Louisville Recruiting

CLASS OF 2011 PENNSYLVANIA TOP 25 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYERS

by CHRIS DOKISH

It’s a down year for talent in the state, both with the number of elite prospects and the overall number of high-major prospects, but there are still some very good players to be recruited.

The glamour positions of quarterback and wide receiver are severely lacking, and there are no elite offensive linemen or linebackers, but there is an excellent running back which is a rarity in the state, three excellent cornerbacks, and a slew of exciting pass rushers.

As always, the final rankings are my own, but only after talking to many high school coaches, college scouts, and independent scouts, such as Joe Butler of Metro Index Scouting.

1. Ben Koyack, Oil City HS (Oil City) TE – It’s not often that a tight end is the best player in the state, but there is little doubt that will be the case this year. At 6′5″ and 230 pounds, he has good size with a frame to get even bigger. He also possesses great hands to go along with good speed and athleticism. More of a threat as a receiver but is a willing and good blocker. Most of all, he just knows how to play football. Committed to NOTRE DAME over Penn State, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Oklahoma, West Virginia, LSU, California, Virginia Tech, USC, and many others. Bottom line – A perfect fit for new coach Brian Kelly and there’s no reason why he can’t be a star at the college level.

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FOOTBALL RECRUITING NOTES

The Charleston Post & Courier is always a valuable resource for recruiting notes in the southeast. Phil Kornblut delivers many relevent notes once again in his May 11 Notebook, here are some of the notes that Big East fans will find of interest:

WR Justin Scott (5-11, 205) of Camilla (GA) plans to announce his commitment Saturday at the state track meet. ScottWake Forest and South Carolina in the next two weeks. He has offers from the Gamecocks, Wake Forest, Louisville, Georgia, Georgia Tech, East Carolina, Stanford, Vanderbilt and Maryland.
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TE Drew Owens (6-5, 230) of Charlotte has decided to open his recruiting back up after narrowing things a little bit. He had South Carolina and North Carolina as his top two, but now he says there are no favorites. He’s doing this because he recently picked up offers from Louisville, Michigan, South Florida and Illinois. He also has offers from South Carolina, Clemson, North Carolina, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Maryland, East Carolina, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Duke. He plans to have a new top five before this season and those will be his official visits.
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LB Marcquis Roberts (6-1, 205) of Powder Springs (GA) is still favoring South Carolina over offers from Wisconsin, Memphis and Louisville. Gamecock recruiter GA Mangus was in recently, along with recruiters from Florida State and Purdue. Mangus is expected back for his spring game Saturday. He doesn’t plan to make a decision until mid-season.
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DB Geraldo Orta (6-0 180) of Valdosta (GA) has landed offers from Clemson and South Carolina. Orta also has an offer from Tennessee and is also getting interest from North Carolina, Illinois, Central Florida, Georgia, Troy and Louisville. Right now he’s favoring Clemson over Auburn, Tennessee and North Carolina. Orta plays cornerback and safety.
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ATH Ronald Baines (6-1 180) of Voorhees (NJ) is still waiting on that first offer and will be attending camps from May through July to be evaluated by the coaches. One of his camp stops will be South Carolina in early June. Schools showing interest include USC, Temple, Penn State, Michigan, South Florida, Connecticut, Tennessee, Rutgers and Kentucky.
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NBE Sports has watched plenty of Penn Wood (PA) High School big man Shawn Oakman on the basketball court, where he is a Division I prospect at 6-foot-8, 240-pounds. However his future might be on the gridiron at the college level as a defensive end as Oakman is Up to Six Division 1-A Offers (PennLive.com) in football.

Oakman has received offers from Connecticut, North Carolina State, Penn State, Pitt, Rice, and South Carolina. Schools like Michigan, Purdue, Rutgers, Virginia and West Virginia have shown interest.
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Bowling Green, Illinois, Louisville, Memphis, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Syracuse, Texas Tech and West Virginia have all offered Desimon Green as Clairton’s Green is Up to 10 Offers (PennLive.com). Green doubles as both a quarterback and a defensive lineman for Clairton which has gone 30-2 the last two seasons. The 6’4, 215-pound senior-to-be had a productive junior season at quarterback, throwing for more than 1,500 yards and running for more than 800 yards, accounting for more than 20 total touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball he has been a dominant pass-rusher, accounting for more than 45 sacks the last two seasons.
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Dallastown’s Ben Kline has received scholarship offers from Boston College, UCONN, Maryland, Michigan, Pitt, Rutgers, Vanderbilt and West Virginia as WR/LB Kline is Up to 8 Offers (PennLive.com).
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PAUL COLEMAN HAS BIG EAST INTEREST

The Central Dauphin Rams are off to a 3-1 start heading into Friday’s night match-up with Altoona High School. The Rams won their first three games before running into the machine that is this year’s Bishop McDevitt football team last week.

