Versatile tailback Kamron Randell-Taylor breaks down Top 5
Throughout Kamron Randell-Taylor's recruitment to date, programs across the Power Five landscape and in general have lined up with the hopes of securing his services for the future.
The three-star tailback out of Fontana (Jurupa Hills) Calif. has attracted over a dozen scholarship offers and ranks as the No. 32 tailback in the nation for his class.
On Sunday, Randell-Taylor released at Top 5 on Twitter, trimming down his options ahead of a summer sure to be busy with recruiting visits.
Colorado, Liberty, Oregon, Arizona and San Diego State made the cut.
Below, Randell-Taylor broke down his finalists with CUSportsNation.
"Arizona, (running backs coach Scottie) Graham — that’s my guy right there. He offered me way back during my sophomore year and that connection has been there since. He’s showed me love and I’ve showed him love. The whole town of Tucson showed me love, too, on Twitter and when I went down there.”
“Going into Liberty, me and (tailbacks coach Bruce Johnson) just clicked right off the bat. I’m setting up a visit to go out there sooner or later. When coach gets back to their facilities, we’re going to set some dates up.”
“Colorado, me and coach (Darian) Hagan have been chatting up for a very long time. That’s my guy right there. I went out there for their spring game and that’s one thing that I enjoyed. Coach Hagan and everybody and the coaching staff up there, they showed a lot of love, too. Coach Hagan has come to my school and chatted me up there — he’ll check up on me and I’ll check up on him, too.”
"Oregon, when I went up there to Eugene, it’s different out there. It’s very different in Eugene, Oregon. It’s a college town and everyone out there shows you love, on Twitter, as soon as you get out there, and as soon as I went up there when coach (Mario) Cristobal was there, that coaching staff showed me a great amount of love. Once everything changed and they got the new coaches there, it’s still the same amount of love. Nothing has changed there. It's just different out there.”
“San Diego, it’s not even far from home, like an hour drive from here, great weather, 20 minutes away from the beach. I went out there for a college visit and the coaching staff gave us so much love. They showed us around campus and gave us the rundown on how your freshman and sophomore year will go. Everything else, having the same coaching staff that coached my friends, who are now in the NFL at this point, it’s a great thing to see.”
This past season at Jurupa Hills, Randell-Taylor was the Spartans' leading rusher, averaging 9.0 yards per carry, running for 522 yards and a team-high 11 touchdowns.
While the Buffs currently have a 2023 tailback committed in AJ Newberry, Hagan remains on the lookout for further reinforcements at the position.
As for official visits, Randell-Taylor has some programs in mind that he'd like to check out.
“We’re definitely doing Colorado as an official and then I’m thinking Arizona and probably Oregon as one," he said. "If anything changes, then it’ll change, but we’ll see what happens from there."
Out of the schools named in his aforementioned Top 5, Colorado joined the party most recently, having offered him in mid-February.
With Randell-Taylor falling into Hagan's recruiting zone, the two have bonded over their California roots.
“We connected right off the bat," Randell-Taylor said. "As soon as he called me, he told me that he recruited a lot of guys from my area. I know he’s from this area, too, so I feel like we have that Cali connection that’s going to go out to Colorado that could probably do some damage out there.
"Coach Hagan is a legend (in Boulder), so I feel like I can get taught a lot from him. Me and him with this connection, every day we text. It’s a good connection and bond between us.”