Gators, Vols rank
as country’s best
■ Most experts rank Steve
Spurrier’s class as number
one in the nation' while
some say Vols reaped best
crop of high school talent.
As Steve Spurrier likes to say, it’s
great to be a Gator!
Some of the nation’s most promis
ing prospects agreed with the Florida
coach on Wednesday, becoming baby
Gators on die first day high school stars
can sign letters of intent.
“We did get most all the guys we
went after this year,” Spurrier said. “A
. few weeks ago, I didn’t think we were
recruiting enough players to sign 21 or
22. But it seemed like they all wanted
to come play for the Gators this year.”
With an incoming class led by
quarterback Brock Berlin, USA
Today’s offensive player of the year,
All-American linebacker Darrell Lee
and a flurry of impressive last-minute
signees, Florida came out the winner in
Recruiting Wars 2000.
a landslide tor the uators, an easy
win,” said Allen Wallace, publisher of
Laguna Beach, Calif.-based SuperPrep
magazine. “What an incredible day
they had.”
Bobby Burton, of Austin, Texas
based The National Recruiting
Adviser, agreed. “Florida was amazing
—lots of big names on signing day,” he
said.
Tom Lemming of Schaumburg,
Ill.-based Prep Football Report also
gave the nod to Florida, while Max
Emfinger of Covington, La.-based
National Blue Chips had Tennessee
first with the Gators a close second.
Alabama, Florida State, Penn State and
Texas showed up in at least one of the
four recruiting gurus’ top-5 lists.
“Tennessee signed some of the
most dominant players in the country,”
Emfinger said. “They have two top
quarterbacks already getting ready for
spring training, and they signed two top
wide receivers today in Tony Brown
and Rashad Baker.”
Quarterbacks Casey Clausen and
John Rattay, brother of Louisiana
Tech’s Tim Rattay, made early commit
ments to the Vo Is and are set to take part
in spring practice.
The 6-1,190-pound Berlin is also
ready. Berlin, die Gators’prize recruit
from Shreveport, La., threw for 4,219
yards and 36 TDs in his senior year at
Evangel Christian. In four years, his
team was 60-0 with four state titles.
While Florida made a huge move
Wednesday in signing 29 players, it
paled by comparison to Florida State’s
surge. The Seminoles, despite a perfect
season and national championship,
weren’t on many top 10 lists — until
wacky Wednesday.
By the time the day ended, Florida
State was third on Emfinger’s and
Wallace’s top 10 list, fourth on
Lemming’s and seventh on Burton’s.
Burton said the Seminoles began the
day rated 24th on his list.
Coach Bobby Bowden, that crafty
recruiter who shows up at a prospect’s
doorstep for one last-minute pitch,
came through again. He convinced
Parade and USA Today All-American
Travis Johnson, a 6-5,240-pounder
from Sherman Oaks, Calif., to head to
die Sunshine State.
The Seminoles also grabbed two
other All-Americans on Wednesday —
defensive back Bryant McFadden from
Hollywood, Fla. and linebacker Eric
Moore from Pahokee, Fla. All
American defensive back Yohance
Buchanan from Atlanta made good on
an earlier verbal commitment.
Michael Boulware, brother of for
mer Florida State All-American Peter
Boulware, also signed with the
Seminoles.
Linebacker D.J. Williams, the con
sensus defensive player of the year
from Concord, Calif., was undecided
late Wednesday, He was said to be con
sidering Florida State, Michigan and
California, but was unlikely to make a
decision until later in the week.
Florida soared to the top when it
landed highly regarded defensive
backs Cory Bailey from Hialeah, Fla.
and Trey Orr from Lake City, Fla.
The Gators.also got offensive line
men Jonathan Colon (6-6, 285) from
Miami, Max Starks (6-8, 340) from
Orlando and Kevin Deaton (6-4, 290)
from Merritt Island, Fla.
Defensive tackle Kenny Parker (6
4, 300) from Wamer-Robins, Ga. and
wide receiver Kelvin Kight from
Lithonia, Ga. also signed with the
Gators.
“I hope these guys will all stick
together and last four to five years,”
said Spurrier, whose Gators finished 9
3 in ’99. “If they can do that, we’re
going to have a chance for some very
good teams in future years.”
The four recruiting experts agreed
it was a big year for Southern teams,
specifically thec Southeastern
Conference. Alabama joined Florida
and Tennessee with an impressive sign
ing class.
“The South is cleaning up,”
Lemming, who had Florida, Tennessee
and Alabama 1-2-3 on his top 10 list.
“In Florida’s case, they were No. 1
going in and got a bunch of stars
today.”
Lemming also cited the Gators’
poor finish last season as a reason for
their recruiting success.
“When powerhouses falter a little,
Ua
landslide
for the
Gators, an
easy win.
What an
incredible
day they
had."
Allen Wallace
SuperPrep magazine
\ A. ' - " • *
kids get the
idea they can
come right in
and play,”
Lemming
said.
Michigan
and Notre
Dame, usual
ly in the top
10, didn’t fare
so well. The
Wolverines
lost out on
All
American
wide receiver
Charles
Rogers from
Detroit, who
c h o> s e
Michigan
State, and All- "
American
offensive lineman Kwame Harris, who
signed with Stanford.
The Irish didn’t have a star player in
their incoming class, says Emfinger.
They didn’t even sign Starks, the son of
former Notre Dame star Ross Browner,
who chose the Gators instead.
