Florida churns out more WRs

One of the fun things about following recruiting is uncovering players who become hot late in the process. As we enter the month of November, none are hotter right now than two Florida standouts, Dwayne Bowe and DeCody Fagg. They have emerged as two of the Sunshine State’s finest in a deep year of wide receivers.

Fagg is from Quincy (Fla.) Shanks High School and an opposing cornerback, Ryan Gilliam from Tallahassee (Fla.) Lincoln, told me about him from summer passing league. A colleague of mine watched Bowe play and said he was “off the charts.”

On both accounts, they were right. Bowe, from Miami (Fla.) Norland High School, is now rated a five-star receiver while Fagg is a high four-star prospect. In all likelihood, Fagg will jump to five stars, joining other Florida standout receivers Andre Caldwell, Antonio Cromartie and Bowe.

Bowe, 6-3 and 200 pounds (4.4 forty) has size and speed very comparable to current Miami Hurricane Andre Johnson. But Bowe has played the game of football less than two years so his upside is sky high. Coaches convinced him to come out for football during his junior year.

“Although it is just my second year of football, I have worked hard for everything,” said Bowe. “At the same time, I would have never imagined that I could play college ball and get an education."

Bowe currently favors three teams, LSU, Florida State and Miami. In the end, Miami could prove tough to beat.

Fagg stands 6-2 and weighs 185 pounds. He has been battling Tallahassee Lincoln standout Antonio Cromartie for respect coming into the season. Cromartie has won the PR war, but Fagg has battled back with a super senior season. Right now, he is favoring FSU over Florida, Miami, and Georgia.

“Florida State has been my favorite since I was a little kid,” said Fagg. “It is close to home and I love their facilities. But I plan on taking all my visits and see what is out there.”

Anyway you look at it, the state of Florida is absolutely loaded with wide receiver talent with six of the nation’s top 25 wide receiver recruits. Bowe and Fagg got a late start, but they certainly have joined the party.

Standout DT has four visits

"That [recruiting] stuff is going good so far," Watson said. "I'm getting a lot of calls and I'm really still open to everyone for now. I'm still looking at Miami, Southern Cal, Colorado, Florida, LSU, and Texas A&M.”

The talented defensive tackle already has scheduled four official visits, while he's still debating on the fifth one.

"I have Colorado for December 13, Florida for January 10, LSU for the next week, and then Miami for the 24th, I think it is. My fifth one will be either USC or Texas A&M probably," Watson said.

When Watson was asked about a favorite and the possibility of staying close to home, he was quick to respond. "I don't have a favorite or anything like that," he said. "I still need to take my trips before knowing about that.

"Not this cat," he said when talking about staying at home. "I like LSU but they're not the highest on my list. I have some other good schools that have offered me and I'm visiting them. All the ones I'm visiting have [offered]."

-- Mike Bakas, TheInsiders.com

Olson will take his mormon mission

One of the big questions concerning BYU quarterback Ben Olson when he was in high school was whether he would go on a mission. Olson, who is redshirting at BYU this year, has decided he will indeed leave in January for two years for his mission and will return to BYU for spring ball in 2005.

The Cougars, who were not planning to take a quarterback in this year's class, now will look to former Mountain View (Ariz.) signal caller John Beck who just recently returned from his mission.

Beck, who is described by some as a Ty Detmer clone, led his team to three straight 5A state titles and never lost a high school game. He threw 42 touchdowns with four interceptions as a senior to earn State Player of the Year honors. Beck was looking at Arizona State and BYU but with Sun Devils taking a commitment from Michael Affleck, it's likely he'll wind up in Provo this spring.

-- Greg Biggins, PacWestFootball.com

Top OL sets four official visits

Joel Holler, 6-foot-6, 330-pounder, from Lancaster (Pa.) McCaskey is a devastating run blocker who has improved his pass blocking in 2002. He also has settled on four official visits.

“I’m going to Ohio State (Nov. 23), Virginia Tech (Nov. 30), Penn State (Dec. 6) and Miami (Dec. 13),” he said. “My last visit is up in the air. Michigan State, Maryland, Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh are the other schools I’m thinking about visiting.”

Holler is the No. 20 offensive line prospect in the nation, according to the experts at TheInsiders.com. We asked if he had a leader at this point in his recruitment.

“No leader,” he said. “We open our playoffs this weekend against Reading and I’m just trying to concentrate on that right now.”

Miami is the only favorite that hasn’t offered a scholarship.

-- Chris Pool, PoolRecruiting.com

DE Davis: 'I'm Wide Open'

He’s wide open. That is the clear and concise message that Clear Creek defensive end Bruce Davis wants to convey to every D-I recruiter. ”I sat down with (Clear Creek head) coach Schulz during my free period on Monday and discussed my situation,” Davis said. “I was surprised and a little disappointed to find out how many recruiters thought that I was already committed. Some thought that I was committed to Texas; others thought UCLA and some thought Arkansas. That’s why recruiters have not been bothering me as much as they would have.”

”I want to go on record as saying that I’m not committed to any school and I’m wide open,” Davis continued. “When I committed to Texas this summer, I was really overwhelmed with the whole process. Don’t get me wrong, Texas is a great school with great facilities, but I hadn’t even turned seventeen when I was down there this summer and really just got caught up in all the excitement.”

”As a junior, I really didn’t pay that much attention to college football,” Davis said. “I knew college football was a long way off. But now, I’ve been sitting down and watching games and how teams play defense. Take the Notre Dame-Florida State game for example. I really like the physical and aggressive way Notre Dame plays defense. And Florida State, those guys are not real huge, just real fast. I could gain around twenty pounds and possibly play there as a true freshman.” “When it comes to making a good decision, I just don’t want to short change myself,” Davis said. “I want to explore all the possibilities.”

Davis went on to say that he hasn’t scheduled any official visits and it may be awhile before he’s able. The Wildcats currently are 7-0 and have a great shot at going deep into the playoffs.

-- David Garvin, HeartlandRecruiting.com

Ohio DE talks recruiting

Defensive end Shawn Crable has set up two visits -– USC on Dec. 6 and Michigan on Dec. 13.

“I don’t have anything else set up right now,” Crable said. “Pittsburgh, Ohio State and Miami are the other schools that I’m looking at.”

Crable, 6-foot-6, 230-pounder, from Massillon (Ohio) Washington is a three-year varsity starter and TheInsiders.com’s No. 14 ranked defensive end prospect.

Does Crable have a leader at this point in his recruitment?

“No, I’m going to take my visits, give everyone a serious look and then I’ll make my decision,” he said. “Right now my focus is on my team and the playoffs.”

Washington opens its playoff run this weekend with a game against North Canton (Hoover) and Buckeye commit Curt Lukens.

-- Chris Pool, PoolRecruiting.com

More Recruiting Hot News from TheInsiders.com

 

Related information

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video