Oregon's recruiting class continues to move on an incline, and Friday the Ducks added the highest-rated piece of the puzzle so far for the 2024 class. Long Beach (Calif.) Poly linebacker Dylan Williams has committed to play for Dan Lanning's program picking Oregon over a final group that included Michigan State, Miami, Washington and UCLA.
The one-time USC commit backed off his earlier pledge to the Trojans in October, and at that point it didn't take much time for the Ducks to become a major player in his recruitment.
Williams made several trips to Eugene over the course of his recruitment including an official visit just last month. He also took official visits to Michigan State, UCLA and Washington before arriving at his decision.
Alabama, Penn State and Michigan were part of his previously-announced top seven as well.
"It's pretty simple, if you want to play defense and you want to stay out west, you go to Oregon," Williams said after announcing his commitment exclusively with Rivals. "There is no better development. With coach Lanning's background, coach Tosh Lupoi and coach B-Mike (Brian Michalowski), I feel like we're about to take over. We're about to bring a natty back west. We're about to take over the West for sure."
The Ducks have made Long Beach Poly a priority location when recruiting, and it helped lead to a commitment from four-star cornerback Daylen Austin in the last cycle. Oregon's connections to the school through defensive grad assistant Rashad Wadood and continued work from Tosh Lupoi and Demetrice Martin played a big role in bringing the commitment together for the Ducks.
“Their message was for me to come and make a big impact and they’re bringing an SEC environment to the West Coast," Williams said after his official visit. "I truly feel it’s a family-oriented program. That staff is really young and diverse, I feel connected to them for sure. It feels like a big family reunion. There are some young, cool guys who are serious about ball.”
The Spartans began to gain some attention earlier this week, but Oregon has established a lengthy relationship with Williams that ultimately paid off with his commitment to the program Friday.
Williams, who ranks 37th overall in the 2024 class by Rivals, now jumps to the top of the Oregon commitment list for 2024. He is the fourth member of the Rivals100 to give the Ducks his commitment so far this cycle joining edge rusher Xadavien Sims (No. 82), receiver Jordan Anderson (No. 84) and quarterback Michael Van Buren (No. 95).
Lanning's program now has seven Rivals250 commits in the class. Oregon has 19 commitments overall in the class, which now ranks sixth according to the Rivals national team recruiting rankings.
