Prep ratings: Seismic shift in landscape
On3 buys Rivals from Yahoo!; Hall of Football announces PrepScout
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈
Check out full download below of Top 500 preps in 2026 class
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈
As the prep football recruiting world undergoes a seismic shift, the Hall of Football and NFL Draft Scout are stepping up as participants, rebranding ratings and coverage as PrepScout.
First, some critical recent details from the raucous background in this volatile niche.
What was once a patchwork of regional consensus has become a centralized grid of data-driven coverage. Prep ratings now lean on algorithms instead of games and game tape, with offer lists standing in for evaluation. Hype often outpaces performance, and visibility — not verifiability — drives momentum.
The most visible fault line came in May, when On3 acquired the recruiting site Rivals from Yahoo Sports, merging two legacy platforms into a single, data-forward operation. The move wasn’t just corporate — it was philosophical. On3’s rankings were folded into the Rivals brand, and the old Rivals 6.1 scale was replaced by a 100-point system, designed to offer more precision and transparency.
The merger also triggered a reshuffling of recruiting databases: the On300 and Rivals250 were combined into the new Rivals300, consolidating decades of player data under one roof. Meanwhile, the On3 Industry Ranking, once a composite, was recalibrated to give equal weight to Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN, each counting for exactly 33.333 percent.
If putting ESPN’s ratings on equal footing with the others seems bothersome, it probably should.
Shifting terrain needs to settle
Subscribers were promised unified access across both networks, and high school coverage was earmarked for expansion. But beneath the rollout, a deeper shift was underway — the ratings themselves began to move, sometimes dramatically. Players rose or fell by hundreds of spots overnight, as algorithmic recalibration replaced scout-driven evaluation.
This is the new terrain. And it is still settling.
In a post on X on July 1, Shannon Terry — long the architect for progress in this industry — laid out the next phase of the On3–Rivals integration. He explained that On3 Media will concentrate solely on college sports, the transfer portal and NIL, while Rivals becomes the dedicated brand for recruiting and high school coverage. Fan sites will migrate onto On3’s tech stack, and within a year every subscriber will enjoy unified access across both networks.
Beginning with the Class of 2026, On3’s recruiting rankings will live under the Rivals banner. The old 6.1 scale will give way to a 100-point system, and On3’s Industry Ranking will split its weight equally — 33.333 percent each for Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN. All historical data and media archives from the major services will be imported into the new Rivals database, high school coverage is set for major investment and the Rivals Camp Series will continue under this streamlined structure.
PrepScout: quiet infiltration
With little fanfare, but plenty of purpose, PrepScout enters the fold as the newest extension of The Sports Xchange (TSX) and NFL Draft Scout inside the Hall of Football ecosystem — not to disrupt, but to contribute, as another scout-led participant committed to performance over perception.
For two decades, the recruiting-media industry was shaped by a handful of dominant brands, each built on the same foundational model of aggregate ratings, scout input and a splash of editorial storytelling.
It started with Rivals, matured through 247Sports and was reimagined by On3, which leaned into NIL data and transfer-portal analytics. Each platform brought innovation but also inherited the same blind spots: overreliance on legacy composites, unreliable updates and a lack of transparency in how ratings were constructed.
Even as On3 was orchestrating its major move this year, PrepScout was independently stepping up the prep-rating aspect on Hall of Football. PrepScout enters not as a competitor, but as a recalibration.
We evolved from the same model On3 used — weighted algorithms, scout input and performance data — but we stripped away the noise and rebuilt the logic from the ground up. PrepScout isn’t just a rating system. It’s a position-first, performance-verified, scout-informed methodology that prioritizes real-time updates and regional consensus, flags “ratings deserts” where top athletes go unnoticed and deploys a Disparity Index to spotlight gaps across platforms.
This isn’t a splashy launch; it’s a quiet infiltration — built for coaches, scouts and evaluators who seek clarity, not clutter. If the old model was about stars and subscriptions, the new model is about precision and proof.
PrepScout is the next chapter in a long legacy of recruiting media. Let’s look back:
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈
Recruiting Media Evolution: More turns than the Burma Road
1998 — Rivals.com launches. Founded by James Heckman, Rivals raised nearly $80 million from investors including Fox, Intel and SoftBank. It attempted a $100 million IPO led by Goldman Sachs before collapsing in the dot-com bust of 2001. Soon after, Shannon Terry, via AllianceSports, acquired and rebuilt the Rivals brand, laying the groundwork for modern, subscription-based recruiting coverage.
2001 — Scout.com enters the scene. In his post-Rivals venture, Heckman launched Scout.com as an integrated sports-publishing network. Content was provided by The Sports Xchange, until team-specific sites matured.
2005 — Scout.com sells to Fox Interactive Media for about $60 million, then to North American Membership Group (later Scout Media) in 2013. After a Chapter 11 filing in December 2016, CS Corporation (now Paramount Global) acquired it the following February for $9.5 million, ultimately folding it into 247Sports.
2010 — 247Sports takes shape. Shannon Terry debuted a platform built on composite ratings, team-site networks and scalable recruiting coverage. Less than five years later, CBS acquired 247Sports, where it remains a repository of scout-driven depth and positional evaluation.
2018 — Maven launches its sports vertical. James Heckman returned with Maven, partnering exclusively with The Sports Xchange for team-specific sports content. Initially, the focus was on professional and college coverage rather than prep-level ratings or recruiting standings.
2019 — Sports Illustrated joins the fold. Authentic Brands Group acquired SI’s print and digital rights from Meredith Corp. for $110 million in May 2019, then licensed them to Maven. This deal brought many TSX writers under the SI banner and expanded Maven’s footprint, later evolving into The Arena Group.
