If you follow recruiting in college football, you know it's a 365-day roller coaster of emotions, and nowhere was that more evident than on X Tuesday evening.
Our prospect du jour is none other than Ben'jarvius Shumaker, a four-star defensive tackle from Choctaw County, Mississippi.
Shumaker is a damn good player in his own right, a composite top-100 player in the country and the second-best player in the Magnolia State.
As most players from Mississippi tend to do, Shumaker committed to the Ole Miss Rebels back in March.
Trinidad Chambliss of the Ole Miss Rebels celebrates on stage with teammates after the College Football Playoff quarterfinal game against the Georgia Bulldogs at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 1, 2026. (CFP/Getty Images)
It was seen as a huge win for Rebels coach Pete Golding and Co., as Shumaker represented one of the cornerstones of a recruiting class that was closing in on the top-20 with plenty of room to grow with a first-year head coach trending upward.
Shumaker was excited about getting to work with Golding and the Rebels, so much so that he announced on his Instagram he was "shutting down" his recruitment on Monday and locking in with Ole Miss.
Now, the cynic would say that they've seen plenty of high-level recruits "shut things down" only to flip later down the road, but even I couldn't have foreseen how quickly Shumaker would change his tune.
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Man, that is absolutely nuts!
Even by 2026 standards, flipping commitments less than 24 hours after shutting it down seems a bit cold. But hey, you have to go where your heart tells you to, right?
Regardless, this is a great pickup for Colorado, which desperately needs some elite players along both lines of scrimmage to get back into College Football Playoff contention.
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Now they just need a few more blue-chip linemen and... hold on, I'm being told Shumaker has flipped his commitment BACK to Ole Miss.
Snip snap, snip snap!
I can truly tell you, having followed recruiting for the last two decades, I haven't seen anything like this.
Monday morning "shut down," Tuesday afternoon flip, then a Tuesday evening flip back to your original school is utterly insane.
A Mississippi Rebels helmet is shown during the game against the Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium/Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo., on Oct. 12, 2019. (Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports)
Shumaker issued a statement and tried to do some damage control, but the court of public opinion had already made up its mind with regard to this recruiting kerfuffle.
This is the sad state of recruiting in 2026.
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If I had a dollar for every time I warned you all that college football recruiting is not for the faint of heart, my favorite team would never have to worry about NIL budgets again, but I digress.
Shumaker says in his statement that he has shut down his recruitment yet again, reaffirming his pledge to Ole Miss, but if I were a Rebels fan, I'm not sure if I would take this young man at his word just yet.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON'T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Pete Golding watches warm ups before Ole Miss' game against the Furman Paladins at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss., on Aug. 31, 2024. (Petre Thomas/USA TODAY Sports)
Vibes will be tense in Oxford for the rest of this cycle hoping to hold on to the second-best player in their 2027 recruiting class.
And with how transient football players are nowadays, just getting a recruit to sign on the dotted line isn't enough anymore, as you essentially have to re-recruit your entire roster every six months.
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Take a good look at your favorite school's commit list when you get a chance and try not to get attached to any of the names on there.
You never know where one of those young men will end up next.
Austin Perry is a writer for OutKick.
