Indiana is already off to a strong start in the high school recruiting class of 2026.
Coach Curt Cignetti and his staff have secured seven verbal commitments, and in each case the Hoosiers have beat out respectable Power Four programs to secure those pledges. The emerging class has a chance to be special based on historic IU football recruiting norms.
Based solely on the average player rating of their commits, Indiana currently has the No. 32 class in 2026 according to the On3 Industry Average.
And predictions emerging over the last week suggest Indiana can keep building this class with high-end talent.
On3 national analyst Steve Wiltfong has logged predictions for Indiana to land two more national top-500 prospects on the offensive side of the ball. In each case they’d be the first player in Indiana’s 2026 class projected to play at their respective positions in college.
Here are the two latest players with Indiana predictions by national analysts:
Jerquaden Guilford is a former Penn State wide receiver commit who stands 6-foot-2 and runs a 4.47 40-yard dash. The Fort Wayne, Ind. product (Northrop H.S.) has been tied mainly to Ohio State, Tennessee and IU of late and has been reported to be very near a decision. Guilford has a 4-star rating at Rivals, and his national average across the recruiting sites places him as the No. 75 overall wide receiver, and the No. 477 overall player in the 2026 class. Other programs like Miami (Fla.), Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia and Wisconsin have offered. If he commits to IU the Hoosiers would have two of the top three players in the state class of 2026 based on the rankings.
Damon Ferguson is a 5-foot-11 and 190-pound running back from Baltimore, Md. He is a 4-star according to On3 and ESPN. He is also a high school track star. His average rating across all of the national recruiting sites places him as the No. 30 overall running back in the class, and the No. 453 overall player. Ferguson recently visited IU and has offers from several Power Four schools including his other ten finalists Ohio State, North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan State, Pitt, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Minnesota and Duke.
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