RSS
Home
ON THE GRIDIRON: Suncoast Notebook
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
- Courtesy of Leon Orr
RIVALS100 BOASTS FOUR: The Tampa Bay area has been honored with four entries on the annual Rivals100 list put up by Rivals.com.
Rivals100 is a list of the 100 most promising collegiate football prospects in the nation from the Class of 2010. The following standouts made the cut.
24. Christian Green, Tampa Catholic, QB/ATH
66. Chaz Green, Tampa Catholic, OL
89. Leon Orr, Gulf, DE/TE
94. Terrence Mitchell, Hillsborough, DB
The only player to make the list from the North Suncoast (Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties), Orr has already verbally committed to Florida for the fall of 2010. At 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, it is no wonder why Gators coach Urban Meyer is excited to have his hands on the big man.
The rest of the players on the list haven’t made decisions yet about their college destinations. Christian Green is still considering a handful of schools, including Florida, Florida State and USF. Chaz Green also has a handful of programs looking at him, including Florida, Southern Cal and Tennessee. Mitchell already has received major scholarship offers from Florida State and Georgia.
Check out the entire list: http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?SID=880&Year=&ra_key=2369
OFFENSE-DEFENSE SELECT CAMP: In a somewhat shocking turn of events, three players from the Tampa Bay area, all from Pasco County in fact, were invited to the Offense-Defense Select Camp to be held at the end of this month in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
The most notable surprise of the bunch is Wiregrass Ranch defensive tackle Noah Ravenna. Ravenna laid in the weeds for the Bulls the past two seasons as the program went a combined 2-18 overall. No college has contacted him with strong interest, but camp representatives have said that they believe invitees are in the top 0.1 percent of all pre-collegiate prospects in the country.
The other two invitees from the area come from Pasco, the preeminent program in the county last season. Quarterback D.J. Clower and defensive back Jamie Byrd were both tremendous stars for the Pirates in 2008 and could catapult themselves into national prospects with a strong performance at the camp.
If they can impress at the camp, standouts will be chosen to compete in the O-D All-American Bowl. Last season’s game was played in January with coverage from Fox Sports. Stephen Garcia, the former Jefferson signal caller who has been given opportunities to start at South Carolina for Steve Spurrier, competed in the contest while he was in high school.
There are no fees to attend the camp, which is on an invite-only basis. However, all campers must pay their own room and board to make the trip.
JOYER LANDS ON FEET AT LOUISVILLE: Kamran Joyer, who signed with USF last fall while playing for Wesley Chapel, was searching for a new program to play for when he was granted a release from his scholarship with the Bulls due to questions about his academics as a senior with the Wildcats.
After some talk with coaches and administrators, Joyer has found a new home with another Big East power, Louisville. He is expected to begin preseason practice on Aug. 5 with the rest of the Cardinals after being cleared by the NCAA academically.
In an interesting turn of events, Joyer may get his chance to exact some revenge on the program that he had previously signed with when Louisville comes to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Nov. 25 to take on the Bulls.
Wesley Chapel, which had a program built around the Joyer family in 2008 with Kamran and little brother Hunter Joyer anchoring the defense, will be without both for this campaign. While the elder Joyer moves on to play D-I ball for a major program, Hunter has moved on with a transfer to Tampa Catholic.
SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS: Tevin Drake, arguably the area’s most promising collegiate prospect at tailback, has been juggling offers until recently. The Nature Coast star believes his words might have caused a slow-down in interest.
Although he hasn’t committed anywhere, Drake told a recruiting site that he was “most likely going to be a Hurricane,” according to the St. Petersburg Times. Prior to this interview, he had been racking up interest from Miami, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Ole Miss, USF, Oregon and Georgia. His first taste of big time football came in Miami coach Randy Shannon’s football camp last month, where he was named the running back MVP.
Last season for the Sharks, Drake ran for 1,189 yards and 20 touchdowns in only nine games.
Four other North Suncoast gridiron players received offers recently: Pasco defensive back Mitch Wozniak (Wesley Chapel transfer) from Florida International, Land O'Lakes defensive end Gary Myrick (Nature Coast transfer) from Florida International, Gulf quarterback Madison Burr from Illinois State and South Alabama, and Gulf linebacker Daryl Cooper from Bethune-Cookman and Florida A&M.
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