One key member to this year’s success for coach Glenn McNamee’s Rams is 6-foot, 190-lb senior (2010) Paul Coleman. Coleman makes an impact in several ways for Central Dauphin, whether it is bolstering the defensive backfield or returning kicks. Already this season, Coleman has returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown against Harrisburg, had a 54-year punt return and intercepted a pass. While the individual accomplishments are nice, Coleman is looking for big things from his team during his senior season.

“My goals for this season are just to go out and win a state championship,” Coleman told NBE Sports this week. “Any individual accomplishments that come along would be great, but right now I’m just trying to help my team win.”

The Rams showed they are a team to be reckoned with by beating an undefeated State College team, 24-22, that was ranked #4 in the state.

Playing in an area that is a football hotbed with a traditionally strong program has several colleges keeping an eye on Coleman as a possible addition to their program in the future. Most schools, including a couple from the Big East, are recruiting him as a safety at the college level.

“I’m getting recruited by Louisville, Pitt, Marshall, Buffalo, Army, Navy, Maryland, Lafayette and I’ve been offered by Bucknell, Holy Cross and Lehigh,” said Coleman. “I really still don’t have a favorite, I’m just letting the season play out right now.”

Coleman has taken the opportunity to visit both Big East schools showing interest, Pitt and Louisville, and is hoping to see Maryland and Buffalo in the near future. He is also taking a trip to Annapolis this weekend to check out the program at the Naval Academy and has a visit planned to Lehigh in November. He has also visited Bucknell and Lafayette previously.

NBE Sports will continue to monitor the recruitment of Coleman and the season for Central Dauphin as they work toward winning a championship.
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TROY GLOSTER COMMITS TO WVU

West Virginia added to their 2010 football recruiting class Wednesday night when Our Lady of Good Counsel linebacker Troy Gloster made a verbal commitment to West Virginia.

“Yes, I commited,” Gloster told NBE Sports. “They have always been my favorite. I’ve built the strongest relationship with Coach Casteel (WVU LB coach) out of everyone who recruited me.”

Just last week, Gloster told NBE Sports he was looking over offers from 13 schools, including the Mountaineers as well as Michigan, Stanford, UNC, NC State, Iowa, Minnesota, Towson, Syracuse, Louisville, Wisconsin and Michigan State.

Gloster is one of the top college linebacker prospects in Maryland and stands 6-foot and weighs 220 pounds. He will now concentrate on his main goal for this season.

“My goal for this season is to win our conference championship,” said Gloster last weekend.

Gloster had visited Morgantown last spring and felt the time was right to make his decision.

“I felt very comfortable when I visited back in the spring time and the coaches showed me a lot of love,” said Gloster.
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*********Follow NBE Sports on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NBESports*****

Big East Football Season Ticket Links

2009 Cincinnati Bearcats Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 Connecticut Huskies Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 Louisville Cardinals Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 Pittsburgh Panthers Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 Syracuse Orange Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 South Florida Bulls Football Tickets – Season Package


2009 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Tickets – Season Package

All individual games on sale too

CLASS OF 2011 INTRO: QUENTIN GAUSE

From time to time you come across a student-athlete that seems to ‘get it’ at a young age. When getting to know Rochester (NY) Bishop Kearney HS football player Quentin Gause, you find just such a young man.

Gause, a 6-foor-2, 215-lb junior (2011), does a little bit of everything for coach Eddie Long’s Kings. Those traits have brought plenty of recruiting attention his way as colleges are recruiting Gause as an athlete, with some liking him as a wide receiver, some as a running back and some as a linebacker on the defensive side of the ball.

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FOOTBALL RECRUITING NOTEBOOK (9/14/2009)

Glades Central defensive back Travis Bell and American Heritage-Delray all-purpose athlete Darius Millines are headed to the Big East as Bell and Millines Commit to West Virginia (Sun-Sentinel) following official visits to WVU last weekend. The Palm Beach County pair took in the Mountaineers 35-20 win over East Carolina in Morgantown while on the visit.

