Five Star Quarterback Dante Moore commits to Oregon
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00:00The number one uncommitted quarterback in the class of 2023, Dante Moore, announced
00:05his commitment to the University of Oregon on Friday.
00:08I'm Claudette Montana-Pattison with SI right now, and joining me is John Garcia Jr., our
00:13Sports Illustrated recruiting analyst.
00:15John, Dante Moore had offers from programs all around the country.
00:19I mean, LSU, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, just to name a few.
00:23Why Dan Lanning and the Ducks?
00:25Well, I think there's a recency bias from Dante's perspective.
00:29The Ducks, since Dan Lanning took over and Kenny Dillingham, the OC, gets a huge assist
00:35here, they've really prioritized Dante.
00:37There was not a huge board for the Ducks.
00:40They were in it for Jadon Rashad and Nico Iamaliava for a little bit, but really, they've
00:44shifted to Dante about as swiftly and consistently as any of the programs that were in the mix.
00:52In turn, Dante visited Eugene in April for an official visit and then took his last visit
00:57of his recruitment to Eugene before the dead period hit this month, and I think that visit
01:03really solidified the Ducks' standing on his list, and yeah, overtaking Notre Dame, Texas
01:10A&M, Florida, a lot of schools that at one point felt pretty darn good about Dante.
01:16Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, the list is really kind of infinite with this kid.
01:20He's one of the most well-known and experienced quarterbacks in the class, more than 100 touchdowns
01:26already as a high schooler with a whole year to go.
01:29He's got a state championship under his belt.
01:31He was our Elite 11 MVP.
01:33I mean, this is as high-profile as it gets beyond the name Arch Manning, and if it was
01:38Arch Johnson, I think Dante would be the most high-profile quarterback in this class, at
01:43least in terms of name recognition, experience, etc.
01:46So a huge get for Oregon, and that late press was really hard to turn down for Dante.
01:52I think other quarterbacks picking their spots affected this and certainly kept the
01:57door open for the Ducks, but you still have to close it on your end, and Dan Lanning coming
02:02from Georgia, that national title pedigree, again, with Kenny Dillingham as an assist
02:06there, they both deserve a ton of credit for what is the most marquee commitment of their
02:11early tenure there in Eugene.
02:14There's so much uncertainty with the Pac-12 conference right now, especially after the
02:18news that we received last week.
02:20What does this say about the strength of Oregon's brand, especially nationally?
02:25Look, Claudia, when you think of the Ducks, you think of offense, you certainly think
02:28of the uniforms, and you start to think of that quarterback position.
02:31So I do think there's a pedigree there that sells.
02:35The Nike brand itself certainly sells at every single level of recruiting on the football
02:42field, and I think the new staff, young, energetic on top of it, with a diverse national
02:48experience at its back on top of it, really just enhances what Oregon is trying to sell
02:54individually.
02:54And Dante's one of these kids that wants to come in and play very, very early, so I think
02:58that path to playing time was big in the Ducks' favor there as well.
03:03But yeah, Oregon, offensively, quarterback-wise, I mean, Justin Herbert, all this stuff is
03:08pretty clear at the highest level.
03:10It still sells with national recruits, even from Detroit, Michigan.