2021 — On3 introduces a new model. Shannon Terry’s third recruiting venture leaned into NIL data, transfer-portal analytics and in-depth coverage. By 2024, On3 had raised over $36 million, positioning itself as a disruptor with proprietary data tools and its own Industry Ranking.
2023 — The Sports Xchange introduces Hall of Football. Built to house NFL Draft Scout’s prep-to-pro ecosystem, Hall of Football unified decades of TSX content — player ratings, bios and verified performance — from high school through the pros.
2025 — On3 acquires Rivals from Yahoo Sports. On3 retired its own rankings and rebranded under Rivals, with Yahoo retaining equity and a board seat. This marked the formal union of two legacy recruiting services under a single flag.
2025 — Rivals introduces new rating logic. Now guided by On3’s data engine, Rivals shifted to a hybrid model blending legacy composite logic with NIL and transfer metrics. The Rivals250 and On300 merged into Rivals300, and the Industry Ranking equally weights Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN at one-third each.
2025 — Hall of Football/NFL Draft Scout introduces PrepScout. In July 2025, PrepScout rebranded the preexisting prep coverage within the Hall of Football ecosystem. Its scout-first methodology prioritizes verified performance, positional fit, updates, and disparity tracking. This focus positions PrepScout as a reference point, not a benchmark, alongside On3/Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN.
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈
As a humble newcomer (of sorts), PrepScout is still setting up its infrastructure. We are enlisting current and former coaches, scouts and even Hall of Famers to help build our team.
Our player ratings come only from:
What athletes actually do on the field
How they fit their position
And we will not consider ESPN ratings on a par with Rivals and 247 because they are not. Unless something changes, ESPN lags in timeliness, and reflects regional preferences.
We plan to update PrepScout weekly and flag when our scores diverge from others. No social-media hype. No NIL distractions. Just clear, honest evaluations.
PrepScout backstory
The Hall of Football’s lineage stretches back through NFL Draft Scout (est. 1987) and the Sports Xchange, along with the architects who first turned sideline scouting into layered databases. From Frank Cooney’s early Grid Grade rating system — used to predict Super Bowl XIV — to the rating DNA of Madden Football, this legacy quietly shaped many recruiting platforms.
PrepScout isn’t a rewrite. It’s a recalibration, documenting excellence at every level, from prep athletes to Canton.
There will be more about this expansion of prep ratings as the season rolls out.
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈
The 2026 class is already shaping up to be one of the most volatile in recent memory. Early commitments are surging, NIL chatter is louder than ever, and positional depth — especially at quarterback and edge — is unusually strong across multiple regions.
Texas grabbed more headlines over the weekend when it outmaneuvered Miami, Georgia and Ohio State, among others, to snare running back Derrek Cooper. He may be the Longhorns’ best get at that position since Bijan Robinson (2020 class), which is saying something for a team that saw five running picked in the last three NFL drafts.
Cooper plays with violence and showed it at running back and safety at Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, FL (near Ft. Laurderdale). PrepScout rates Cooper No. 32 overall, and while some waver on where to rank him, we have him as a five-star prospect.
Getting Cooper was the final headline in a massive week for Texas, as they also landed five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson and four star defensive lineman James Johnson.
See our ratings on the Top 100 below and the Top 500 (available for download).
PrepScout will release layered ratings this fall, focusing on verified performance tiers and positional-fit grades. These ratings won’t be inflated by social momentum or the number of offers a recruit receives. Instead, the ratings will reflect what scouts actually see: traits, games and game tape.
We will also track where PrepScout’s evaluations diverge from industry consensus — not to stir controversy, but to offer clarity. That is where the Disparity Index comes in. It is a tool designed to show when a player’s hype exceeds his game tape, or when a quiet riser deserves more attention than the stars next to his name suggest.
Admittedly, we are not yet where we aspire to be. PrepScout is still developing its infrastructure — technically and personnel-wise — with contributions from current and former coaches and scouts who help shape the foundation. While much of the recruiting industry leans on aggregated ratings and market indicators to assess talent, PrepScout offers a scout-led alternative grounded in observed performance and positional context.
This approach doesn’t replace the legacy systems that have long defined recruiting coverage. It simply adds a new thread, one that prioritizes what athletes show on the field over what builds momentum off it. As the platform evolves, we remain open to thoughtful perspectives from coaches, scouts and readers who share that focus.
We will be covering the 2026 cycle with ratings, updates, and positional tiers — all built on scout logic, not social metrics.
This is our fourth year of prep ratings, but the first under this new mandate.
PrepScout Top 100 — as of 7/20/25
See more ratings in the free download below this chart
Below you may download PrepScout Top 500, including listings from On3IA, On3, 247 and ESPN. Compare and contrast, and feel free to offer feedback.
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈
Grading college recruiting
For fans who follow college football, recruiting is focused on flipping commits and winning signing day. That is still critical, but now even more so in a year-round arms race. NIL deals, transfer windows and early enrollment have turned high school recruiting into a strategic battlefield.
Programs like Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State still dominate the top of the rankings, but the margins are thinner, and the scouting mistakes are costlier. That’s why PrepScout focuses on positional fit and long-term projection, not just who committed where.
Here are some observations based on the summary above:
Texas makes noise with the most No. 1-rated positional players (Bell, Atkinson, Johnson) and a top-heavy class.
Alabama holds the highest average recruit rating but sits No. 6 overall due to smaller class size.
Oregon and LSU lead the field in compact class quality — small numbers, high ratings.
Notre Dame posts a stealthy top-five class despite having no five-stars, which speaks to positional balance and scouting efficiency.
🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