Clemson on track to pick up Ole Miss forward Holloway

  • Phil Kornblut
  • Posted: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 12:01 a.m.
    UPDATED: Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:44 p.m.
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Murphy Holloway, a 6-7 forward, is set to transfer from Ole Miss to Clemson's basketball program with the official paperwork to be filed this week, according to a source.

There has been no official contact between Clemson and Holloway because Holloway just announced on Friday his intention to leave Ole Miss to move back closer to his family. Official contact can't be made until Clemson gets the formal release documents from Ole Miss. Those are expected the first of the week. But the groundwork for the former Dutch Fork star to go to Clemson has been laid, and the new Clemson staff has indicated it would welcome Holloway to the program. Holloway averaged more than 10 points and seven rebounds per game last season. He will have two years of eligibility with the Tigers beginning in 2011. Holloway would have considered USC as well, but Ole Miss was not going to release him to another SEC program after doing so last year when Malcolm White transferred to LSU.

Clemson has two scholarships available. The other is still being held for 6-7 Marcus Thornton of Atlanta, the former Clemson signee who was released after Oliver Purnell left. Thornton visited Alabama last Thursday and Friday and will visit Texas this weekend. Georgia, Georgia Tech and Michigan also are being considered by Thornton along with Clemson.

South Carolina State signed 6-8 Presano Bell of Polk (Fla.) Junior College and 6-8 Omar Sanders of Wabash (Ill.) Junior College. Sanders is a native of Spartanburg.

Jacoby Brissett of West Palm Beach, Fla., is a heavily recruited quarterback but he's also a major basketball talent. USC is showing interest in the 6-5 standout in football but has offered for basketball, according to the Palm Beach Post. Brissett reportedly has football offers from North Carolina, LSU, West Virginia, Florida State and Wisconsin. His other basketball offers reportedly include Xavier and Miami. Brissett would like to play both sports in college. He said North Carolina is his favorite basketball school, and if the Tar Heels were to offer in that sport, it would be hard for him to turn down. Brissett comes from the same program as USC basketball player Ramon Galloway. He led Dwyer to its first state football championship last season, passing for 1,463 yards and 19 touchdowns. He averaged 15 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game last basketball season.

Football

--Defensive lineman Jerome Maybank (6-4, 320) of Waccamaw committed to Clemson on Saturday picking the Tigers over USC, North Carolina and West Virginia. Maybank had been strongly favoring the Tigers from the early part of his recruiting. He attended the Tigers' junior day back in January. Maybank plays on the offensive line but is projected as a defensive tackle for the Tigers. He's the eighth commitment for the Tigers and the fourth from South Carolina.

--QB (6-3, 195) of Matthews, N.C., announced Friday that Georgia is his favorite school and that's where he plans to enroll this January. LeMay is not calling this a commitment because he doesn't want to be pinned down should there be any major changes on the Georgia staff after the season. LeMay picked Georgia over Clemson, Auburn, Notre Dame and Texas A&M.

--QB (6-4, 217) of Santa Ana, Calif., who had offers from Clemson and USC, committed last week to Southern Cal.

--Calhoun County QB Shamier Jeffery (6-2, 190) said last week he could have a decision in a couple of weeks. He did not name a current favorite but indicated Kentucky is strongly on his mind. The Wildcats like him as a quarterback, though Jeffery said he's not married to just playing quarterback in college. He has not visited anywhere since going to Clemson for a spring practice. He said he would like to visit more of the schools which have offered, like Kentucky, Alabama and Auburn. USC also is an offer and he has talked recently with recruiter Shane Beamer.

--Lake City RB Shon Carson (5-9, 195) was informed Thursday of his nomination for the U.S. Army All American Game, according to former Lake City coach Justin Gentry. Carson, of course, is busy with his baseball season right now. His top three schools, according to Gentry, are USC, Clemson and North Carolina, in no particular order. And he said East Carolina had been coming on strong.

--USC is pursuing TE Rory Anderson (6-5, 205) of Powder Springs, Ga., and currently is one of his two favorites along with Tennessee. Anderson has never visited USC but plans to do so this summer. He also likes Purdue, Louisville and Virginia in his top five. He has offers from Tulsa, N.C. State, Mississippi State, Southern Miss and Florida International. Coaches from USC, Florida State, Purdue, Louisville and Southern Miss have been through the school. Anderson said he'd like to make a decision just before his season or early in the season. He had eight touchdown receptions last season.

--USC has yet to offer DB Pat Martin (6-0, 192) of J.L. Mann but the Gamecocks are interested and he talked recently with recruiter Shawn Elliott, who has been to his school. Martin said Clemson also is interested, but is being patient because the Tigers say they're not taking many defensive backs this time. Martin is holding offers from Duke, Maryland, Minnesota, Arkansas, UCLA, Louisville, Cincinnati, Tennessee, LSU, Mississippi State and Oklahoma. Martin is not claiming a favorite but said the schools standing out the most with him right now are LSU, Tennessee, Louisville, Cincinnati and Arkansas. His only visits this spring were to USC and Clemson, and he will visit Alabama on May 22. Martin said he's been nominated for the Army All American Game.

--WR Hakeem Flowers (6-3, 189) of Wade Hampton has over 40 offers from across the country and is still waiting to hear from USC and Clemson. He continues to speculate that both schools expect him to go out-of-state for college but says that is not the case. Flowers is now considering contacting both schools directly. His latest offers are from Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Oregon. He does not have any favorites.

