Gamecocks the favorite for Florida DE Chris Whittaker

South Carolina has moved to the role of favorite for defensive end Chris Whittaker (6-foot-3, 256 pounds) of Hollywood, Florida.

"Yes, that's my top choice right now," Whittaker said. "As of right now, yes."

Those are interesting words from Whittaker considering much of the conjecture about his future has focused on Notre Dame.

Whittaker visited USC in June and said a couple of things from the visit stood out to him.

"The environment was beautiful the coaching staff was very cool," Whittaker said.

He plans to visit USC again soon but he will not attend the recruiting event this Saturday.

Whittaker said the others on his short list are Notre Dame, Kentucky, Central Florida and South Florida. Some of his other offers are Georgia, Georgia Tech, Colorado, Purdue and Tennessee.

NOTES

Defensive lineman Ben Hutch (6-foot-3, 300 pounds) of Nashville plans to visit USC on Tuesday. He has been favoring Louisville and Texas A&M. This will be his first visit to USC and his first real chance to talk with the coaches.

DE Mike Allen of Buford, Georgia has a top six of USC, Tennessee, Alabama, Southern Cal, Georgia and Wake Forest.

DB Bam Laguerre of Miami visited USC on Sunday. He also visited the Gamecocks in early June. He has not been offered by USC but he does have offers from Georgia Southern, Idaho, UAB, Central Michigan, Toledo, Western Illinois and Tennessee State. He has several other visits and camps coming with stops at Georgia State, Clemson (Monday), Alabama, UAB, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi State and Southern Miss.

DE Tyree Johnson of Washington, D.C. released a top 12 of USC, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Missouri, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, Iowa and Rutgers.