Oakland High School star JaCoby Stevens is the Midstate’s top college football prospect.
The suspense as to where Oakland standout JaCoby Stevens will play college football will be over around 2:30 Monday afternoon.
The Midstate’s top prospect will announce his decision at Oakland High School, allowing him to focus on just playing football once the season begins for the Patriots Aug. 20.
“I wanted to get it done before the season,” The 6-foot-2, 200-pound safety said. “I wanted to commit on the first day of school for my family and student body. There will be a lot of people there to celebrate Oakland pride — not only me, but SEC-caliber players like Kaleb (Oliver, a Mississippi State commit).”
LSU, the team to which Stevens originally committed last year, appears to be the front-runner again, according to numerous recruiting sites.
Stevens pulled his commitment from LSU last November when Tigers coach Les Miles’ job security was in question. His family is from Louisiana and he grew up a Tigers fan, however.
His other three finalists are Alabama, Georgia and Auburn.
According to 247Sports, LSU is a heavy favorite (76 percent) for Stevens, picked by the recruiting site as the No. 2 safety in the 2017 class and No. 2 prospect overall in Tennessee. He is listed as an athlete and could be considered a two-way player, but he is being recruited as a safety by most schools.
Alabama has made a recent push. Stevens told the DNJ in April that Georgia was his front-runner.
Alabama (No. 2) and LSU (No. 4) are both currently in the top 5 in the nation in recruiting for the 2017 class (according to 247Sports), with Georgia at No. 3.
According to ESPN, LSU (which finished 9-3 last season) has 18 commitments for the 2017 class, including 11 in the top 300. Of those commitments, two are listed as defensive backs and one as athlete.
Defending national champion Alabama has 21 commitments (13 in the top 300). Two are defensive backs and one is athlete.
Georgia (10-3, 5-3 in the SEC in 2015) has 14 commitments (10 in the top 300), three being listed as defensive backs. Auburn (7-6, 2-6) has 12 commitments (nine in the top 300) with three being listed as athletes and one defensive back.
Whichever school he chooses, Stevens is happy knowing that he can put the recruiting process behind him in time for the regular season. Oakland is coming off a Class 6A state semifinals appearance in 2015.
“I just want to play football without that weight on my shoulders,” he said. “It will be a relief. The team I’m committing to, it will be 100 percent. After I commit, that will be it.”
Reach Cecil Joyce at 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.
Watch Stevens commit
The Daily News Journal will have live coverage of JaCoby Stevens’ commitment Monday online beginning at 2:20 p.m. on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tennessean/?fref=ts and on Dnj.com.