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Juco commit visits rival school
Story URL: http://recruiting.scout.com/2/786406.html

Yancy Porter
SuperPrep.com

Sep 3, 2008

One of the top juco defensive line prospects attended the Ole Miss/Memphis game on Saturday.

"I wanted to see how good (Greg) Hardy was, but he did not play, so I watched the other ends to see what they could do," added Pernell McPhee. "I am going to take what they got and add it to what I do."

The 6' 4", 265 pound ICC product said he has not had any contact from Ole Miss.

"I have never gotten anything from them. I am not really being recruited by Ole Miss, but I hope they notice me this year. I really liked the atmosphere there. The fans are pumped and you can tell they are hungry to win. It was kind of crunk up there. They need someone like me waiving my arms at the crowd. I will get it even more crunker."

The former Pahokee (FL) standout signed with USM out of high school, but failed to qualify, and enrolled at ICC.

"I really wanted to sign with Louisville out of high school. I did not know anything about USM, their defensive schemes, or anything. I just signed to play football."

And playing football is an understatement as Pernell led all junior colleges in Mississippi with 19 sacks as a freshman. He also chipped in 67 total tackles and 17.5 for losses.

"In high school, I was a 6' 3", 210 pound end, and then I got here, and I just blew up. I never lifted a weight in my life until I got here. In high school, we just worked on speed and athletic drills, no weights. When they got me in the weight program here, I went from 215 pounds to 250 and now I am up to 265. I have a quick first step and I squat a lot. I have gotten better, technique wise, and I have a lot more size."

McPhee picked up right where he left off from last season.

"In our first game, I had 4 sacks against Jones CC. It looked like they were scared of me because I was so big. They were looking at me like this kid is pretty big and quick, but I am still the same person, I am just bigger and stronger."

The preseason NJCAA All-American committed to MSU in late July.

"I like their coaches. They have a good staff. They have a good DL coach and a pretty good defensive line too. Coach Croom is a real good coach."

The commitment has not stopped others from still pursuing McPhee.

"Georgia, Florida, Vandy, and Ole Miss are the only four teams in the SEC that are not recruiting me. I have some other schools like Miami, Michigan, West Virginia, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State who are recruiting me. All of them have offered me."

Next week Pernell is going to get a chance to watch the school he is committed to play against some of his former teammates from ICC.

"I have three of my teammates from last year that play for S' Eastern LA. I want to go see what they got now (laugh). I do not want to see the MSU coaches though. I will want to know how they could lose to a team like La Tech. SEC schools do not do that."