Highly-Touted QB Recruit Picks Liberty Over A Bevy Power 5 Schools, Biggest Commitment In Program History

Liberty University just locked up the highest-ranked recruit in the program's history with 4-star quarterback Jayden Bradford.

The 6-foot-tall signal-caller out of IMG Academy visited Liberty University last month and announced that he was committing to the school in Lynchburg, Virginia.

And he's bringing some serious salad to Williams Stadium.

Bradford told 247Sports that members of the coaching staff had been in touch with him for quite some time, dating back to his freshman year of high school.

With Hugh Freeze leaving for Auburn, former Coastal Carolina front man Jamey Chadwell is entering his first year at Liberty.

“They’ve been in contact with me since my freshman year, just because they were instate and they know coach (Justin) Gentry, and coach Korn obviously played in South Carolina, so they just kind of had that South Carolina connection,” Bradford — a South Carolina native — said.

“They always just stayed in touch, whether it was personal or recruiting-wise. Then they got to Liberty and I was the first guy they brought up there on an OV. When I got up there, I knew I just had to be there.”

While the addition of Bradford as part of the school's 2024 class is a big deal in and of itself, it's the schools that he turned down that may make the Flames want to puff their chests out a little bit.

There was a laundry list of programs that extended Bradford offers, including a few Power 5 schools. These included offers from Cincinnati, Penn State, Missouri, South Carolina, Virginia Tech, Appalachian State, UAB, and more.

That's a major win for the Liberty program, which is also making some big changes this season. They've joined Conference USA this season after previously competing as an independent.

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