In late April/early May, we traveled up and down the Atlantic Coast and checked in on multiple highly-regarded prospects, including several five-stars. Here’s a look at the best of the road trip. Note: photo gallery feature not yet available in mobile
There's no question that defensive tackle Eddie Goldman is one of the top prospects in the country.
Eddie Goldman, DT, Washington (D.C.) Friendship Collegiate
Goldman, who we caught up with at his school one afternoon, is one of the more impressive looking defensive tackle prospects we’ve seen the last few years. He’s a legitimate 6-foot-4 and a solid 300 pounds. Goldman, who has more than 50 scholarship offers to his credit, is wide open with regards to his decision. He visited Clemson, Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Florida State on a trip through the Southeast a few weeks back and said that all o those schools stood out to him. Goldman is the nation’s No. 3 overall prospect and top defensive tackle prospect.
Noah Spence, DE, Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt
We caught up with Spence at his home during the night of the NFL Draft and he and his father, former N.C. State linebacker Greg Spence, were gracious enough to spend time with us talking recruiting, football, etc. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Spence looked outstanding physically and you combine that with what you see on film (very active, quick first step, great hands) and he’s a strong candidate to move up to five stars when 247Sports adjusts its rankings in the coming months. Maryland, Penn State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and a host of other programs are in the mix for Spence, who is open. The Terps are bigger factors than many think.
Jarron Jones, DT/DE, Rochester (N.Y.) Aquinas Institute
Jones, a five-star prospect, is a dominant, athletic defensive lineman on film, but when you see him in person (we met with him after school at his school), he looks the part of a big-time left offensive tackle. It will be up to the coaches at the college he picks (he’s currently committed to Penn State) to determine where he fits best, but there’s no doubting his size/athleticism combination is elite. Jones says he will visit Michigan, North Carolina and Notre Dame for sure while he attempts to finalize his decision. We got the feeling that he would stick with the Nittany Lions when we met with him, but there is a long way to go.
Darius Hamilton, DE/DT, Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep
Hamilton, who we met at his school one morning, has a unique build- he has extremely long arms, broad shoulders and a frame that could pack on more pounds of good weight. He’s athletic enough to play defensive end, particularly in a 3-4 alignment, but long-term he grows into a big-time, athletic defensive tackle. Hamilton also is a high-character prospect with a strong work ethic and great bloodlines (his father Keith Hamilton played for the New York Giants), so the five-star prospect has a low bust factor. Right now, he’s wide open as far as college choices go. Expect him to take some visits in the coming months and narrow things down.
Yuri Wright, CB, Ramsey (N.J.) Don Bosco Prep
Wright’s ability on film is what garnered him the ranking as the nation’s top cornerback prospect, but when you meet him in person (we did shortly after meeting Hamilton), his height, long arms and good frame are legitimate. He needs to continue to build muscle, but the potential here is extremely high. Wright has a slew of offers and like Hamilton, Goldman and Spence appears to be wide open. He’s mentioned Notre Dame and Georgia as two schools he would like to check out at some point.
Jamil Pollard, DT, Westville (N.J.) West Deptford
Pollard impressed on film enough to warrant a ranking among the nation's top 160 prospects, but after seeing the Penn State commit in person, his upside may be higher than that. He's how you draw them up if you are looking for a jumbo athlete/defensive line type. Pollard is solid to the Nittany Lions.
Davis to release five
Justin Wells of GatorBait reports that the nation’s top-ranked outside linebacker prospect, Noor Davis (The Villages, Fla.) will announce his top five later today. We know that Notre Dame and Florida are likely to make the cut with USC, UCLA, Stanford and others possible. The 6-foot-4 Davis has more than 30 scholarship offers.
Texas quick hitters
-Offensive tackle Tre’Von Armstead (Port Arthur, Texas/Memorial) has verbal offers from Baylor, Missouri, Colorado, Arkansas and Tulane. Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and LSU are also showing interest. Alabama is scheduled to by at Memorial High on Tuesday to see the 6-foot-6, 270-pounder as well as a number of talented prospects in the 2013 class.
-Outside linebacker/defensive end Bryce Cottrell (Plano, Texas/West) continues to be a popular prospect for college coaches that recruit the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Wake Forest, Minnesota, Vanderbilt and Tulane were at Plano West for practice yesterday to take a look at the 6-foot-3, 220-pounder. Cottrell has verbal offers from Syracuse, Mississippi State, Arizona, Baylor, Texas Tech and San Jose State. LSU (as a weak side end), Oregon (as an inside linebacker) and TCU are among the many programs showing serious interest.
-Outside linebacker A.J. Hilliard (Spring, Texas/Klein Oak) picked up an offer from Nevada on Monday. The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder with 4.65-speed had previous verbal offers from West Virginia, Minnesota and Houston. Missouri is among the schools showing serious interest.
-Receiver Gerald Thomas (The Colony, Texas) reports that Baylor, Wake Forest and Tulane were at the school today to check on the 5-foot-10, 170-pound darting quick playmaker. Baylor is showing serious interest and will be back to watch Thomas a second time with multiple coaches. TCU and Texas Tech are among the other programs showing serious interest. Thomas has verbal offers from Boise State, Arizona State, Kansas, Minnesota and New Mexico State.
Around the network
-Four-star offensive tackle Greg Pyke told Sean Fitz of Lions247 that he was “liking Maryland” at present, along with Penn State and Virginia.
-Jason Sapp of BGI reports that four-star offensive tackle Kennedy Estelle has one team at the top of his list.
-Bryan Matthews of AuburnUndercover reports that two schools will definitely make the cut for four-star offensive lineman Ty Darlington (Apopka, Fla.).
National Recruiting Analyst Gerry Hamilton contributed
- JC Shurburtt
- Director of Recruiting - 247Sports