WVU recruiting coordinator Doc Holliday has long been known as an ace recruiter in the talent-laden state of Florida and Bell and Millines join another pair of Palm Beach County prospects as 2010 verbal commitments as Pahokee wide receiver Fred Pickett and Dwyer defensive back Robert Clark have previously commited to West Virginia.
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Here are the latest Big East recruiting mentions from Phil Kornblut’s Recruiting Buzz that appears every Monday at thestats.com, South Carolina’s homepage…

Athlete Sherard Cadogan (6-3 230) of Cherry Hill, N.J., has firmed up his South Carolina official visit for Oct. 10 after considering arriving this weekend. He will also visit Wisconsin, West Virginia, Pittsburgh and Michigan State.
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Wide receiver Dyjuan Lewis (6-3 188) of Indianapolis remains undecided on his official visits from his offers of South Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Colorado, Minnesota, Louisville, Cincinnati, Tennessee, Oregon and Arkansas. Lewis said he will take all five of his visits after this season.
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USC remains interested in athlete Todd Neal (6-2, 195) of Mobile, Ala., as a defensive back. He talked recently with defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward.

“He said they are keeping the offer on the table,” Neal told thestats.com, who also has offers from Southern Miss and Troy. He is also hearing from Florida State, Ole Miss, Marshall and Louisville.
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Defensive lineman Michael Thornton (6-2, 280) of Stone Mountain, Ga., says the only official visit of which he is sure is Penn State. Other offers include Clemson, USC, Miami, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Arkansas and West Virginia.
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Offensive lineman Duvon Milsap (6-6, 300) of Buford, Ga., remains undecided about his official visits. He has had calls from South Carolina, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss and Louisville, and his top three are USC, Ole Miss and Oklahoma State. Milsap also has offers from Clemson, Mississippi State and East Carolina.

BIG EAST RECRUITING NOTES (8/31/2009)

A quick update from South Carolina’s state.com of some southern players getting Big East interest on the recruiting trail…

According to the State.com’s Monday Recruiting Notebook, Wide receiver Torian Richardson (6-0, 180) of Byrnes (SC) says he will take official visits to Michigan State and Mississippi State. He is going to East Lansing for the Penn State game Nov. 21. He is also looking at South Carolina for a possible visit and will take one if the Gamecocks offer. He has offers from Michigan State, Mississippi State, Rutgers, Tulane, Louisville, Syracuse, Kansas State and East Carolina.
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BIG EAST RECRUITING NOTES (8/10/2009)

According to Phil Kornblut’s weekly Recruitng Notebook (The State.com), many players from the South have an eye on Big East programs. Here are the Big East mentions from his Monday recruiting notebook:

- Beaufort (SC) linebacker Justin Parker (6-2, 225) made an unofficial visit to Clemson over the weekend, his first visit to the school. The Tigers and South Carolina are in a battle for Parker and are currently at the top of his list. Parker also has offers from Maryland, Mississippi State, Wake Forest, Central Florida, N.C. State, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Colorado and South Florida.

- Wide receiver Kadron Boone (6-1, 185) of Ocala, Fla., has his list down to South Carolina, Clemson, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, Cincinnati, Miami and Notre Dame.

- South Carolina is showing some interest in wide receiver Dominique Roberts (6-0, 203) of Daytona Beach, Fla. He has been offered by Connecticut, Florida International, Western Kentucky, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman.

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BIG EAST FOOTBALL RECRUITING NOTES (8/6/2009)

Here is a round-up of BiG East football recruiting notes found on the web the past few days…

According to Phil Kornblut, in a special for the Post & Courier in South Carolina, here are the Big East mentions from his Monday recruiting notebook:

- Ego Ferguson Jr. (6-3, 260) of Hargrave Prep, Va. Clemson was one of the seven schools he cut. Also making the list were Miami, Oklahoma, LSU, Notre Dame, North Carolina, UCLA, California, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Nebraska, Penn State, Tennessee and Maryland. Notre Dame, Oklahoma and LSU will get three of his official visits. Ferguson plans to get his list to 10 before leaving for schools Aug. 17.

- Darrell Givens (6-1, 172) of Indian Head, Md., is a DB that signed with Penn State last February, but last week was denied admission by the university despite being NCAA qualified.

Givens’ transcripts are to be reviewed by South Carolina’s admissions committee. If accepted, sources indicate there’s a good chance he will join the Gamecocks this week. Givens and his coach were in regular contact with members of South Carolina’s staff last week. North Carolina and Rutgers are the two other schools Givens is considering.

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