Monday, Aug. 10, 2009

Recruiting: LB torn between Tigers, Tide

Athlete Desmond Brown of Centre, Ala., running back Demont Buice of Gadsden, Ala., and linebacker Victor Beasley (6-foot-4, 220 pounds) of Adairsville, Ga., are close friends and stay in regular contact. The three have talked about playing college football at the same place. Brown committed to Clemson earlier in the summer, and Buice did so over the weekend. That’s leaves Beasley who plans to make a decision this week between Clemson and Alabama. Beasley recently visited Clemson with his parents. He was favoring Alabama prior to the visit but is now finding it hard to make a decision. “It went great,” Beasley said of the visit. “I brought my parents and they fell in love with the place. They (the coaches) showed me the depth chart and, if I came, where I would fit in.”

Clemson also picked up a commitment last week from defensive back Garry Peters (6-1, 180) of Conyers, Ga. He’s the third cornerback to commit to the Tigers.

Beaufort linebacker Justin Parker (6-2, 225) made an unofficial visit to Clemson over the weekend, his first visit to the school. The Tigers and USC are in a battle for Parker and are tired 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.

Tight end Neil Basford (6-5, 235) of Jacksonville, Fla., made an unofficial visit to USC Saturday with his father. Basford is down to USC, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Florida State. The Gamecocks and Demon Deacons are tied for the lead.

LSU has moved into the top five with defensive back John Fulton (6-0, 180) of Manning, bumping Virginia Tech from the group. He continues to favor USC by a narrow margin on Alabama. Florida is third followed by Georgia and LSU. Fulton plans to go to several games at USC this season and wants to make his decision in late November or early December.

Defensive back Chris Hughes (6-0, 210) of Mobile, Ala., is favoring Mississippi State over Clemson, USC and Mississippi. He said the Bulldogs are recruiting him the hardest. He would like to visit USC.

Offensive lineman Max Garcia (6-5, 275) of Norcross, Ga., has a top three of Vanderbilt, Clemson and Maryland with a lean to the Commodores. “They lead because of their education, they are a program on the rise, they are starting to compete in the SEC, and I want to be a part of that,” Garcia said.

Offesnive lineman Arie Kouandjio (6-6, 314) of Hyattsville, Md., cut his list to 14 with USC one of the survivors. Kouandjio was scheduled for an unofficial visit to Iowa over the weekend.

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

USC 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.

Athlete Sherard Cadogan (6-3, 230) of Cherry Hill, N.J., has USC in his top five along with Michigan State, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and Penn State. He plans to make an official visit to USC. They Gamecocks are looking at him for defense.

Defensive back Devont’a Davis (6-2, 175) of Gainesville, Fla., is strong on USC and plans to take an official visit. He also likes Miami, North Carolina, Louisville and Arkansas.

Defensive end Kareem Martin (6-6, 240) of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., is down to Clemson, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Duke with no favorite.

Auburn offered wide receiver Nick Jones (5-10, 165) of Byrnes last week. He also has offers from USC, Michigan, Northern Illinois and Georgia Southern and is expecting one from Penn State. Jones said he’ll take an official visit to USC and will be in Columbia for the Mississippi and Florida games.

Offensive lineman Danny Foose (6-6, 310) of Paramus, N.J., is getting a strong push from USC and wants to take an official visit with the Gamecocks this fall. He has offers from USC, Stanford, Minnesota, Illinois, Rutgers, Boston College, South Florida, Louisville and Akron.

Offensive lineman Ed Christian (6-5, 295) of Valdosta, Ga., remains committed to Florida State but wants to take official visits in the fall to USC, Clemson, Tennessee and Southern Cal.

Linebacker Antoine Pozniak (6-3, 220) of Hamberg, N.J., attended USC’s Showcase Camp, and the Gamecocks plan to watch him this season. Penn State and Syracuse also are interested along with Buffalo, LSU and Southeast Missouri State.

Clemson and USC remain in touch with running back Jawan Jamison (5-8, 195) of Jacksonville, Fla. He cites offers from Clemson, Wake Forest, Rutgers and Northern Illinois with no favorite.

Running back Cassius McDowell (5-9, 166) of Deerfield Beach, Fla., says he has offers from USC, West Virginia, Michigan, Wake Forest, Mississippi, Connecticut, Central Florida and Florida International.

Quarterback J.D. Pride (6-1, 190) of Brooklyn Park, Minn., made an unofficial visit to USC Thursday and attended football practice that night. USC has not offered him but plans to evaluate him during the season. Pride has an offer from Minnesota.

Running back Corey Brown (6-1, 184) of Springfield, Pa., has Clemson in his final group even though he’s not heard from the Tigers in some time. He also is looking at Florida, Florida State, Miami, Rutgers, West Virginia, Penn State, Alabama, and Ohio State.

The Citadel has been showing interest in offensive lineman Dylan Bostic (6-6, 280) of Neptune, Fla. He has offers from Middle Tennessee, Iowa State, Indiana, Florida Atlantic and Central Florida.

Richland Northeast offensive lineman C.J. Wilson (6-5, 270) camped at USC this summer and remains interested in the Gamecocks though they have not offered. The Gamecocks are remaining in touch.

Marlboro County defensive end Lee Pegues (6-2, 255) committed recently to East Carolina.

Basketball news.Stacey Poole (6-5) of Jacksonville, Fla., picked up offers recently from Oklahoma and Kentucky. They join USC, Clemson, Florida, Indiana, Xavier and Miami on his offer list. Poole said he’s focusing on USC, Clemson, Kentucky, Indiana and Oklahoma right now with no favorite.

Baseball news. USC picked up a commitment last week for the 2010 class from SS Peter Mooney of Palm Beach JC, Fla. He was the defensive player of the year in his district and was drafted in the 37th round by the Cubs.

For the 2011 class, the Gamecocks added a commitment from utility player Kevin White of Earlysville, Va.

Clemson picked up catcher Garrett Boulware of T.L. Hanna for its 2011 class.

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