“They were about 15th—die prob
lem is they don’t have a difference
maker, a 7 in my ratings,” Emfinger
said. “They have some 6s and 5 s, and
they also signed four quarterbacks.
What are they going to do with all of
them?”
Until Wednesday, Penn State coach
Joe Patemo had himself die top class,
no one spectacular, but a solid all
around group.
“Penn State dictated the process for
seven months,” Wallace said, “and
Florida took over on signing day.”
Among the Nittany Lions signees
were quarterbacks Zac Wasserman of
Wqstlake Village, Calif., and Zack
Mills of Ijamsville, Md. and linemen
Jeremiah Davis of Annandale, Va.,
Scott Davis of Parkersburg, W. Va.,
Sam Ruhe of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,
Erik Noll of Gaithersburg* Md., Dan
Acri of Harrisburg, Pa. and Jason
Robinson of Swedesboro, N J.
Texas, the winner of last year’s
recruiting fight, had another strong
year. The Longhorns grabbed home
grown receivers B J. Johnson (South
Grand Prairie), Roy Williams
(Odessa), Sloan Thomas (Klein) and
Brock Edwards (Fort Worth).
Six Nebraskans choose Huskers
i'-.
NEBRASKANS from page 19
anyone within this year’s recruiting
class, according to Coach Frank
Solich.
Cooper, out of Omaha Westside
High School, was one of four line
backers the Huskers signed to fill
the void of the four they lost.
At Westside, Cooper was a four
year starter. His older brother
Michael played linebacker at Iowa
State while his father, Harley, is a
former Olympic boxer. Cooper is
the youngest of 15 children.
With ties to the Cyclones,
Cooper said he felt no pressure to go
elsewhere than NU.
“I always knew I wanted to go to
Nebraska,” Cooper said. “It’s the
place for me.”
Cooper was rated the 16th best
linebacker in the country according
to Rivals’ 100 recruiting service.
McPherson, a 5-foot-9, 175
pound cornerback out of Omaha
Central High School, is just one of
many players that NU and other
” I always knew I wanted to go to
Nebraska. It’s the place for me."
Ira Cooper
NU footbal recruit
Division I schools got from the
strong eagle program.
The tradition of the Central pro
gram goes back all the way to for
mer NFL Hall-of-Fame running
back Gale Sayers. The Eagles have
also produced such greats as Ahman
Green, Calvin Jones and Leodis
Flowers.
According to Rivals’ 100
recruiting service, McPherson is
ranked ninth overall in the country
at comerback.
Erickson, out of Papillion
LaVista High School, is one of four
linemen to sign with NU. He is
Nebraska’s only in-state lineman
recruit this year.
As a Monarch, Erickson was a
three-year starter under Coach
Gene Suhr, the father of Husker
softball player Leigh Suhr.
During his sophomore season,
Erickson started alongside current
NU player Jeremy Slechta.
Erickson said seeing Slechta go to
Nebraska made him really want to
get there.
“When he first signed, I thought
I could probably get there just
because of the reputation of the pro
gram,” Erickson said. “Coach
Suhr’s work goes a long way down
there. He’s real credible, and I just
had a real good feeling it would hap
pen.”
Erickson is currently recovering
from shoulder surgery and won’t be
able to go through contact for six
months, he said.
Experts say non-commits hurtHuskers
EXPERTS'from page 18
Septak and Terrell Butler.
Butler, a defensive back from
Austell, Georgia, made the SuperPrep
top 50. SuperPrep also chose him as its
fifth-best defensive back. The High
School All-American runs a 4.4 sec
ond, 40-yard dash.
Septak, the Millard West tight end,
was picked as die 34^-best recruit by
The Sporting News.
Overall, 13 of the Huskers received
some sort of regional or national recog
nition as an outstanding recruit. Solich
even got into the act. The coach was
selected by ESPN as one of the top 15
recruiters in the country.
Not that he particularly cared. At
the press conference on Wednesday, the
coach cautioned against overemphasis
on the rankings.
He said those ratings had little bear
ing on who the Huskers recruited.
“I don’t knowmow much (being
ranked high) means,” the coach said.
“We set out to get some guys that are
not necessarily on those lists. We might
talk about it (their ranking) a little bit
when we are watching film. If we feel
good about a guy, it doesn’t really mat
ter if he’s ranked high or not”
M Husker Recruits
NAME pos. ht. wt. hometown high school
Jake Andersen OL 6-2 300 Littleton, CO J.K. Mullen
Terrell Butler DB 5-11195 Austell. GA Pebblebrook
Ira Cooper LB 6-2 220 Omaha, NE Westskte
mm - IH
Mike Erickson OL 6-4 275 Omaha, NE PapiHion-La Vista
M lftiiTift ' : ni ************«*~* - - -■ • - ••
TJ. HoHowell LB 6-1 215 Copperas Cove. TX Copperas
ummmm* »*»••—■ mmm
Steve Kriewald FB 5-11250 Scotia. NE North Loup-Scotia
Alvin Marshall WR 5-11180 Los Angeles. CA Locke
Ross Pilkington WR 6-1 185 Fort Collins, CO Loveland
Jason Richenberger LB 6-1 200 Liberty. MO Liberty
wmmrnmmm mz*sMmmmmrn**wm ...
Benard Thomas RE 6-4 235 East Palo Alto, CA St. Francis
*junior college transfer, win enter as a sophomore
«5£a 52 2 22 ■ aCBS. - ■ P m J -1
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