Sib18
I bleed orange!
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LSU, Tennessee, Illinois enter top ten
By Tom Luginbill
Scouts Inc.
Not too much movement at the top of the rankings, but three new teams, LSU, Tennessee and Illinois, have made the biggest splashes and entered the top ten. With just four weeks until national signing day, official visits of undecided prospects are starting to heat up, and so will the commitments.
LSU has had a nice start to the new year after they received a surprise defection in CB Phelon Jones (Mobile, Ala./McGill-Toolen) from Miami in December. This was followed up by commitments from two defensive stalwarts in DE Luther Davis (West Monroe, La.) and Joseph Barksdale (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech), both of whom announced during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
While Tennessee lost out on S Harrison Smith (Knoxville, Tenn./Knoxville Catholic) and WR Golden Tate (Nashville, Tenn./Pope John Paul II) to Notre Dame, it won the battle by landing LB Chris Donald (Huntington, Tenn.), CB Eric Berry (Fairburn, Geo./Creekside), DE Ben Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) and WR Gerald Jones (Oklahoma City, Okla./Millwood), all of whom fill significant needs on their roster.
Ron Zook continues to pound the pavement on the recruiting trail and had a very successful December for Illinois with commitments from DE Martez Wilson (Chicago/Simeon), TE/DE D'Angelo McCray (Jacksonville, Fla./Andrew Jackson) and DT Josh Brent (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic).
Another team worth mentioning is South Carolina, who will be hard to knock out from among the top-ranked recruiting classes. With seven ESPN 150 commitments, not too many more big names may jump aboard, but it has filled holes with SEC championship-caliber players. Many may look back at this class three years from now as the class that got it over the hump.
(previous top-ten rank in parenthesis)
1. (1) Notre Dame
ESPN 150 prospects: 9
2. (2) Texas
ESPN 150 prospects: 11
3. (3) USC
ESPN 150 prospects: 9
4. (5) South Carolina
ESPN 150 prospects: 7
5. (4) Florida
ESPN 150 prospects: 7
6. (-) LSU
ESPN 150 prospects: 5
7. (-) Tennesee
ESPN 150 prospects: 4
8. (8) Georgia
ESPN 150 prospects: 5
9. (6) Georgia Tech
ESPN 150 prospects: 2
10. (-) Illinois
ESPN 150 prospects: 4
Dropping out of top ten: Michigan, Auburn, North Carolina. Recruit Tracker Automated Rankings
By Tom Luginbill
Scouts Inc.
Not too much movement at the top of the rankings, but three new teams, LSU, Tennessee and Illinois, have made the biggest splashes and entered the top ten. With just four weeks until national signing day, official visits of undecided prospects are starting to heat up, and so will the commitments.
LSU has had a nice start to the new year after they received a surprise defection in CB Phelon Jones (Mobile, Ala./McGill-Toolen) from Miami in December. This was followed up by commitments from two defensive stalwarts in DE Luther Davis (West Monroe, La.) and Joseph Barksdale (Detroit, Mich./Cass Tech), both of whom announced during the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
While Tennessee lost out on S Harrison Smith (Knoxville, Tenn./Knoxville Catholic) and WR Golden Tate (Nashville, Tenn./Pope John Paul II) to Notre Dame, it won the battle by landing LB Chris Donald (Huntington, Tenn.), CB Eric Berry (Fairburn, Geo./Creekside), DE Ben Martin (Cincinnati, Ohio/LaSalle) and WR Gerald Jones (Oklahoma City, Okla./Millwood), all of whom fill significant needs on their roster.
Ron Zook continues to pound the pavement on the recruiting trail and had a very successful December for Illinois with commitments from DE Martez Wilson (Chicago/Simeon), TE/DE D'Angelo McCray (Jacksonville, Fla./Andrew Jackson) and DT Josh Brent (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic).
Another team worth mentioning is South Carolina, who will be hard to knock out from among the top-ranked recruiting classes. With seven ESPN 150 commitments, not too many more big names may jump aboard, but it has filled holes with SEC championship-caliber players. Many may look back at this class three years from now as the class that got it over the hump.
(previous top-ten rank in parenthesis)
1. (1) Notre Dame
ESPN 150 prospects: 9
2. (2) Texas
ESPN 150 prospects: 11
3. (3) USC
ESPN 150 prospects: 9
4. (5) South Carolina
ESPN 150 prospects: 7
5. (4) Florida
ESPN 150 prospects: 7
6. (-) LSU
ESPN 150 prospects: 5
7. (-) Tennesee
ESPN 150 prospects: 4
8. (8) Georgia
ESPN 150 prospects: 5
9. (6) Georgia Tech
ESPN 150 prospects: 2
10. (-) Illinois
ESPN 150 prospects: 4
Dropping out of top ten: Michigan, Auburn, North Carolina. Recruit Tracker Automated Rankings
