In the past, there were plenty of prospects whose recruiting spiked once their senior season began. Although it's less common now, rising seniors can still make waves on the offseason camp circuit.
Check out the late bloomers from the Southeast who are hiring at an accelerating pace.
In this series: East Coast Late Bloomers | Mid-South
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Rumor mill: As the spring heat approaches, the news becomes more and more intense.
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A well-traveled defensive back who came to Tampa from the Midwest and then transferred schools, Littleton showed what speed and strong performance in coverage can do in a short amount of time. He is currently one of the fastest recognized sprinters in the state of Florida, and offers have skyrocketed this year, with an astonishing 30-plus new offers to his name since January. there were.
Alabama, Miami, Florida State, Penn State, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa State, and UCF are just a few of the players currently offering offers to Littleton. Ole Miss and Miami are his two recent visits in a recruiting effort that is still in its early stages. He plans to cut the list by more than half in the coming weeks ahead of setting up official visits.
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When it comes to speed, Penson is a third-tier talent and has plenty of it. He played quarterback in high school, but will work as a wide receiver, running back, or secondary in college. Penson, a state champion triple jumper, ran sub-4.5 seconds in football training this spring, which has led to double-digit offers since February.
Penson was able to supplement his straight-line speed on the track with Georgia top-10 finishes in both the triple jump and 110-meter hurdles. That's one reason why programs stand by his evaluation despite his relative lack of experience at the position. to his projection. Penson recently added offers from Notre Dame, Missouri, North Carolina State and Duke. He only had three offers before the 2023 season and the monster spring that followed, one of which was from the Power Four.
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Another jack-of-all-trades athlete who plays quarterback on Friday nights, Robinson's rise is still in its early stages from a recruiting standpoint. He ran for over 1,000 yards and threw for over 1,000 yards as a junior and has since been called up by the SEC. Georgia actually started this recruiting process with his March 19 offer, which has been followed by more than a dozen programs since then. That list includes Alabama, LSU, Auburn, Florida State, USC and more.
Robinson has a running back and secondary name projection depending on the program, but at 6-foot, 190 pounds he has transferable traits to each. He has run sub-11 seconds in the 100 meters this spring, and perhaps more impressively, he clocked 23 mph in training earlier this month. Robinson has been patient on his ascent.
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While most on this list were interested as juniors and could see it progressing to another level, Sellers is right in the early stages of recruitment. His first offer was still on the table, and he was kicked off by Nebraska on April 1st. But it was no joke, as the pass rusher has added four more since then and also accepted a visit from Nebraska. kirby smart And Georgia. LSU and Mississippi State are scheduled to host him on the next two Saturdays as he seeks the No. 1 SEC offer.
Sellers' athleticism is also typical of a late bloomer. He was a basketball player who converted as a junior and showed a lot of talent as a 6-foot-5, agile edge rusher. Digging deeper into his background reveals another fact that doesn't hurt in the benefit of the doubt department. Sellers is the younger brother of former Alabama great and NFL linebacker Mark Barron. It may not be an exaggeration to say that he has a big spring ahead of him.
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Sumner, a 2025-born Riverview (Fla.) standout who shares his name with other wide receivers to date, came into his own earlier this year. There were several bids in 2023, but the Jan. 17 bid extension from Oregon marked the beginning of a steady increase in national hiring, followed by nearly 20 more bids. The most recent one was from Alabama, not long after he met his idol and Crimson Tide legend Julio Jones.
Now, the rising senior has taken the first step towards the final end of the process, announcing his top 13 candidates on Tuesday. Williams has been busy on the road, recently playing against Ole Miss, Georgia and Alabama, three SEC schools on his list of top schools. UCF, the closest Williams to his home, already has an official visit scheduled for the first weekend in June. Miami will bring him to campus the weekend before that.
