By Ralph D. Russo
(AP) – The long and winding recruitment of Dylan Raiola ended early and with no drama Wednesday with the highly touted quarterback signing a national letter of intent with Nebraska.
Raiola is a consensus top 10 recruit in the class of 2024 and the son of former Cornhuskers offensive lineman Dominic Raiola, but it took him a while to choose Nebraska. He was first verbally committed to Ohio State and then Georgia. His family even moved the Atlanta suburbs for him to play his final high school season.
Dylan Raiola
But earlier this week he announced he was flipping to Nebraska and then made it official Wednesday.
It remained to be seen if the opening of the early signing period for high school recruits would be so uneventful for other elite prospects. All 32 five-star players, as rated by the 247 Sports composite of industry rankings, came into signing day verbally committed, but coaches can’t be comfortable until a signed National Letter of Intent is in hand.
The consensus No. 1 recruit, receiver Jeremiah Smith from Florida, has been committed to Ohio State for months but was not expected to make his choice official until later Wednesday. The 6-foot-3, 198-pound Smith was expected to be part of a signing class for Ohio State that will challenge Georgia and Alabama for No. 1 in the country — if he indeed signs with the Buckeyes.
