Big Ten Spotlight: Four programs that need a big June
June has become arguably the most important month in the recruiting calendar, with prospects crisscrossing the country on official visits and lining up announcement dates. Rivals national recruiting analyst Greg Smith looks at four Big Ten programs that need to capitalize in the coming weeks.
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INDIANA
It's always going to be tricky judging Indiana's recruiting classes. The Hoosiers had a magical season last year, finishing 11-2 in coach Curt Cignetti's first season running the program. But a lot of that success was built with players brought in from the portal. But now you'd expect there to be a bump in the Hoosiers' high school recruiting.
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That hasn't happened yet for the 2026 cycle. Indiana has nine commitments right now and things have picked up with three of them coming in May. But if the Hoosiers are going to get a bump on the trail for this class, it'll need a huge June.
One name to watch that would change the perception of the class is Jerquaden Guilford. The talented receiver from Indiana is very high on the Hoosiers and would be a game changer.
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MICHIGAN
Jeff McCulloch/Rivals.com
Things are picking up in Ann Arbor on the recruiting trail with a pair of nice tight end commitments in June. However, we haven't seen the early run of commitments this cycle that we might have anticipated after the Wolverines finished so strongly last cycle.
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There might be a reason for that though. The program is in on a number of high-profile prospects that have elected to take official visits before committing to a school.
Five-star offensive lineman Felix Ojo, four-star defensive end McHale Blade and four-star offensive tackle Carter Scruggs are among the blue-chip prospects taking June official visits to Michigan.
It'll be a huge month for coach Sherrone Moore.
RELATED: Michigan's 2026 commitment list
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MICHIGAN STATE
Nick Lucero/Rivals.com
Right now, the Spartans are sitting last in the Big Ten Team Recruiting Rankings. So it goes without saying that the Spartans need a big June to turn things around. The four commits in the class are great building blocks. Especially four-star quarterback Kayd Coffman, who continues to see new offers come in. But the Spartans need other reinforcements to help coach Jonathan Smith's rebuild.
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They missed out on priority running back target Kory Amachree after spending a lot of time recruiting him. But the Spartans are likely to flip Iowa State defensive back commit Brayden Thomas. If they can find a way to keep four-star offensive lineman Khalief Canty home, it'd be a huge boost to the recruiting class.
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NEBRASKA
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The Huskers' recruiting class is very much in limbo right now. There are only four verbal pledges in the class. One of them, four-star defensive back CJ Bronaugh, is a pretty soft commit with several official visits set and other schools trying to get him on campus. The Huskers are going to take a smaller class so it seems the plan was to aim high and see where things land.
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The issue is that Nebraska is already missing on top targets before it can get guys on campus for official visits. The latest example of that is defensive end Titan Davis, who did not have the Huskers in his reworked top group.
Nebraska has some huge official visits scheduled. Offensive tackles Kelvin Obot and Claude Mpouma have a lot of upside. Priority four-star linebacker flip target Jordan Campbell would be a jewel of the class. Beating out Oklahoma on four-star running back DeZephen Walker would boost the class.
Don't count out the Huskers because they've gone on huge runs before but they need a massive June.
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