Auburn trip sways commitments

  • Phil Kornblut
  • Posted: Tuesday, September 29, 2009 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Monday, March 19, 2012 11:50 a.m.
  • Text size: A A A

Clemson commitment athlete Victor Beasley of Adairsville, Ga., and USC commitment offensive lineman Eric Mack of Calhoun County are rethinking those pledges after visiting Auburn for their recent game with West Virginia. Beasley was there on an unofficial visit while Mack made an official visit.

Mack came back from his Auburn visit with the (Auburn) Tigers on top of his list. "I think I may have committed too early," Mack said. "I like USC and it's a good school. I just want to make sure. It's nothing they have done. I just rushed into my commitment."

Mack plans to take all four of his remaining official visits..USC, Clemson and North Carolina are three of those. Florida is possible for the final visit.

Beasley also was impressed with Auburn.

"They are in need of linebackers," Beasley said. "And coach (Gene) Chizik is a real coach, real with all the players. I like his enthusiasm."

Beasley plans to visit Clemson for the Wake Forest game, and he plans to maintain his "soft" commitment to the Tigers. Beasley will set official visits with Clemson, Auburn and possibly Florida and Tennessee.

Lowcountry prospects

--LB Justin Parker (6-2, 225) of Beaufort continues to favor Clemson slightly over USC. No new offers have come in, though he thinks Rutgers, Oregon and West Virginia are close to making offers. He has been in touch with his USC and Clemson recruiters and will set official visits with those two.

--Ben Lippen QB Joey Carter (6-1, 170) likes The Citadel, Charleston Southern, Presbyterian and Western Carolina. Carter has visited PC and was scheduled to be at The Citadel last Saturday. He also plans to visit Georgia Southern and Gardner-Webb.

--Byrnes DB Zach Miller (5-11, 173) is close to an offer from Central Michigan and he plans to visit there once he gets the offer.

Palmetto State prospects

--Former Florida commitment DB Victor Hampton (5-11, 170) of Darlington made an unofficial visit to USC for the Ole Miss game. Hampton transferred to Darlington from Independence High in Charlotte prior to the season. He had 10 interceptions as a cornerback last season. He is now considering the Gamecocks in addition to Clemson, North Carolina, N.C. State and Tennessee. He's visited Tennessee twice.

--Byrnes WR Nick Jones made an unofficial visit to USC for the Ole Miss game along with teammate RB Marcus Lattimore. Jones plans to take four of his official visits with USC, Penn State, Auburn and Michigan.

--Manning DB John Fulton (6-0, 180) was also at USC for the Ole Miss game. He has official visits set with LSU for Oct. 10, Alabama on Oct. 17 and Florida on Nov. 27. He also will set an official visit with USC. He's also looking at Michigan, Florida State and Georgia. Fulton continues to favor USC over Alabama.

--OL Marques Pair (6-6, 260) of Sumter, who is a Tennessee commitment, has had some contact from USC but no offer from the Gamecocks. He has picked up an offer from Hampton and is also hearing from Auburn, North Carolina, Liberty and Columbia. He says his commitment to Tennessee remains firm.

--USC is showing interest in DB Xavier McFadden (5-11, 170) of Rock Hill and he talked recently with recruiter Ellis Johnson. McFadden plans to take an unofficial visit to USC for this week's game with S.C. State. He has an offer from Kentucky and was scheduled for an unofficial visit there over the weekend. McFadden also plans to take unofficial visits to Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Out-of-state prospects

--DL Sharrif Floyd of Philadelphia made an official visit to Southern Cal over the weekend. He's also been officially to Florida. He will visit Penn State on Oct. 16, USC on Oct. 23 and North Carolina on Nov. 6.

--ATH Ryan White of Tallahassee, Fla., has a top five of USC, Georgia Tech, Southern Miss, Iowa State and East Carolina. The Gamecocks already have a commitment from his teammate, OL Cody Gibson. "They definitely will get one of my visits," White said. He was scheduled for an unofficial visit to Georgia Tech last Saturday.

--WR Ace Sanders of Bradenton, Fla., will take official visits to USC, West Virginia and Purdue. Clemson has been in touch with Sanders but has not offered. Sanders said he would visit Clemson if it offered. Sanders made an unofficial visit to Florida for the Tennessee game.

--ATH Sherard Cadogan (6-3, 230) of Cherry Hill, N.J., made an official visit to Wisconsin over the weekend. He's also taken an official visit to Pittsburgh. He will go to West Virginia this weekend, USC on Oct. 9 and Michigan State on Oct. 23.

--DL Darius Kilgo (6-4, 290) of Charlotte recently picked up an offer from Auburn, but Clemson is the offer he's waiting on. Kilgo has said he'd commit to the Tigers if offered. He plans to take official visits to Clemson, Auburn and Maryland.

--The Gamecocks have offered punter Patrick Fish (6-0, 175) of Shelby, N.C., and he is scheduled for an official visit this weekend. Fish made USC one of his camp stops last summer At one time kicking guru Chris Sailor rated him the No. 13 punter in the country. He averages right at 40 yards per punt with a 4.5-second hang time. Fish, the son of former Gardner-Webb head coach Woody Fish, also has an offer from Gardner-Webb and is hearing from Duke.

--The top four with RB James White of Miami are Clemson, N.C. State, Wisconsin and Iowa. He has taken official visits to Wisconsin and Iowa and is scheduled to visit N.C. State on Nov. 28 for the North Carolina game. He also plans to take a visit with Clemson. He does not have a favorite.

--USC remains in touch with DB Keion Payne of Miami. He has not narrowed his list which also includes offers from Florida State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Wake Forest, Purdue, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Miami, Oklahoma State and Michigan. Payne is part of the St. Thomas Aquinas team which will play Byrnes this week in Florida.

--DE Kareem Martin of Roanoke Rapids, N.C., made an official visit to Georgia Tech over the weekend. That was his first visit. He will also take visits to Clemson, Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. He's been to Virginia Tech unofficially.

--RB Jawan Jamison (5-8, 195) of Jacksonville, Fla., wants to take official visits to Clemson and USC. He also likes Rutgers and Northern Illinois.

--DB Dontrell Johnson (5-10, 174) of Garden City (Kan.) Junior College picked up offers last week from Purdue and UAB. He also has offers from Ole Miss, Southern Miss, North Texas and Georgia Southern. USC is strongly interested and he will take an official visit there Oct. 23, and he hopes to get an offer from the Gamecocks then.

--USC remains in touch with DE David Perry (6-6, 225) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and he's been invited in for a visit by the Gamecocks. Perry said he's also looking at Arkansas, Tulane, Miami, Florida State, Florida and LSU.

Basketball prospects

--With the commitments last week from 6-9 Damontre Harris and 6-5 Brian Richardson, the USC 2010 recruiting class bolted up the national rankings. Rivals.com rates the class No. 8 in the country. Ohio State has the top-rated class followed by Syracuse, Memphis, North Carolina and Wake Forest. USC's is the only SEC class ranked in the top 10 by Rivals.

--The Gamecocks missed out on another major target last week when 6-5 Stacey Poole of Jacksonville, Fla., committed to Kentucky.

--6-6 Casey Prather of Jackson, Tenn., will make his official visit to Vanderbilt this weekend. He has visited Clemson, Florida and Michigan. He'll make his decision soon after the visit to Vandy. There is no favorite.

--College of Charleston gained a commitment last week from 6-0 Jordan Scott of Darlington.