Montgomery leaving Cal, looking at USC

Former Parade All American running back James Montgomery (5-9, 205) is considering South Carolina as his new home after deciding to leave California. Montgomery visited Columbia late last month. He also stopped by Florida where his close friend, receiver Carl Moore, plays football for the Gators.

Montgomery reportedly also is interested in Washington, Oregon and Fresno State. He's a native of Rancho Cordova, Calif., and he rushed for over 4900 yards and 82 touchdowns in his high school career. He redshirted in 2006 at Cal and rushed for 171 yards and two touchdowns in 13 games last season.

WR DJ Donley (6-4, 203), who at one time strongly considered transferring to USC from Georgia Tech, will transfer to Purdue, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

ATH Tori Childers (6-5 210) of Rock Hill and New Hampton Prep, N.H., signed his letter of intent with USC late last month and faxed the papers to the football office formalizing his commitment. Childers hopes to play receiver with USC. He caught 40 passes for 700 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

USC could gain a commitment from TE Justice Cunningham (6-3, 232) of Central this week. "It's probably a good chance (of a commitment), not 100 percent, but pretty good," said Cunningham. "I like (tight ends) coach Ray (Rychleski) a lot. I like how he gets things done." N.C. State also is strong with him but has not offered. He's also been contacted by Clemson and Georgia.

Clemson is close on a commitment from TE Tyler Shatley (6-3, 255) of Icard, N.C. "It won't be too much longer," Shatley said. "The process is getting overwhelming, it's starting to get into my life. I've thought about (committing at) the spring game, but I'm not sure." N.C. State is the other school Shatley is strongly considering though he visited North Carolina Friday.

DB Craig Loston (6-3, 210) of Aldine, Texas, narrowed his choices to Clemson and LSU and will be at Clemson this weekend for the spring game. "It's because of their style of play," Loston said about why he's down to the two Tigers. His mother will join him on his first ever trip to Clemson. "I want to see The Hill, that's the first thing I want to see," he said. "And I want to see the athletic facilities." Loston said he will go to Texas A&M for the spring game April 19.

USC offered QB Morgan Newton (6-5, 215) of Carmel, Ind., last week joining Clemson, Indiana, Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Louisville, Kentucky and Virginia on his offer list. Newton said he will pay a visit to USC this spring, possibly this week while he's on spring break. Newton, who does not have a favorite, passed for 1,900 yards and rushed for 900 yards last season.

USC recently offered DE Justin Chaisson (6-5, 265) of Las Vegas. He also has offers from Florida, Oklahoma, LSU, UCLA, Oregon, California, Arizona, Arizona State, Nebraska, UNLV, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada. Last season, Chaisson had 105 tackles and 23 sacks.

WR Nukeese Richardson (5-10, 170) of Pahokee, Fla., currently favors USC and plans to attend the spring game April 19. "It's a good chance I might end up at South Carolina," he said. Southern Cal is second on his list and he also likes Michigan, Tennessee and Rutgers. He plans to take all of his visits before deciding. Richardson caught 26 passes for 500 yards and eight TDs last season.

Marlboro County WR Kinsman Thomas (6-3, 195) made a visit to USC recently to watch practice. He's also been to Clemson and Virginia. He has offers from USC, Clemson and Vanderbilt and is getting interest from Southern Cal, Alabama, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Duke and Kentucky. He does not have a favorite.

OL Brandon Thomas (6-4, 280) of Dorman took in a Clemson practice last week with his mother and talked with coaches Bowden, Scott and Napier. He was going to UNC on Saturday but the rain out of the spring game changed those plans. Thomas will take the Act this Saturday so he won't make it to Clemson's spring game. He's planning to attend USC's spring game on the 19th. "North Carolina, Clemson and South Carolina are all about even right now," Thomas said. He also has offers from Maryland and Vanderbilt.

OL Andrew Carter (6-6, 265) of Tallahassee, Fla., was at USC on Friday and Saturday. "I really liked it," Carter said. He met with Steve Spurrier on Friday in his office and spent a lot of time talking with his recruiter, Shane Beamer. He also has been to Georgia and Florida State and will go to Florida this weekend.

