Recruiting Notes: UA Combine

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.- The nation’s top safety and cornerback prospects, plus several other elite defensive backs, checked in on Friday and will compete in the national Under Armour All-American Combine Saturday morning at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

The nation's current top cornerback prospect for 2013, Vernon Hargreaves III (Tampa, Fla./Wharton) will compete in Saturday's national Under Armour All-American Combine at the Wide World of Sports at Disney World near Orlando, Fla.

Safety Marcell Harris (Groveland, Fla./South Lake), who currently is ranked as the No. 1 prospect at his position nationally by 247Sports, measured in at 6-foot-1 (without shoes), 197 pounds. Harris is interested in Florida (offer), Florida State (offer), LSU (offer) and Texas, among others. The Longhorns are expected to offer in February.

Harris ran a 4.51-second 40-yard dash at Florida State’s prospect camp last summer and is expected to run well again Monday morning.

Cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III (Tampa, Fla./Wharton), who currently is rated as the nation’s top Class of 2013 prospect at his position by 247Sports, checked in at 5-foot-11, 180 pounds. On Dec. 16, he picked up an offer from Ohio State. Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame and South Florida also have offered. The Gators and Bulls stand out at the moment. His father is an assistant coach at USF.

Charles Clark (Suffolk, Va./King’s Fork High School) already holds offers from Virginia and Virginia Tech and is getting interest from Tennessee, Maryland, Oregon, Clemson and others. Clark measured in at 5-foot-11.5 and 183 pounds. He currently rates as the nation’s No. 17 cornerback prospect in the 2013 class by 247Sports.

Pound-for-pound, cornerback Will Likely (Belle Glade, Fla./Glades Central) is one of the top players in the country. The 5-foot-8, 175-pounder, who was described by at least one evaluator recently as a “poor man’s Honey Badger”, is being recruited by LSU, Alabama, Miami (Fla.), Florida State, Wisconsin, Purdue, South Carolina and more.

Noel Ellis (New Orelans, La./Edna Carr) is similar to Likely in the sense that there aren’t very many better pure players at his position nationally, but size may keep him under-recruited a bit. Ellis measured in at 5-foot-9, 170 pounds on Friday and holds offers from Colorado, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. Alabama, LSU and Miami (Fla.) are showing interest. Ellis is a four-star prospect and the No. 17 cornerback prospect in 2013 according to 247Sports.

Cornerback Ryan White (Louisville, Ky./Trinity) holds offers from Kentucky, Louisville, Illinois and Arkansas and is getting interest from Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Michigan, Vanderbilt and Alabama. He measured in at 5-foot-8 3/4, 178 pounds and had 44 tackles, 12 pass break-ups, six tackles for loss, an interception and three touchdowns on punt returns his junior year. White had five interceptions as a sophomore and is the nation’s No. 16 cornerback prospect in the 2013 class.

In-state battle

Alabama and Auburn both picked up huge early verbal commitments in the 2013 class in tight end O.J. Howard (Prattville, Ala./Autagua Academy) and defensive tackle Dee Liner (Muscle Shoals, Ala.), respectively. Howard says that the Tigers continue to recruit him, though, and Liner says the Crimson Tide are still pursuing him. Both said they were firm in their current commitments, but as we all know from following recruiting in the Yellowhammer State over the years, there is a long, long way to go for both.

Both are elite prospects nationally. Howard is the nation’s second-ranked tight end prospect. Liner is the third-ranked defensive tackle prospect nationally.

Quick Hitters

-Four-star Class of 2013 receiver Jordan Cunningham (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./University School) has nearly three dozen verbal offers to his credit. He remains open to most suitors, but did say that as of right now, Stanford, Miami (Fla.), Alabama and LSU are the offers that stand out the most (in no order). Cunningham had more than 40 catches for 700 yards during his junior season, despite the fact that opponents forfeited in three of his team’s games.

-Class of 2014 defensive end Gerald Willis (New Orleans, La./Edna Carr) has verbal offers from Florida, LSU, Alabama, Nebraska, Arkansas, Texas A&M and TCU. The younger brother of 2012 five-star safety Landon Collins, Willis measured in at 6-foot-2, 246 pounds on Friday and is coming off of a first-team All-District sophomore season where he had 48 tackles (10 for loss), eight sacks and four forced fumbles.

