Oregon football comes out of national signing day with a top-10 recruiting class

Rodrick Pleasant helped Dan Lanning and the Oregon coaching staff put a bow on their 2023 recruiting class.

The four-star cornerback and track phenom from southern California chose the Ducks during a live national signing day ESPN broadcast Wednesday morning.

The addition of Pleasant moved Oregon’s incoming class to No. 9 in the 247Sports.com national rankings.

Pleasant, who is 5-11 and 180 pounds, was the 2022 California state champion in the 100 and 200 meters for Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, Calif.

His personal-record in the 100 meters is 10.14 seconds and is 20.40 in the 200. He is ranked as the No. 8 cornerback prospect by 247Sports and was also considering USC, UCLA, California and Boston College.

Oregon secured the majority of its 2023 high school recruiting class six weeks ago when the early signing period opened on Dec. 21.

Among the 28 freshmen newcomers are five-star receiver Jurrion Dickey and edge rusher Matayo Uiagalelei, who are the No. 12 and No. 19 highest-rated recruits in Oregon history, according to 247Sports.

“Ultimately you want to be a faster team and you want to be a bigger team and I think we did both those things,” Lanning said.

Oregon missed out on one of Wednesday's biggest prizes as Nyckoles Harbor chose South Carolina over the Ducks and a few other schools.

Harbor, a 6-6, 225-pound five-star athlete, is ranked as the No. 15 overall prospect by 247Sports and the No. 1 athlete, who excelled as both an edge rusher and wide receiver at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, D.C.

He's also an elite high school sprinter with PRs of 10.22 in the 100 and 20.63 in the 200.

Harbor was in Eugene last weekend for an official visit and a trip to Hayward Field was part of Oregon’s recruiting pitch, just as it was for Pleasant.

“Ultimately if you have goals and part of your goals involve track and football, there’s probably not a better fit in the nation than this place,” Lanning said. “We’re one of the ones that is going to compete in the top-25 on both sides always. We’re always going to be at the top of the charts from a football standpoint and a track standpoint and I think that provides a really unique opportunity for players who want to accomplish both.”

Oregon improves through the portal

Since December, the Ducks have continued to add players out of the transfer portal, with 11 transfers coming to Oregon.

Among them is edge rusher and former five-star recruit Jordan Burch from South Carolina. The 6-6, 275-pound fourth-year junior started 13 games for the Gamecocks last fall and finished with 60 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.

“It just shows, you never know when a relationship will go full circle,” said Lanning, who tried to recruit Burch to Georgia out of high school. “Jordan’s a phenomenal player. I think you can see that looking at his film. I think he has a ton of potential and I think he makes us better as a team.”

Oregon also added former Fresno State safety Evan Williams, the brother of former Oregon nickel back Bennett Williams.

Evan Williams, who will be a fifth-year senior, started 32 games in his career as a Bulldog and is coming off a season in which he made 66 tackles and six tackles for loss.

“Evan, he has an infectious personality, he has a hunger to be great, I think his film speaks for itself,” Lanning said. “He’s a talented player. … I think he’s ready to put on the shoulder pads right now and anxious to get to work.”

Sheldon players staying home

Lanning said he and his staff took pride in winning the recruiting battle for many of the best players on the West Coast, with California natives Pleasant, Hickey and Uiagalelei among them.

Lanning was able to keep two of the top local players in town as well.

Sheldon edge rusher Teitum Tuioti, a three-star recruit and the Class 6A state defensive player of the year in 2022, signed his letter of intent in December.

Three-star Irish quarterback Brock Thomas, who was second-team all-state, accepted a preferred walk-on offer in January.

“I think the guys that we’re able to bring in from Sheldon, there’s a little bit of pride in performance,” Lanning said. “There’s a little piece of wearing that O means a little bit something more to them.”

The 6-3, 220-pound Tuioti, who projects as an outside linebacker, and the 6-0, 165-pound Thomas, led the Irish to a 12-1 record and a spot in the state championship game in November.

Tuioti led Sheldon with 84 tackles, 30 tackles for loss and 13 sacks.

