Ramon Buchanan, the 6-foot-1, 195-pound four-star linebacker from Palm Bay High School in Melbourne, Fla., finished his junior season with over 100 tackles and three interceptions.
Buchanan, ranked No. 13 in the Southeast by Scout.com and No. 44 overall nationally, benches 245 pounds, squats 350 and runs a 4.5 40 yard dash.
"I'm a good tackler and can read the play well," Buchanan said. "I'm very aware and can read the quarterbacks eyes good. I have real good quickness and speed, but I want to improve my footwork. I want to change directions quicker and cut back faster."
He says he has approximately 15 scholarship offers and two stand out. "I like Florida and Miami the most," he said. "Florida was the first school to offer me during my sophomore year and they won the national championship. They have a great staff and a lot of people from this area go there. They always play hard and I like their speed, plus they are only about three hours away. I haven't seen any out-of-state schools yet, so the distance may matter."
Growing up, Buchanan admits that Miami was his favorite team. "They used to win all the time," he said. "I also really like the area a lot. My whole family follows Miami football. I like the coaches a lot too because I feel like I can have fun and talk with them."
Following the Gators and 'Canes, Buchanan also likes Wake Forest, USC and LSU, and all of his favorites have offered except for the Trojans. "They offered me a visit," Buchanan said. "They said they want me to come there so they could see me in person. I really want to see what California is like and what the whole environment is like. I know they have a great team every year and the coaches are great."
Buchanan also plans to visit the Tigers and admits to not knowing too much about LSU yet. "I've heard it's a nice area for football," he said. "It's supposed to be a great college town. The coaches were at my high school and they seem really nice. They talked with me about how I could fit in and how they have a lot of academic support for the athletes. They seem to have a good relationship with the players too.
"I like Wake Forest because they are an up-and-coming team and had a great season last year."
Buchanan says that he doesn't plan on making an early decision. "The location will be a factor," he said. "I want to be in a busy city area."
He plans on attending the Rutgers camp on June 22. "I'm going up there with a teammate of mine," he said. "He didn't want to go alone and I'm excited to get out of Florida and see something new. I've never really left the state."
Some of the other schools that have offered Buchanan are Florida State, Nebraska, Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Colorado and others.
He is also being recruited for track. Buchanan says he can run the 200m 21.2 and triple jumps 44.8 feet. He also throws the shot (169') and long jumps 23.9 feet. "I'm only gonna do football in college," Buchanan said.
He reports a 2.8 core GPA and a 720 SAT. Buchanan took the ACT on June 9 and is awaiting his results.