|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
High School |
| |
||||||
| Wednesday, July 16 |
||||||
| Football recruiting buzz By Jeff Goodman SchoolSports.com | ||||||
|
It was a big week for tight ends, as two of the nation's best committed this week. Southern Lab High's (La.) Marcus Spears decided to stay in state, and the 6-foot-5, 270-pound football and basketball standout committed to LSU on Sunday. Spears joins Christian Life Academy (La.) receiver Michael Clayton and De La Salle-New Orleans High (La.) lineman Marquise Hill, both friends of his, as future Tigers. Spears caught 25 passes for 449 yards and three touchdowns and also made 50 tackles and had 11 ½ sacks on defense during his senior campaign. He plans on playing basketball at LSU as well and chose the Tigers over Miami, Florida State, Texas and Texas A&M.
Lewiston-Fergus High's (Mont.) Mark Anderson, considered a close second behind Spears at the tight end position, committed to Stanford. The 6-foot-7, 260-pound Anderson projects as a tight end in college, but he played both sides of the line in high school and chose the Cardinal over Oregon State, Washington and Colorado State. "He's the best offensive lineman I've ever coached," says his coach, Gary Gebert. "He averages over 20 pancake blocks a game. He played the whole game both ways. He didn't have great stats on defense, but that's because nobody ran to his side of the ball. "I just put all my good players on one side of the ball and throw Mark on the other side." Anderson says he knew Stanford would be his destination early on in the recruiting process, but he wanted to make certain and took visits to Washington and Colorado State. He has a 3.95 GPA, scored a 29 on the ACT and is leaning toward majoring in something with engineering that emphasizes physics. "As far as a positional preference, I could really care less where I play," says Anderson. "Wherever they need me. They told me that I'll probably start out at defensive end, but possibly tight end or offensive line. For me, a QB sack is as sweet as a pancake block." Stanford also received a commitment from Englewood-Lemon Bay High (Fla.) defensive lineman Casey Carroll, who chose the Cardinal over Duke and Boston College.
Reversing Field Gooch, who originally committed to play at Northwestern midway through his senior campaign, will instead sign with Tulsa. Gooch threw for more than 3,800 yards and 44 touchdowns over two seasons. Simmons, one of the elite linebackers in the country, told new USC coach Pete Carroll last weekend that he was de-committing from UCLA and joining the Trojans' program. Simmons orally committed to UCLA last February. But he wanted to play for a defensive-minded coach and chose USC's Carroll, a former NFL defensive coordinator and head coach. Leinart has visited Oklahoma and has a trip scheduled to Arizona State next week, but he is still considering sticking with his commitment to USC.
Duke Bound Wigal has great speed and is projected as a slot receiver in Duke's wide-open offense. "He's a very intelligent young man," says Morgantown coach Gary McNew. "He did everything for us -- punted, ran kickoffs and punts back, played cornerback, was one of our leading ground gainers and pass catchers." Wigal isn't the only Morgantown High product who will ink with a Division I school. Fullback Alex Lake already signed with West Virginia, and lineman Matt Ameri (6-foot-5, 275) is choosing between San Diego State, Marshall, Northwestern and Michigan State.
Done Deals Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) running back Rashon Powers-Neal has chosen Notre Dame over Nebraska, Stanford, Georgia Tech, Minnesota and Wisconsin. ... Bellville High (Texas) lineman Kurt Falke, a 6-foot-6, 275-pound senior, will play at Duke. ... Valley High (Iowa) quarterback Mike Follett will stay in state and play for the University of Iowa. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Follett chose the Hawkeyes over rival Iowa State. ... East Chambers High (Texas) running back Cody Thibodeaux committed to the University of Houston over Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. ... Jasper High (Texas) wide receiver Brandon Verrett committed to Oklahoma State. The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder chose the Cowboys over LSU and Arkansas. ... Denver South High (Colo.) tight end Salih Besirevic pledged to Georgia Tech. The 6-foot-8, 245-pound Besirevic is a native of Bosnia and caught 29 passes for 564 yards and nine touchdowns this season. ... Bolles High (Fla.) 6-foot-1, 195-pound wide receiver Antoine Sharp will attend the University of Florida next season. He chose the Gators over LSU, Clemson, Miami and Notre Dame. ... Beaumont Ozen High (Texas) receiver Caleb Ceaser committed to Arkansas.
Finalizing Plans Opelika High (Ala.) linebacker LeMarcus Rowell is leaning toward Alabama over LSU, FSU and Auburn. Rowell put up astonishing numbers this season with 162 tackles. ... Louisville Male High (Ky.) record-breaking 6-foot-2, 195-pound receiver Montrell Jones de-committed from Kentucky last month after several assistant coaches left the program and is now deciding between Tennessee, Florida, Purdue and Texas. ... Cretin-Derham Hall (Minn.) quarterback Joe Mauer, the Gatorade National Player of the Year, will visit Arizona next weekend. He is looking to play both baseball and football and is also considering FSU, Minnesota and Miami. ... Mountain View High (Ariz.) quarterback Kainoa Akina, the son of Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina, is looking at Hawaii and Fresno State. ... Defensive back Chris White of Lake Charles LaGrange High (La.) is looking at Arkansas and Kentucky. ... Harding Academy (Ark.) linebacker Jeb Huckeba will decide between Arkansas and FSU. ... Decatur High (Ala.) receiver Ratavious Bittle is down to Mississippi, North Carolina State and Arkansas. ... Aloha High (Ore.) quarterback Nic Costa has narrowed his choices to Purdue, Notre Dame, Arizona and UCLA. ... Bradenton Southeast High (Fla.) quarterback Adrian McPherson, who won the Southeast region High School Heisman award, will visit Florida State on Jan. 26. He is also looking at North Carolina, Clemson, Miami, Michigan State and Arkansas. ... Tucker High (Ga.) bruising running back Jabari Davis still favors Tennessee over Mississippi State and Alabama.
Material from SchoolSports.com.Visit their web site at www.schoolsports.com | |
|||||
|
|
