Need to know basis

During the weekend, 247Sports changed its default settings to send readers to the 2013 class whenever they look for team ratings, player ratings and the like.

Johnathan Alston

Just as we work off the calendar, college coaches and prospects are bound to a recruiting calendar.

But the time frame for each prospect’s recruitment varies -- one of the fascinating elements to the process. There is a litany of examples each year of highly rated prospects who were relatively unknown or undervalued until the spring before their senior seasons – and, conversely, prospects whose profiles were disproportionately enhanced because of how long they had been on the radar.

Having literally turned the pages to the 2013 class, we highlight six prospects in the southeast who hold one or no offers … but that will change in due time as the evaluation process unfolds:

Johnathan Alston

OK, this one is almost cheating, because we have already touted this 6-3, 205-pound outside linebacker/athlete from Bunn High School in Bunn, N.C., as a member of the latest Top247.

North Carolina extended his first offer last week, and Notre Dame has established contact. As more staffs view Alston’s package of size, tenacity and athleticism in his freshly produced film, the offers will pour in.

Devaris Brunson

Brunson (6-0, 200) is a hard-hitting, prolific-tackling linebacker from Lake City (S.C.) High School. He carries an 89 rating as a high three-star prospect by 247Sports, but he’s arguably a four-star talent who will factor into the state’s top-five prospects when all is said and done.

Derrick Farrow

No one has yet offered, but when the first one drops, it figures to set off a chain reaction based off name recognition alone. Both Ohio State and Clemson offers are believed a formality, and South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina have been tracking him.

Derrick Farrow

Schools may want to see this 5-11, 190-pound cornerback from Bleckley County (Ga.) High School run in person – either in spring ball or at a summer team camp – before making an offer.

But that’s because Farrow spent half his junior season at linebacker or strong safety because of his physicality and tackling dependability. He had a strong week as a corner at the Georgia Junior Bowl in early January, exhibiting the agility and ball skills that should lend to multiple offers once colleges do their homework and sort out their boards.

Jarren Johnson

The state of Alabama has another great example in Huntsville (Ala.) offensive lineman Grant Hill, who recently picked up offers from Alabama and Auburn and should soon surface as a national prospect.

Johnson is a trickier case because at 5-11, 190 pounds, the Jackson County (Ala.) High School receiver hasn’t immediately garnered major offers on the eyeball test alone. Troy, Jacksonville and Alabama State have offered, while Alabama and South Carolina want to see him at summer camp.

But Johnson is quick and possesses more physicality and power than your standard slot receiver – as evidenced by the fact he squats in excess of 500 pounds. Think this year’s USC signee Jody Fuller.

Ryheem Lockley

Ryheem Lockley

Plain and simple, the 6-4, 210-pound athlete from Saluda (Va.) Middlesex is an athlete sure to turn heads if out on the combine and camp circuit.

Lockley was a quarterback and safety at Middlesex but did not play the majority of his junior season and had planned to transfer before complications arose.

He arguably projects best at linebacker and is an explosive athlete who excels at basketball as well. Virginia has offered, and Virginia Tech appears likely to follow at a junior day this weekend.

Lance Virgile

This 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker from St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., looks the part. Moreover, he plays it, too, and led the Raiders with six sacks last season.

Virgile has yet to garner an offer, but FSU and Miami are involved. And as more colleges check out his film, outreach from beyond the state should increase exponentially.