Academic requirements stall Salmon's commitment to USC

Last week South Carolina revealed the minimum academic requirements prospective athletes must meet to be admitted. The guidelines were created so that the Gamecocks coaches and the prospects they are recruiting have a full understanding of what it will take to get an athlete into school. The hope is that with this advance notice, the coaches will avoid taking commitments from prospects who don't project to meet the standards and, thus, avoid the embarrassment of NCAA qualified recruits being denied admission as was the case with two football players and one basketball player in August.

One prospect already affected by this approach is DL Randy Salmon (6-3, 285) of Stockbridge, Ga. He has been favoring the Gamecocks since the summer and has been on the verge of committing. But now he must wait. "They are still number one on my list," he said, "but I'm waiting until the end of the semester to see how my grades are. I want to be sure I can be accepted. They couldn't accept my commitment until my grades are right. I've just got to get Algebra 2 and that's it." Salmon is planning to make an unofficial visit for this week's game with Vanderbilt. He was at the Georgia-Alabama game earlier this season. He also has offers from N.C. State, Alabama-Birmingham, South Florida and Maryland.

Fort Dorchester DE Robert Quinn (6-5, 255) planned to be at the USC-North Carolina game over the weekend. He has been to games at USC this season. He has not decided on official visits.

Two in-state prospects made commitments last week to out-of-state programs. Strom Thurmond WR Marcus Thurmond (6-2, 165) is headed to Middle Tennessee State and Richland Northeast DB Leonard Paulk (5-11, 180) committed to East Carolina. Paulk is the brother of USC linebacker Rodney Paulk.

West Florence PK Jimmy Howell (6-6, 245) last week switched his commitment from Northwestern to Virginia.

Clemson target DB Lynell Payne (6-3, 210) of Marlton, N.J., committed last week to Connecticut. "I just felt I had a good opportunity," he said. "I fit into their spread offense. It's a good opportunity to play wide receiver." Clemson recruited Payne as a safety.

USC could land a commitment this Saturday from OL David Spurlock (6-4, 280) of Murfressboro, Tenn. "I would say that South Carolina is my leader right now," Spurlock said. He's also considering Louisville and Florida State. He plans to make an unofficial visit for the Vanderbilt game and said he could commit if everything goes well. "I'm looking for how good the crowd is," he said. "I'm also looking at how the players like their coaches and also what the facilities look like and things like that."

Johnsonville OL Justin Lewis (6-5, 315) has been committed to Maryland but he made an unofficial visit to USC for the S.C. State game and he plans to make one to Clemson. "I feel good about my commitment, but I can't count out all the schools just yet," Lewis said. He plans to set official visits with Clemson and Maryland.

DL Omoregie Uzzi (6-4, 300) of Chamblee, Ga., made an unofficial visit to Clemson for the Virginia Tech game and talked with head coach Tommy Bowden. Uzzi also is looking at Georgia, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Auburn, Duke, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Maryland and Central Florida.

RB Franklin Green (5-11, 208) of Savannah has been committed to Florida but is thinking hard about USC after making an unofficial visit in September. "I consider myself a Florida commitment but in a way I consider it even," Green said. He plans to come in for another game and will take official visits to USC and Florida.

Green's teammate, DE Chaz Sutton (6-4, 230) also is a Florida commitment but he, too, made an unofficial visit to USC last month. He has not been anywhere since and said he might return for another game in Columbia. He said he remains committed to Florida.

USC, North Carolina and Wake Forest will be three of the official visits for OL Jonathan Cooper (6-3, 305) of Wilmington, N.C. He also has offers from N.C. State, Duke and East Carolina, and Clemson recently started showing interest.

Clemson leads for ATH Jordan Byas (6-2, 180) of Panama City, Fla. "That's just the team that I like, it's nothing specific," he said. Byas plans to be at the Clemson-Boston College game on an unofficial visit. He has offers from Clemson and Ole Miss and is getting interest from Vanderbilt. He plays safety and running back.

OL Antoine McClain (6-6, 294) of Anniston, Ala., will set official visits with Southern Cal, Alabama and Auburn, an he's looking at Clemson, Tennessee, Florida State and Arkansas for his other visits.

USC is among the dozen offers for DE Glenn Harbin (6-5, 240) of Mobile, Ala. Some of the others are Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, LSU, Oklahoma and Kentucky. He has not decided on his official visits.

Georgetown native DE Larry Ford (6-3, 240) of Coffeyville JC, Kan., has set an official visit to Ole Miss for Nov 17, and he plans to take one to Kansas State. North Carolina has been in touch and he might take a visit to Chapel Hill.

ATH Ingram Bell (6-0, 187) of St. James, a Vanderbilt commitment, has made unofficial visits to Clemson and USC for games, and he plans to be at USC this weekend. "I'm still pretty solid (with Vanderbilt) but I've been looking around," Bell said. Bell can play running back, receiver and defensive back and he said his Clemson and USC recruiters are still evaluating him. He also has offers from Duke and Presbyterian.

Teammates DB Carlton Lewis (6-3, 190) and DB Rashard Hall (6-3, 190) of St. Augustine, Fla., made unofficial visits to Clemson for the Virginia Tech game. Lewis said Clemson is close to offering and he plans to set an official visit with the Tigers along with Illinois and Georgia Tech. He has an offer from USC and has been there for a game. The Gamecocks are recruiting him as a receiver.

Hall has not been offered by Clemson but he does have offers from Louisville, West Virginia, Mississippi State, Maryland and others. He will visit Louisville on Oct. 26. He's also drawn interest but no offer from USC.

Clemson and USC are among the more than 30 offers for RB Jamie Harper (6-0, 222) of Jacksonville, Fla. He has not set official visits but said Clemson likely will get one. He's been to games at Clemson, Florida and Auburn and plans to attend the Miami at Florida State game this weekend.

RB Martin Ward (5-10 ,190) of Jonesboro, Ga., who is a strong lean to USC, plans to attend this week's game with Vanderbilt as well as the Florida game in a few weeks. He also plans to take an official visit to Louisville.

ATH Sanders Commings Jr. (6-2, 195) of Augusta was at the Clemson-Virginia Tech game and while there got a chance to talk with Tiger baseball coach Jack Leggett. Clemson has not offered him for either sport. He also has been to USC and Georgia for games and those are his top two.

Junior WR Quinton Payton (6-4, 200) of T.L. Hanna has an offer from N.C. State. He's been to games at Clemson and USC and is also hearing from Maryland, LSU, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Duke and Vanderbilt.

Basketball news

6-8 Jared Swopshire of Bradenton, Fla., was scheduled for an official visit to Marquette over the weekend. He has been to Clemson and is scheduled to visit Louisville this weekend. He will choose one of those three schools after the Louisville trip.

5-11 Damier Pitts of Hargrave Prep, Va., a USC target, committed over the weekend to Marshall.

5-10 Quasim Pugh of Oakdale, Conn., committed to the College of Charleston.

Coastal Carolina gained commitments from 6-7 Samuel McLaurin and 6-3 Reshard McGill of Havana, Fla.

6-8 Stedman Short of Hillcrest committed to High Point.

Baseball news

Clemson's 2007 class is ranked 15th by Baseball America in their top 25. San Diego is ranked No. 1 followed by LSU, Oregon State, North Carolina and Auburn.