From Wash Post today:

Mikail Kamara was a zero-star prospect out of Stone Bridge High in Ashburn, Virginia. After signing with Curt Cignetti’s James Madison program in 2020, the defensive lineman followed the coach to Indiana in 2024.

Along the way to Bloomington, Kamara’s development at JMU earned him three stars as a transfer portal prospect, according to recruiting services. On Monday night, he blocked a punt that led to a touchdown in the national championship game. The play not only blunted Miami’s momentum and pushed Indiana to a 27-21 win and its first national title, but it also helped upend decades of conventional wisdom in college football: Recruiting stars make championship rosters, and only the sport’s elite are capable of constructing them.

“I didn’t think it was possible, I can’t lie,” Kamara said after the game. “But to be here today, it’s surreal.”

Zero-star defensive line prospects who initially sign with a nearby Sun Belt Conference program don’t end up making a defining play in the national championship game. And in no universe does this happen at Indiana....