the time. He sees no point in hiding his thoughts now.

"The first time was on my way back from Florida State's camp," Knott says. "I really thought I really wanted to go there, but I realized I was jumping into it so I cancelled it. Then, the second time, I was just trying to get the decision over with. I was seriously going to just flip a coin between Florida State and Alabama.

Knott says the coin flip bit is not an exaggeration. He briefly considered letting a piece of American currency decide his college fate before thinking better of the situation and cancelling his decision. But even that sort of doubt doesn't measure up to the type that set in when he saw the majority of his senior season wiped out by injury.

When the touted prospect had his knee rolled up on a punt return prior to the season, all the bravado - the neon and the dancing and the earrings and the self-congratulatory descriptions melted away, if only for a moment. The diagnosis was a bucket handle meniscus tear. Knott missed just six weeks of football, but not before doubt took hold.

"As soon as I went down, I thought, 'This could be the end,' Knott said. "That kind of stuff goes through my head every single day now. It makes you thankful."

A few months later, Knott is back to his usual self. He's dancing on the field between reps and teasing his teammates.

Ole Miss commit DeKaylin Metcalf, the top player in Mississippi, knows Knott as well as anyone here. He glances at his friend turned All-Star teammate and a short-lived laugh escapes his lips.

"He's fine. His knee is fine. This is the old Nigel," Metcalf says. "We've ran hurdles and triple jump against each other for the last three years, so I see this a lot. He's actually beat me the last three times."

The uncommitted Knott lets Metcalf hear about those wins from time to time. It's in his nature. It's also now in his nature to be thankful for what he has athletically. Nigel Knott is still Nigel Knott. The competitive edge is still there. So is the confidence. These days, the edges of the bravado are just a little softer.

"I can still do the backflip," Knott barks when challenged. "I'll do that right here, but the one off the wall like in the video? I'm retired from that. I had to tell all the college coaches I was done doing that."

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2. Major Changes

Earlier evaluations mean more and more players each year will drop from five-star status down the charts into four and potentially three-star final ratings because of stunted development.
Looking back at our first ranking back in July of 2014 for this class, players like defensive end Shavar Manuel (now a defensive tackle), linebacker Keion Joyner and linebacker Breland Brandt all looked like future stars at the college level, but none of the three have taken that next step to be elite.

On the flip side, players like new five-star defensive end Terrell Hall (pictured above), new five-star linebacker Curtis Robinson, athlete Mecole Hardman Jr., offensive tackle Jonah Williams and wide receiver N'Keal Harry were either outside the national Top 200 or even three stars at the beginning of the process.

The current five-star that started off ranked the lowest? That's a tie between Hall and Robinson, neither of whom were ranked in our initial release and ended up getting their first stars in our second edition in December. Harry started off as a three-star while Hardman, Jr. and Williams were near the end of our initial Rivals250.

The biggest drop? That's currently Joyner, who has fallen off the rails and is outside the Rivals250. So those who freak out about rankings, especially the early ones, please take note. Plenty can change through seven ranking cycles, which is now the average number of releases per class, up from four as recently as 2011 when Clowney went bell-to-bell.

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An ole miss staff writer crystal balled AJ Brown to Bama.