HEADLINE STORY:
The Stanford Cardinal scored big this weekend as 6-foot-1, 225 pound Sacramento (Calif.) Natomas fullback Emeka Nnoli decided he'd commit to head coach Buddy Teevens and his staff.
Nnoli rates as the top fullback prospect in California and one of the best in country at the position with his combination of brute strength, blocking and ball-carrying abilities.
At the Nike Camp in Northern California back in May, Nnoli clocked a 4.75 in the 40, a 4.09 in the shuttle, bench pressed 25 reps and posted a 34-inch vertical jump. He had a standout junior season last fall, earning All-State Underclass honors by rushing for over 1,700 yards and 22 touchdowns. With a 3.94 GPA and a 1190 SAT, Nnoli is also Stanford material in the classroom.
Other football commitments:
* The Texas Tech Red Raiders received commitments from a pair of Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian standouts in defensive back Chad Johnson and defensive linemen Keyunta Dawson . Johnson, a hard-hitting 5-10, 180 pounder and Dawson, a 6-2, 245 pound defensive lineman with 4.6 speed, both committed to Tech this weekend while visiting Lubbock. Both also had offers from Colorado.
* Speaking of Colorado, the Colorado State Rams kept it in the family this weekend, as they snagged their third commitment in the younger brother of starting linebacker Eric Pauly, Nathan Pauly, a 6-2, 210 pound linebacker out of Conway Springs (Kan.). Pauly had 145 tackles, six sacks and three interceptions as a junior and has 4.6 speed in the 40-yard dash.
* And from the "it's never too early to think about next year" department, Gaffney (S.C.) junior wide receiver Sidney Rice received a written offer from South Carolina and committed, ending his college recruitment some 21 months before he'll graduate high school in June of 2004.
As a sophomore, Rice caught 57 passes for 897 yards and seven touchdowns and he's off to a solid start this fall with 11 catches for 240 yards and four touchdowns. Rice has great size at 6-3, 175 pounds and ran a 4.72 in the 40 and posted a 30-inch vertical jump at the Nike Camp in North Carolina this past spring. He's also a standout basketball player who could play both sports for the Gamecocks.
Burgess Looking at Five:
* "Ohio State, Michigan, Tennessee, Florida and Notre Dame are my five finalists," 6-foot-3, 210 pound Prescott Burgess told Student Sports correspondent Mike Schmidt this weekend. The hard-hitting safety from Warren (Ohio) Harding was an All-State selection as a junior last fall, recording 144 tackles.
Burgess has unofficially visited both Ohio State and Michigan this fall, and has set his first official visit for Tennessee on December 13th.
"I don't have any leaders right now," he said. "I plan on visiting all five before making my decision. Right now I'm being recruited as a defensive back, but I could be moved to outside linebacker. And I'm okay with that."
Burgess has a 3.0 GPA and has scored a 15 on the ACT.
QB Sets Up Two Visits:
* Winter Park (Fla.) quarterback Steven Moffett has setup his first two official visits - one to Georgia on December 13th and another for South Carolina on January 10th. The 6-3, 190 pound signal-caller, who has great athleticism and good arm strength, is one of the South's top prospects at his position and is in no hurry to make a decision.
"I like South Carolina, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Central Florida and also Southern Mississippi is in there too," said Moffett of his favorites. "I'm going to watch and see where (JaMarcus) Russell and (Blake) Mitchell end up and then probably go from there."
Other football recruiting news:
* Richard Kovalcheck , 6-3, 210 pound quarterback from San Diego (Calif.) St. Augustine has already taken one official visit (Notre Dame) and has now set two more.
"He has Arizona State October 25 and Washington November 8," St. Augustine head coach Jerry Ralph said. "I think his next visit could be set to Colorado. He's also looking at Miami even though Kyle (Wright) is there. He thinks he can go there and beat him out.
"USC and UCLA are also on his short list but I'm not sure if he'll use an official visit to either school since they're so close. Right now, I know Notre Dame is his leader, he really had a good time on the visit there."
* The fastest player at the Nike Camp in Los Angeles and one of the quickest on the West Coast is Corona (Calif.) Centennial wide receiver Ray Bass. The talented athlete has seen his stock rise dramatically in the past few months and has scholarship offers coming in from all over.
Bass is the younger brother of Uni. of Hawaii running back Mike Bass and according to Matt Logan, Centennial head coach, Ray is an even better prospect.
³He¹s a very gifted football player and should have a big year for us next year,² Logan said. ³He has great speed and is one of the most athletic players we¹ve ever had here.²
Bass clocked a 4.31 in the 40 at the SoCal Nike Camp, which was the fastest of the day. His vertical jump of 40.4 inches was not only the best of the day but the second best at any camp we tested during the entire Nike tour.
Bass worked out with the receivers at the camp but is getting a lot of looks for his work in the secondary as well. He played mostly cornerback as a junior but missed half the season with various injuries.
"He's 100% now and looks great," Coach Logan said. "Recruiting has really picked up for him. He has offers from Cal, Hawaii, Idaho, Fresno State, Colorado State, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon and Wyoming. I know USC is very interested as well but I'm not sure if they offered."
Bass liked Fresno State early on and then Cal took over the top spot. According to Coach Logan, his athlete has had a handful of schools high on list and will likely go back and forth multiple times.
"Mike is at Hawaii so I know he likes them," Logan said. "USC, Cal, Fresno State, Colorado State and Oregon are a few others he has mentioned to me. He hasn't set up any of his trips yet but when he does, I think we'll have a better idea of where he's really leaning."
* It's a strong and deep year for offensive lineman in the Midwest and one of the best is 6-4, 270 pound Martin O'Donnell of Downers Grove (Ill.) South. O'Donnell is now listing six schools as his favorites including two from the Pac-10.
"I'm interested in Illinois, Stanford, Nebraska, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon," O'Donnell said. "Oregon, Stanford, Penn State, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska have all called in the past week and I have scholarship offers from all of my favorites."
O'Donnell has set up his first official visit to Illinois December 6 and will set his other trips in the next month or so. The talented lineman will be a three-year varsity starter and was named 1st team All-State as a junior as well as conference Player of the Year.
He'll play on both sides of the ball this year but is being recruited strictly on the offensive line. He's big, physical and projects very well in college at the guard position.
Academically, O'Donnell is even more impressive carrying a 4.13 GPA and he scored a 28 on the ACT.
* One of the top wideouts on the East Coast and possibly the country is Seth Fogarty , a 6-1, 190 pounder from Morgantown (W.V.). Fogarty had a huge junior season catching 73 balls for 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns to earn All-State honors.
Fogarty is being recruited by schools all over the country and has a solid top five right now.
"I like Penn State, West Virginia, Georgia, Connecticut and UCLA," Fogarty told Tracy Pierson of BruinReportOnline. "All have offered. My plan is to take all my official visits during the year and have my decision sometime in October. I definitely want to decide before the playoffs start for us."
Volleyball commitment:
* Emily Kirkwood , a 5-foot-10 setter from Plant High in Tampa and the Tampa Bay Juniors Volleyball Club, has officially committed to the University of Virginia. She went on her official recruiting trip a couple of weeks ago and committed to Coach Shelton late last week. Kirkwood is the older sister of Sarah Kirkwood, one of the nation's top junior outside hitters.