Will Indiana football’s recruiting class of 2026 be graded the program’s best ever in the rankings era?
Possibly.
As of Friday, IU’s 2026 class ranked 27th nationally at 247Sports and 31st at On3.
Indiana’s best class to date came recently, and it provides a cautionary tale when it comes to recruiting rankings — especially in the transfer portal era.
Right on the heels of the Hoosiers’ magical 2020 season that saw the team contend for a Big Ten title and Tom Allen win national coach of the year (sound familiar?), Indiana built a 2022 class that ended up ranked No. 25 in the nation. And that spot in the rankings was after some attrition.
While the energy surrounding the program after back-to-back bowl games and a 14-7 record from 2019 to 2020 was sky high, things changed in a hurry.
With most of the 2022 class verbally pledged before the 2021 season, Indiana posted a 2-10 record and an 0-9 mark in the Big Ten. And things began to crumble.
The defections started even before 2022 players started arriving on campus. Promising quarterback Josh Hoover bowed out in December of 2021. He’s gone on to a very good career at TCU. 4-star running back Gi’Bran Payne decommitted in March of 2022 and hasn’t been a major impact player at Notre Dame to this point.
Two more 4-stars in IU’s 2022 class, edge Dasan McCollough and corner Trevell Mullen, transferred after one season. Another, defensive lineman Nick James, left after two years.
This 2025 season should be the time when Indiana is truly bearing the fruits of that once promising 2022 class, as those players are now seniors or redshirt juniors. But there are only a handful of players remaining in Bloomington, and even less contributing in a significant way.
Omar Cooper, Jr. is the only 4-star who remains from IU’s 2022 class, and he almost never joined the team. A couple days passed in the December, 2021 early signing period before IU finally confirmed him as an addition. Cooper, Jr. has improved each year and should start this fall.
Indiana found a diamond in the rough who proved to have true star power in receiver and returner Jaylin Lucas. But he bolted after two years for Florida State.
Also all gone via the transfer portal or otherwise from the 2022 class are D.J. Moore (OL), Brody Foley (TE), Venson Sneed (DL), Richard Thomas (DL), James Monds III (CB), and Phillip Dunnam (S). They were the six highest-rated 3-stars in the class. Also gone are Ryan Miller (TE), Brendan Sorsby (QB), and Kam Perry (WR).
Certainly better results on the field in 2021 and 2022 might have helped hold the 2022 class together. Better NIL resources at the time would have helped too. But landing what actually ends up being a good class with the benefit of hindsight appears to be as much about talent evaluation as it is star ratings.
Some of the remaining members of the 2022 class were some of the lowest-rated. That includes former 3-star Carter Smith, who IU coach Curt Cignetti believes can be All-Big Ten this fall. It also includes lower-end 3-stars Jamari Sharpe and Bray Lynch, who have improved each season and are expected to start at cornerback and guard, respectively.
Cooper, Jr., Smith, Sharpe and Lynch are likely the only four players from the once 22-player class who will see significant action this fall.
Also still with the program from the 2022 class are linebackers Isaiah Jones and Kaiden Turner, and reserve defensive lineman J’Mari Monette. Jones played last year in three linebacker looks and could win a bigger role. Turner and Monette will have to exceed expectations to see more snaps in 2025.
One last note of caution — the Big Ten isn’t the same conference it was just a few years ago.
IU’s 2022 class ranked fifth in the Big Ten, but this year a similar ranking can’t crack the top-10 in the league. The Power 5 is now the Power 4, and many believe the SEC and Big Ten are really the sport’s Power 2 conferences. 23 of the top-30 classes are teams from the SEC or Big Ten.
The outlook for Indiana has never been brighter. And the 2026 class looks promising. But good recruiting rankings are no guarantee, and things certainly aren’t getting any easier.
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