Recruiting: Top two 2024 prospects announce commitments

<p>Our top two 2024 prospects announced their college commitments within hours of each other on Monday.</p>   <p>But they weren't the only elite prospects to commit within the past few days. In fact, six of our top 37 2024 prospects have announced decisions since Sunday night.</p>   <p>The No. 1 prospect, Cleveland linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='274701' first='Stratton' last='Shufelt']</strong>, committed to UTEP on Monday. New Miners head coach Scotty Walden and a UTEP assistant visited Shufelt at Cleveland High School last week before he took his official visit to El Paso this past weekend.</p>   <p>Obviously, Shufelt liked what he saw and heard from the UTEP coaches during the trip because he committed about 24 hours after returning to Rio Rancho. Shufelt picked UTEP over numerous other offers, including New Mexico, New Mexico State, Washington State, several Ivy League institutions and a few more.</p>   <p>The No. 2 prospect, West Mesa QB/ATH <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275488' first='Elijah' last='Brody']</strong>, committed to Eastern New Mexico. He visited the ENMU campus in Portales in December. He was recruited by the Greyhounds as an athlete, meaning he could play one or more different positions, including quarterback. He chose ENMU over a handful of other schools.</p>   <p>“The passion and attitude of the Eastern New Mexico coaching staff really impressed me,” Brody told Prep Redzone New Mexico. “You could tell they are trying to build a dominant, hardworking culture, and with the class they have coming in I have no doubt we'll succeed in that. ENMU offers pretty good  academics and it's a place where I can focus on my school and football. It felt like home.”</p>   <p>Brody was an elite dual threat QB for West Mesa during his two years there after transferring from Cleveland. He threw for over 4,000 yards and 46 TD while rushing for over 2,500 yards and 25 TD. He accounted for 71 Mustang TD.   </p>   <p>“My time at West Mesa was a true blessing and I'm very grateful for it,” Brody said. “It's built me to be the leader and competitor I am today. It was an honor to be a leader for the program and to play in front of such a welcoming and supportive community. West Mesa will always be a home to me.”</p>   <p>The No. 9 prospect, Bernalillo ATH <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275206' first='Mason' last='Espinda-McChriston']</strong>, committed to NMMI Tuesday morning. In 2024, he caught 49 passes for 955 yards and 13 TD while making an impressive 142 tackles, 13.0 TFL and 5 interceptions. He finished his Spartans career with 298 tackles, 25 TFL and 12 INT. Espinda-McChriston joined St. Pius X OL/DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='275063' first='Aidan' last='Thomas']</strong>, the No. 26 prospect, in committing to NMMI. They are the first two 2024 prospects in New Mexico to commit to NMMI. </p>   <p>The No. 33 prospect, Silver QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='815932' first='Adan' last='Jacquez']</strong>, committed to hometown Western New Mexico. He threw for over 2,000 yards and 30+ TD and rushed for 600+ yards as a senior.</p>   <p>Finally, Volcano Vista OL/DL <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='590180' first='Zachary' last='Markham']</strong> committed to Colorado State-Pueblo.</p>   <p>Signing Day is Feb. 7.</p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/strat_shufelt/status/1749602348651937851?s=20 </div></figure>   <p></p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/elijahobrody/status/1749546076938342553?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/mason_espinda/status/1749806704559333887?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/ZacharyMarkham4/status/1749311060199235613?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/Aidanthomas70/status/1749162249179029636?s=20 </div></figure>   <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepredzone.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/01/GEaCzx8acAAD0uW.jpg?w=680" alt="" class="wp-image-1157810" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Twitter</figcaption></figure>

Our top two 2024 prospects announced their college commitments within hours of each other on Monday.