- Class of 2013 tight end Standish Dobard (New Orleans, La./Edna Karr) checked in at 6-foor-3 (without shoes on) and 230-pounds on Friday. Dobard claims verbal offers from LSU, Florida, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Kentucky along with serious interest from Alabama. He hopes to receiver interest and offers from Oregon and Miami (Fla.).

- Class of 2013 outside linebacker prospect Akeem Harrison (Killeen, Texas) measured 5-foot-11.5 and 214-pounds. The high school wide receiver and tight end reports interest from LSU, Oregon, Oklahoma and Texas A&M among others. He attended the Auburn-LSU game, ad two Texas A&M games this season.

- Class of 2014 running back Johnny Thomas (Boston, Mass./St. Johns Prep) checked in at 5-foot-9 ¼ and 173-pounds. He lists Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Oregon as schools of interest. Thomas rushed for over 1,100-yards in 2011 as a sophomore and is already generating quite a buzz in the Northeast.

- Class of 2013 inside linebacker Jamie Major (Piedmont, Ala.) reports interest from Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida State, Oregon, Oklahoma and Penn State. The 6-foot-0 ½, 210-pound defender said he talks a lot with Alabama assistant Bobby Williams and Auburn assistant Tommy Thigpen.

- Class of 2013 defensive back John Marvin (Fort Walton Beach, Fla.) reports a verbal offer from Troy along with interest from South Florida, Alabama and Southern Miss among others. The 6-foot-0, 186-pounder will work out at safety Saturday. 

-Four-star Class of 2013 offensive tackle Erik Bunte (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) is waiting for his first offer, but has interest from USC, UCLA, Oregon, Alabama, Stanford and Cal, among others.

-Class of 2013 defensive tackle Derrick Calloway (Bradenton, Fla./Manatee) has offers from West Virginia, Iowa State, South Florida and picked up an offer from Texas A&M on Friday. He feels Boston College is close to offering and also is getting attention from Miami (Fla.)

-Tight end DeSean Smith (Lake Charles, La./Barbe) claimed offers from LSU, Texas A&M, Boise State and Tennessee, among others. He measured in at 6-foot-4 1/4, 224 pounds. Smith currently is the nation’s No. 84 overall prospect in the 2013 class and the No. 4 tight end.

-Four-star 2013 quarterback Kyle Kempt (Massillon, Ohio/Washington) plans to head west to check out Stanford for an unofficial visit soon. He measured in at 6-foot-4 1/2 on Friday and claims verbal offers from Tennessee, West Virginia, Bowling Green and Toledo. Kempt is currently the nation’s No. 11 pro-style quarterback.

-Outside linebacker/defensive end Corey Vereen (Winter Garden, Fla./West Orange) holds an offer from Minnesota and feels that Georgia Tech could be the next school that offers. He measured in at 6-foot-1, 222 pounds on Friday.

-Four-star receiver Shelton Gibson (Cleveland, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) measured in at 5-foot-10 1/4.

-Class of 2013 offensive lineman Jack Kurzu (St. Louis, Mo./Country Day) recently moved back to Missouri from Florida. Stanford, Florida and Oklahoma State are showing interest. He played at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., last season.

-Class of 2013 running back Adam Lane missed the 2011 season with a broken leg, but said he’s in good shape and will participate on Saturday. Lane measured in at 5-foot-7, 163 pounds.

-Three-star receiver Kevin Gladney (Akron, Ohio/Firestone) holds one offer, from Michigan, and said he was excited about that. He also said that Ohio State has been showing interest of late and he believes the Buckeyes could eventually offer. West Virginia also is interested.

-Safety Austin Logan (Tallahassee, Fla./University School) holds offers from Stanford and Purdue and says that Duke, South Florida, Miami (Fla.), Vanderbilt and Northwestern all are showing attention.

-Defensive end Dane Rogers (Shelby, N.C./Crest) measured in at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds. He’s waiting on his first offer, but has interest from Clemson, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Tennessee and others.

-Three-star defensive tackle Deadrin Senat (Immokalee, Fla.) is getting interest from Miami (Fla.), Florida State, Clemson, Georgia Tech and FIU. He measured in at 6-foot-2, 311 pounds and had 67 tackles and eight sacks last season.

JC Shurburtt contributed to this report