Indiana 5-star recruiting target Monshun Sales is set to announce his commitment decision tomorrow, July 17, at Noon ET. It will happen live on The Pat McAfee Show, and it is without a doubt the most anticipated commitment decision in the history of Indiana football recruiting.
The Hoosiers have never landed a 5-star high school recruit in their history, and now they are closer than ever. In fact, many recruiting insiders believe the Hoosiers are the frontrunners in Sales' recruitment. Most notably, the Rivals Industry Consensus gives Indiana a strong 83.6% chance to land the highly-touted prospect from Lawrence North High School.
Indiana football fans should be feeling good about their chances, but as we've seen before time and time again, anything can happen in the world of college football recruiting. With that in mind, here are Indiana's biggest competitors to land Sales.
Top contenders: Texas Longhorns
At this point in time, industry experts have made it clear that Sales' top-two contenders are Indiana and Texas. Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns have gained serious ground on Indiana over the last few weeks, and Sales continues to give Texas fans reasons to believe.
Earlier this week, the 6'5" 195-pound wideout took to social media to post a picture from his Official Visit to Austin last month. The photo he shared was of him in Texas' icy white uniforms, and it wasn't the first time he showed the Longhorns love on social media. The Longhorns are without a doubt the biggest threat to lure Sales away from The Hoosier State.
Strong contenders: Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State has been a WR factory over the last several years. Recent Buckeye wideouts now shining in the NFL include Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Marvin Harrison Jr, and Terry McLaurin. Ohio State also still has Jeremiah Smith in Columbus, and he figures to compete for the Heisman Trophy this upcoming season.
Landing 5-star Monshun Sales would change everything for Indiana football recruiting
Ryan Day has proven to be an elite recruiter, but WR coach Brian Hartline played a big part in the development of those players listed above. He is now the head coach at USF, and new Ohio State WR Cortez Hankton is looking to send a message by landing Sales. The Buckeyes have seemingly endless resources at their disposal, and they undoubtedly rolled out the red carpet for Sales during his Official Visit last month. The Buckeyes are strong contenders for sure.
Still in the mix, but unlikely: Alabama Crimson Tide
Alabama has been a contender from the very beginning. While he plays high school football in Indianapolis, Sales' family is originally from Alabama. Sales grew up cheering on the Crimson Tide, and even had the nickname of "Bama" as a kid.
Kalen DeBoer and company tugged at Sales' heartstrings during his Official Visit to Tuscaloosa, but it would take a lot for Alabama to surge back to the top at this point in the process. It also probably doesn't help DeBoer's case that his Crimson Tide were handed an overwhelming 38-3 loss to Indiana in the Rose Bowl this past January.
No way: LSU Tigers
Sales going to LSU would be nothing short of shocking. Lane Kiffin and the Tigers weren't involved in his recruitment process until extremely late in the process after other contenders had already made significant progress.
Sales took an Official Visit to Baton Rouge last month, but there doesn't appear to be any further momentum for Kiffin and the Tigers. They don't appear to have gained much ground, which means that if Sales picks LSU, it would be one of the biggest shocks we've seen in college football recruiting in a while.
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