FanHouse Ncaa Fb Recruiting

Lights, camera, action. High school football -- from recruiting battles to Friday's No. 1 vs. 2 national showdown -- continues to entertain.

Offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson, long anointed the nation's top prep football player by recruiting services, hasn't disappointed this season for undefeated Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.), according to head coach Mike Scanlan. The drama should only build as Henderson remains undecided about his collegiate selection as February's National Signing Day approaches.

Farther South, St. Thomas Aquinas, ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Super 25, is set for its highly-anticipated clash against No. 2 Duncan Byrnes (S.C.) on Friday at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The nationally-televised game (ESPNU) could very well decide the prep national championship.

A recruiting battle could be brewing over a high school kicker from Broomfield, Colorado who has verbally committed to Minnesota but then made an unofficial visit to Colorado a day after making a state-record 67-yard field goal.

Texas is No. 1.

Or is it Oklahoma? Or does Florida, USC or defending recruiting champion Ohio State have enough juice to finish with a flurry over the next five months and land the nation's top 2010 recruiting class? While questions remain, this much is certain: for many top schools, football coaches are receiving non-binding verbal commitments long before February's national signing day.

Many believe the trend of committing early was a recruiting strategy first implemented by Texas coach Mack Brown.

"Most teams are either pretty much done or halfway done at this point, compared to five years ago when teams were barely getting started commitment-wise by late summer," Jamie Newberg, national recruiting analyst for Rivals. com, told FanHouse.

The NCAA is once again looking into Alabama's football program after a, well, fishy report emerged that a person had funded a fishing trip for two of the program's star players. An Alabama man named Curtis Anderson acknowledges paying for both receiver Julio Jones and running back Mark Ingram to go on an offseason fishing trip.

There's no doubt about it.

A.J. Graham -- Florida's Mr. Football - will soon be headed to join his new teammates at Marshall University.

Marshall University reinstated the Godby High School (Tallahassee, Fla.,) star's scholarship Thursday after armed robbery charges were dropped against the record-setting quarterback earlier on Thursday morning because Graham's alibi, according to his lawyer, is strong enough to create "reasonable doubt."

""Based on today's development, A.J. will have his scholarship reinstated," Marshall head coach Mark Snyder said. "We look forward to having him join our program and put this unfortunate episode behind him."

Summer camps, combines and workouts are nearing a close for the nation's top high school football recruits. Player and team rankings continue to be listed and debated by recruiting analysts as the prep season quickly approaches and the Class of 2010 comes into focus.

Not much has changed, however, for offensive tackle Seantrel Henderson, ranked numero uno in the Class of 2010 by two recruiting services. Henderson, a 6-foot-7, 310-pound offensive tackle from Saint Paul, Minn., has received more than 50 scholarship offers in football and, for good measure, two in basketball.

Elite programs across the country are waiting to hear where Henderson will take his official visits this fall. He has made unofficial trips to Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Florida, USC and Ohio State.

Marcus Lattimore has never bought into the hype about himself.

He might be South Carolina's top college prospect and the No. 1 recruit in the nation, according to The Sporting News. Scout.com lists him as No. 2 nationally and Rivals.com lists him at No 4 for good measure. Lattimore also has received more than 30 scholarship offers and he enters his senior season at powerhouse James F. Byrnes High School as the program's all-time leading rusher.

Impressed? Not Lattimore, no sir.

There was a time when the nation's top-rated prep linebacker was -- gesundheit! -- allergic to the weight room. Yes, it's true. A physically gifted Jeff Luc did all he could to avoid weight training when he first arrived at Treasure Coast High School, located on Florida's East Coast.

"When you've been strong your whole life, it's like what do you need weights for?" Titans head football coach Bill Kelley told FanHouse. "Jeff would get in the weight room and bench (press) because everyone wants to bench. He'd run and hide when it came time to do squats and leg work.

"I'd like to tell people he was allergic to the weight room."

Sniffles aside, that's certainly not the case any more.

His last name gave it away. Everyone assumed Steve McNair Jr., would be a football quarterback.

His late father, Steve McNair, rose from anonymity at Alcorn State to become "Air McNair," a Heisman Trophy candidate known for his passing prowess and the third overall selection of the Houston Oilers in 1995.

McNair, Jr., followed his father's footsteps until the ninth grade, when he first began to contemplate a position change from quarterback. McNair Jr., wanted to catch the football, not throw it. So McNair Jr., immediately sought advice from his father, who offered a message that his son still carries with him today:

Never go against your will.

In case you're wondering, here is the complete list of outrageous things Lane Kiffin has not done since becoming head coach at Tennessee:

1. Paint himself orange and skydive naked into Bryant-Denny Stadium.
2. Ask what Urban Meyer has done that's so great.
3. Consult with the UT astronomy department to see whether the universe would be annihilated if his ego was ever in the same room as Bruce Pearl's.
4. Coach in, and win, a football game.

For a moment, I had to cross off "make an outrageous scholarship offer to a middle schooler" because, well, there were reports that he just did that. Evan Berry, 13-year-old son of former Vol running back James Berry and brother of current Vol Eric Berry, has officially committed to the Vols. Or so said Rivals.com and ESPN, sort of.