QB Donny McElveen II (6-3, 190) currently lives in Winston-Salem, N.C., but will be moving to Summerville so he can play his senior season for his grandfather, John McKissick. Last season, he passed for 1,900 yards and 18 TDs. Last Wednesday he visited Clemson and met with quarterback coach Rob Spence and head coach Tommy Bowden. "They didn't offer him but they want him to come back to their one day camp," McElveen's father said. McElveen has offers from Central Florida and Middle Tennessee, and Wofford is close to making an offer. He plans to attend one-day camps at Clemson, USC, Wofford, NC State, Georgia and East Carolina.

Calhoun County ATH David Sims (6-0, 208) recently visited Georgia Tech where he's being recruited strictly as an option QB, and he left Atlanta with Tech as his leader. "I can succeed in their offense because I like to run and throw," he said. He was scheduled to go to Tennessee for a junior day Saturday and hopes to make it to Alabama for their spring game this Saturday. USC and the Vols trail Georgia Tech on his list.

Greenwood DB DJ Swearinger (6-1, 205) made a recent trip to NC State and picked up an offer from the Wolfpack to go along with earlier ones from Vanderbilt, Illinois, Maryland and Auburn. He's also drawing interest from Penn State, Virginia and Tennessee.

Clemson is one of the favorites of RB Carlos Hyde (6-0, 230) of Naples, Fla., along with Florida State, Ohio State, Miami and Wisconsin. He also has offers from South Florida, Louisville, N.C. State and Pittsburgh. He rushed for 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

RB Desmond Scott (5-10, 185) of Durham, N.C., had hoped to visit Clemson last week but couldn't make it. He does plan to visit at some point this spring or summer. He recently made the short trip over to Duke for a junior day and spring practice. He also went to Maryland for a junior day. He was supposed to go to UNC on Saturday for the spring game but it was rained out. Scott also has offers from USC, Virginia, UNC, N.C. State, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, East Carolina and West Virginia.

ATH Duron Harmon (6-2, 192) of Camden-Wyoming, Del., plays DB, receiver and special teams. Last season, he rushed for 701 yards and 12 TDs, caught 15 passes for 212 yards and had 43 tackles with two interceptions. USC has been showing interest but has not yet offered. He has offers from Pitt, Stanford and Rutgers. He's also hearing from Notre Dame, UConn, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Purdue and Penn State.

DB Mike Jones (6-2, 200) of Orlando, Fla., is getting mail from Clemson, Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, UNC and Virginia. Recruiters want to watch him in the spring because he played just five games last year due to a bad shoulder. He still had 56 tackles and eight sacks.

Basketball news

6-8 Milton Jennings of Pinewood Prep plans to announce his college choice Wednesday at a news conference at his school. Clemson is expected to get the nod over Georgetown, UCLA and Florida.

New USC coach Darrin Horn visited Jennings last week to make a quick pitch. That was one of four stops Horn made on his first full day on the job. He also saw three sophomores in 6-4 Damarcus Harrison of Greenwood, 6-4 Rashaad Richardson of James Island and 6-0 Eric Smith of Mullins.

6-7 Murphy Holloway of Dutch Fork said last week he had not been contacted by Horn and remains firm with his Ole Miss commitment. "The smart thing would be to recruit the number one player in the state," Holloway said. "I'll give him a chance until Signing Day, but time is ticking." The signing period begins April 16. This season, Holloway averaged 28 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks and three assists.

6-10 center Brendon Knox of Spartanburg Methodist JC was recruited by the previous USC staff and his coach, Rob Burke, hopes to get Horn interested in him this week. Knox is a native of Georgetown. He has offers from Wichita State and Winthrop and has drawn interest from N.C. State. This season, he averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds per game and blocked 156 shots.

Clemson is hoping for the final visit from 6-8 Wesley Witherspoon of Lilburn, Ga. He has visited Colorado, LSU, Virginia and Texas. He's considering Clemson, Memphis and Florida for that final trip.

---

Notice about comments:
The Post and Courier is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. The Post and Courier does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not postandcourier.com. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our Web site.
Full terms and conditions can be read here.

---

Comments

This article has  3 comment(s)