--Clemson is in pursuit of one of Florida's fastest players in RB Mike Bellamy (5-10, 180) of Punta Gorda. Bellamy is a sub 4.4 sprinter who rushed for 2,153 yards and 31 touchdowns last season. He had over 3,000 all-purpose yards. Bellamy's offers include Clemson, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida State, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, TCU, Tennessee, Southern Cal, West Virginia, Georgia and Florida. His leaders right now are Clemson, Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Bellamy plans to make about a two-week trip to Clemson after his spring practice.

--USC and Clemson are two of the offers for RB Chevelle Buie (5-9, 165) of Cocoa, Fla. Buie's former teammate is USC signee Ronald Patrick, and he went to three Gamecocks games last season. Buie rushed for 1,656 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. He also had 417 yards in receptions with three scores, and he returned five kickoffs for touchdowns. He also has offers from Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia, Tech, Michigan, TCU, Ole Miss and Auburn.

--DB Ronnie Harris (5-10, 155) of Atlanta has USC as one of the front runners along with Tennessee, Ole Miss, Purdue and Louisville. Harris also has offers from Vanderbilt, Auburn, Stanford and Harvard. And he's expecting an offer from Kentucky. Coaches from Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Kentucky have been through his school. Harris went to USC's junior day and he has visited Oregon. He also plans to visit Tennessee and Ole Miss, and he will make a return trip to USC this summer.

--Clemson signee LB will attend Hutchinson (Kan.) Junior College this fall according to CUTigers.com. Chaney was considered a longshot academically when the Tigers signed him out of Battery Creek. Chaney said he expects to spend just one year at the junior college.

--DL Roderick Byers (6-4, 262) of Northwestern wanted to visit Clemson last week but never did make it to the campus. He still plans to visit Clemson at some point. Byers is favoring USC but says he wants to take more visits.

--RB (6-1, 200) of Darlington has offers from USC and S.C. State and continues to hear from Clemson, Alabama, North Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech, and Illinois among others. Last summer he camped at Clemson and will return the favor to USC this year. Cooper says he does not have a favorite.

--DB LaQuentin Smith (6-1, 208) of Orlando, Fla., continues to favor USC but said South Florida has come on strong and is right behind the Gamecocks. USF recruiter Todd Fitch has been by the school. Smith talked with USC recruiter Jeep Hunter about two weeks ago. He attended the USC spring game and that's been his only visit of the spring. He has no other visits planned right now. Smith also has offers from Illinois, Central Florida, Colorado State, Michigan, West Virginia and Cincinnati.

--OL Max Lang (6-5, 290) of Orlando has offers from USC, Florida State, Kansas, Texas Tech, Central Florida, Middle Tennessee, South Florida, Memphis and Florida International. He's also hearing from Florida, Duke and Rutgers. This spring he has visited Florida State, Central Florida and South Florida and he plans to check out the Florida schools this summer because they are close to his home. He does not claim a favorite.

--LB Corey Miller Jr. (6-4, 210) of Blythewood is getting the strongest interest right now from Wake Forest and N.C. State and is looking for an offer from one or both later this spring. USC is the only school he's visited but he's planning to visit Wake Forest, N.C. State and East Carolina.

--RB Jalen Simmons (5-8, 195) of Charlotte committed to Duke earlier this year but says he will still take visits this summer, including to USC and Clemson. Duke is his only offer at this point. He rushed for 1,100 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.

--Sam Spence (6-3, 200) of Charlotte still has not received any offers and plans to go to several summer camps in hopes of impressing recruiters. His camp plans include Clemson, USC, Boston College, Southern Miss, N.C. State, Elon, Arkansas, Georgia, Virginia, Duke, and North Carolina. The schools showing the most interest are South Carolina, Elon, BC, Arkansas, and Duke. During spring break, Spence visited Elon, N.C. State, Duke, and North Carolina.

--LB (6-4, 196) of Snellville, Ga., recently visited Clemson and is looking for an offer from the Tigers. His offers are USC, North Carolina, Florida State, Illinois, West Virginia, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss among others. He continues to favor the Gamecocks over Florida State and North Carolina.

--Marlboro County LB (6-3, 205) has seen coaches from North Carolina and Nebraska come through his school and coaches from USC, Clemson, Southern Cal, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Tulsa, Colorado, Auburn, LSU and Georgia have told him they will be in. Townsend said one of the coaches who called him during the recent open calling period was USC's Ellis Johnson. Townsend said three of his official visits will be USC, Clemson and Florida. Mississippi State is his most recent offer. He's not claiming a favorite.

--USC offensive line coach Shawn Elliott checked in on Mauldin OL Ryan Norton (6-4, 282) last week. Norton is planning to take another unofficial visit to USC at some point. Norton continues to favor Clemson over USC and Georgia Tech. The earliest he'll make a decision will be right after his spring practice.

--DL Devonte Brown (6-4, 260) of Fayetteville, N.C., has Clemson and North Carolina as his top two. Brown has visited Clemson, North Carolina and N.C. State. He said he's getting closer on a decision and might have one before the season. This summer Brown is thinking about camping at Clemson, Maryland, Alabama, North Carolina, Arkansas and Florida. He has offers from Clemson, North Carolina, USC, Duke, West Virginia, Maryland, Arkansas, East Carolina and Wake Forest. He's not hearing from USC at this point. Brown plays nose tackle and said he had about 25 tackles and one sack last season. He's the teammate of Clemson commitment Eric Maclean.

--USC is one of the new offers for DB (5-10, 180) of Miami. He has about a dozen offers at this point. Some of the others are Alabama, Florida State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ole Miss, Texas Tech and Central Florida. He's also drawing interest from Miami. Last season Therezie had 81 tackles, forced nine fumbles and had three interceptions.

Baseball

USC signed catcher Dante Rosenberg (5-11, 185) of Palm Beach State (Fla.) Junior College last week. Rosenberg is hitting .271 and is known as a good defensive catcher.