As a senior, Thomas threw for 2,895 yards, 41 touchdowns and five interceptions, and rushed for 747 yards and 17 touchdowns. He'll be following in the footsteps of several former Sheldon quarterbacks who also played for the Ducks, including Justin Herbert, Chris Miller and Taylor Alie.

Follow Chris Hansen on Twitter@chansen_RG or email atchansen@registerguard.com.

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Oregon Ducks 2023 recruiting class

High School (28)

• Daylen Austin | CB | 6-1, 180 | Long Beach, Calif. | 4-star

• Bryce Boulton | OL | 6-3, 250 | Palm Desert, Calif. | 3-star

• Johnny Bowens III | DL | 6-3, 265 | Converse, Texas | 4-star

• Ashton Cozart | WR | 6-3, 190 | Flower Mound, Texas | 4-star

• Solomon Davis | DB | 6-0, 185 | Covina, Calif. | 3-star

• Kodi DeCambra | DB | 6-0, 175 | Las Vegas | 4-star

• Jurrion Dickey | WR | 6-3, 210 | East Palo Alto, Calif. | 5-star

• Dante Dowdell | RB | 6-2, 210 | Picayune, Miss. | 4-star

• Luke Dunne | P | 6-6, 215 | Australia | No stars

• My'Keil Gardner | DL | 6-2, 285 | Peoria, Ariz. | 3-star

• Collin Gill | DB | 6-0, 200 | Washington, DC | 3-star

• Terrance Green | DL | 6-5, 265 | Cypress, Texas | 4-star

• lapani Laloulu | OL | 6-2, 355 | Honolulu | 4-star

• Jayden Limar | RB | 5-11, 190 | Lake Stevens, Wash. | 4-star

• Cole Martin | DB | 5-10, 175 | Chandler, Ariz. | 4-star

• Jerry Mixon | ILB | 6-3, 220 | San Francisco | 3-star

• Lipe Moala | OL | 6-6, 330 | Santa Ana, Calif. | 3-star

• Jaeden Moore | Edge | 6-4, 230 | Visalia, Calif. | 4-star

• Austin Novosad | QB | 6-3, 185 | Dripping Springs, Texas | 4-star

• Rodrick Pleasant | CB | 5-11, 180 | Gardena, Calif. | 4-star

• Tevita Pome’e | DL | 6-3, 315 | Layton, Utah | 3-star

• Blake Purchase | LB | 6-3, 240 | Englewood, Colo. | 4-star

• Kenyon Sadiq | TE | 6-3, 220 | Idaho Falls, Idaho | 4-star

• Teitum Tuioti | OLB | 6-3, 220 | Eugene | 4-star

• Tyler Turner | DB | 6-0, 180 | San Antonio | 4-star

• Matayo Uiagalelei | DE | 6-5, 265 | Bellflower, Calif. | 5-star

• A'mauri Washington | DL | 6-4, 295 | Chandler, Ariz. | 4-star

• Gernorris Wilson | OL | 6-5, 285 | Lakeland, Fla. | 3-star

Transfers (11)

• Junior Angilau | OG | 6-5, 280 | Salt Lake City, Utah (Texas)

• Jordan Burch | Edge | 6-6, 275 | Columbia, S.C. (South Carolina)

• Ajani Cornelius | OT | 6-4, 315 | White Plains, NY (Rhode Island)

• Traeshon Holden | WR | 6-3, 214 | Kissimmee, Fla. (Alabama)

• Khyree Jackson | CB | 6-3, 197 | Upper Marlboro, MD. (Alabama)

• Jestin Jacobs | LB | 6-4, 238 | Englewood, Ohio (lowa)

• Tez Johnson | WR | 5-10, 150 | Pinson, Ala. (Troy)

• Tysheem Johnson | S | 5-10, 200 | Philadelphia (Mississippi)

• George Silva | OL | 6-8, 300 | La Habra, Calif. (Fullerton College)

• Connor Soelle | LB | 6-1, 220 | Scottsdale, Ariz. (Arizona State)

• Evan Williams | S | 6-1, 194 | Campbell, Calif. (Fresno State)

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks football lands coveted cornerback on national signing day