Oregon Redux: are we going to see Willie Lyles 2.0?

[chipdouglas]

NEWS: last week, Oregon flipped 4* RB, Jordan James, away from Georgia. Earlier, they signed "recruiting violations smoking gun" Tosh Lupoi and picked up Auburn starting QB Bo Nix in the portal.

None of us knows what's really going on, but here are some reasons this is suss IMO:

• Georgia just won a national championship and finished #1. Oregon dropped 3 of 4 and barely finished inside the AP T25
• James had been committed to UGA for 11 solid months, resisting all other attempts to flip
• James is from the south (TN), and committed to the south (UGA). Now he's headed for... darker, wetter pastures?
• Oregon's shine is gone. This ain't Chip's & Phil's Ducks. They're not 1 year away from hardware
• Playing time: James would have been 1 of 3 RBs in this UGA class, but a dead-heat for the top back. With a formal offer from a run-first champ and powerhouse school, I'm guessing this kid wasn't worried about PT, esp since Georgia cycles RBs in-game and has an all-time pedigree as a RB school. In fact, when interviewed after his 2021 commitment, James said he picked UGA because, "They're RBU. I want to play for the best" (link). Also, he commits pre-championship, then decommits after?
• Although James is the only RB in this Oregon class so far, he will be the EIGHTH RB on Oregon's returning roster even after offseason attrition. IE, this is very unlikely to be about PT.
• Yes, new Oregon HC Dan Lanning is a former Dawg, but he was the Dawg DC, and didn't recruit James, nor was he working with those who recruited him.

So what is it? It ain't weather, family, familiarity, championships, school or conference prestige, education, playing time, staff connections... All the normal reasons for flipping appear to be off the table.

I honestly have no idea if this is as odious as it looks, but I do remember getting this feeling when Hugh Freeze started flipping SEC blue chips like Laremy Tunsil, and their family members started showing up with jobs in Oxford, or on Instagram with new Hummers

 

[BiggsCoug]

He took the $. This is what it is now. No such thing as cheating.

 

[BleedCrimsonandGray]

There's no such thing as Willy Lyles any longer, just brokers for NIL deals.

 

[Glad Cougar]

How do you think Cristobal got so many great national recruits? It wasn't his keen developmental skills or his high quality in-game coaching. UO has been set up to "win" recruiting battles for years. Lanning is just following the Duck/Nike roadmap. Expect more of the same but now on steroids (NIL) and an arms race with USC.

Glad Cougar