2027 John Curtis DB/LB Prentice Mackyeon Jr. locks in OV schedule to five colleges

Prentice Mackyeon Jr. had long been on the grind and the recruiting radar, but the floodgates really opened this winter in terms of rapid-fire college offers.

The John Curtis standout, a hybrid safety/linebacker, admitted the onslaught was a blessing, but also overwhelming at times.

But Mackyeon said he and his family leaned on spreadsheets to help organize their questions and notes and make the process more manageable, while not dismissing the more intuitive component.

And the 6-1, 200-pound athlete has used that combination to zero in on a schedule of official visits to five programs that have checked boxes across the board.

“Especially after my junior year, it kind of went absolutely crazy,” he said. “It spiraled really, really fast, and I was kind of new to getting offers and looking into schools. It was really crazy at the time, but now we’ve kind of settled in. It’s slowed down a tad. A few schools are still coming and reaching out and having interest. But it’s been great. We’ve looked into each school — me and my pops and my family — and seeing which ones that’ll fit me, which ones the coaches will treat me like I’m one of their sons or just a school that I can fit and feel like I’m at home. But the recruiting process has been an experience for sure.

“We had a spreadsheet, and we kind of just wrote some questions down and asked each school what are they offering and things like that and specific details. We broke it down, but most of it was on the coaches as well — the love they showed me, but also me looking into it with my dad and my family that all came to the visit. I don’t want to be the only one that fits in. If my family doesn’t like it, then I can’t like it, because they want to be with me and they want to support me, so I need them there. But we kinda broke it down to the itty gritty, spread each school apart and got down to what we needed to to decide.”

Louisiana (Lafayette) — June 4-6

“I would say with the Cajuns, they showed great loyalty. Especially (assistant offensive line) coach P.J. Burkhalter, he’s been recruiting me since I was a sophomore. And I played a little bit as a sophomore, but he was like the first person to reach out and send me a camp schedule, and I ended up going to the camp and just building that relationship going and going and going. So I would say their loyalty is what got me, especially with coach P.J. And when I actually got there and spoke with coach Mike Des(ormeaux), it was awesome. It was awesome. The whole faculty is beautiful. The facilities are great. The field is great. The players are awesome. It’s got great energy. But if I had to give ’em one word, I would say that the loyalty that they showed, especially since my sophomore year, is awesome.”
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Tulane — June 11-13

“I was getting recruited by (assistant general manager) coach Kyle (Schexnayder), who actually went to Curtis. It’s just a small world. He went to Curtis, and I was playing quarterback at the time, and he was coaching me there (in seventh grade) and we always had that relationship. But when he actually came back, he said, ‘P.J., we like how you’re working and stuff like that.’ And then when they all came to the office, coach (Will) Hall, whose son actually plays on the John Curtis football team and I’m real close with, so it’s just like a real small world with Tulane, and it was just a lot of love. But you know Tulane. The facilities are awesome. Tulane’s newly renovated. But also I’ve got to talk about (defensive coordinator) coach (Tayler) Polk. His energy is amazing, I’ll say that. I’m actually getting recruited there as a linebacker, so that was a little bit of a change, but I’ve been hearing that a lot. But coach Polk has great energy. The whole faculty has great energy. I went into the special teams meeting room, and everybody’s screaming and yelling. It was crazy. And coach Hall’s running around the whole practice. When I was at practice, I was having a lot of fun, I’m not gonna lie. But Tulane is a great place. It feels like it’s a small. It’s right around the corner from the house. So it’s great.”
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Oregon State — June 18-20

“Beaver Nation, they’re one of a kind. Ever since I got that offer, they were commenting — I mean, the whole fan base. That was probably the first one that truly blew up, I would say. Their fan base is one of a kind. And then (New Orleans native and special teams coordinator ) coach Ricky (Brumfield) and coach Shep (JaMarcus Shepherd), they bring the energy, and he is all smiles all the time. He gets serious, but he knows how to flip that switch. He’ll be smiling and laughing. But it’s a great place, great energy. The practice was unbelievable. It was a great visit, I would say. The players were very interactive. I could ask questions, and they would answer. They’ll be cool about it. It was a great visit. And coach Shep is one of a kind. He came from Bama with Kalen DeBoer, so he knows what he’s talking about. He knows the game of football, and he’ll get on you for sure, but then he’ll pat you and say, ‘You’re good. You know.’ And also another thing is academics. Academics, they don’t mess around with that. Sitting in a meeting, we had almost an hour or hour and a half meeting with the education staff, and they were not playing at all. That was one thing he did get serious about is the education. But that, that fan base, that team, the loyalty they bring, the school, it was a great visit for sure.”
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Memphis — September 5-7

“Memphis, they’re another one that their fan base is great as well. But they say Memphis is almost like another New Orleans, and when I got there it kinda felt that way. It was a very quick, interactive visit just talking to all the coaches. Coach Corey (Phillips), the GM, he was awesome. He was pulling me and making sure I was talking to all the players, all the coaches. And speaking of coaches, I would say coach (Charles) Huff is one of the smartest coaches I know. I learned a few things going over there and just listening to him talk to the players. It was almost a little bit inspiring. I was like, ‘Dang, I could go play for this coach right now. I could go put a helmet on and run through a wall for him.’ That’s the vibes he gave, and it was great talking to him. But Memphis all in all, it was awesome. We went to the field, the stadium. It was a nice stadium. I’d never seen a stadium do what they did where it was kind of like a bowl almost, and that was pretty awesome as well. Memphis was definitely great. And I can’t forget about coach (Ronald Saulsberry Jr.), he was the nickels coach, and awesome as well. And he’s kinda young, so he’s been through what other players have been through, so it’s easy to relate and talk to him as well. So Memphis, it was awesome. It was awesome.
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Arkansas State — September 12-14

“The Red Wolves, coach Kody (Schexnayder) was over there, like you said. He’s great. Him and Kyle are great. He kinda brought me into it all, and then I talked to coach Kwame (Agyeman), the safeties coach, and coach (Jalen Ortiz), the cornerbacks coach, they’ve been together for 10 or 15 years coaching, so I know that their chemistry is great, so I know that it can help me with the people that I might be around if I end up going there. So I felt like that was a big part of going and seeing what was going on and that it could be a changing factor if I wanted to go to the school like that. But you know they’ve coach Butch Jones there, probably one of the greatest coaches ever. He coached with (Nick) Saban. He’s probably one of the most talented coaches ever. He’s coached great people, like some of the ones I can remember are Alvin Kamara and Antonio Brown as well. So just seeing his track record, you know, ‘OK, I have a chance to go to the NFL.’ Like, I have to put in the work, but he knows what he’s talking about. And that’s for sure. And it’s all over his room. I went to his office, and he’s got the rings and pictures everywhere. It was great. We went out to the field. The field was absolutely stunning. It had a waterfall, which I had never seen in no stadium ever. I thought that was a baseball thing. But, yeah, Arkansas State was beautiful — the red and black, the Wolves. The facilities were great there. That was one thing I was not expecting was the facilities. But Arkansas State, it’s a nice, beautiful place I could definitely see myself. It was very welcoming.”
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