Illinois rolled out the red carpet for two talented recruits last weekend--running back Lamaar Thomas of Fort Washington, Md., and 6-3, 280-pound defensive lineman Reggie Ellis of Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C. Credit offensive coordinator Mike Locksley and freshman sensation Arrelious Benn for luring them to the campus.

Both are being heavily recruited. Ellis was a teammate of Benn's at Dunbar, which could be a very good sign for Illinois. One of the top 120 prospects in the nation, Ellis will play in the U.S. Army All-America Game in January in San Antonio. They aren't as good as Benn and Simeon's Martez Wilson, this year's prize recruits, but they boost the talent level of next year's class.

Elsewhere, Michigan got a commitment from 6-1, 226-pound linebacker Kenny Demens of Detroit. He chose Michigan over Nebraska and Michigan State.

Of major significance to Michigan fans, defensive back Brendan Smith of New Brunswick, N.J., my choice as the No. 45 player in the nation, visited Michigan and said he obtained a promise from coach Lloyd Carr that he will be back next year. Smith said he wanted to be sure that Carr would still be at Michigan if he committed.

Quarterback Aramis Hillary, a 6-2, 205-pounder from Johnston, S.C., committed to South Carolina.

Boise State got a major commitment from 6-3, 225-pound tight end Chandler Koch of Flower Mound, Texas.

Tennessee landed 6-1, 195-pound wide receiver Rod Wilks of Smyrna, Tenn., wooing the homegrown product away from Alabama and South Carolina.

Marc Anthony, a 5-11, 185-pound defensive back from Chandler, Ariz., committed to California.

The best junior in Indiana, 6-5, 210-pound quarterback Morgan Newton of Carmel, whose father played at Grambling, has attracted interest from Notre Dame, Illinois, Northwestern, Michigan and Iowa. Newton is an honor student.

In the next few weeks, I plan to see some of the top-rated juniors in Illinois. On Friday, I'm looking forward to seeing the matchup of two of the state's top linemen, Montini's Ohio State-bound Garrett Goebel and Marian Central's Notre Dame-bound Sean Cwynar, in Woodstock. I also want to evaluate Marian Central junior Cody O'Neil, a 6-4, 270-pound offensive lineman.

Two other juniors are 6-7, 285-pound lineman Patrick Ward of Providence, whose father Brian played at Hinsdale South and Illinois, and 6-5, 320-pound offensive lineman Ben Sampson of Stevenson.

Posted by Second Season at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Until last week, St. Viator's Eric Huber was a quarterback. After a shoulder separation, however, the 6-2, 200-pound senior was switched to wide receiver. Good decision. Because Huber, who has 4.4 speed, is a Division I prospect at that position.

In last Friday's 26-21 loss to Notre Dame, Huber caught six passes. Boston College, which just received a commitment from Huber's teammate, tackle Emmett Cleary, is recruiting him. And he has received interest from Northwestern and Indiana. He is athletic and can run. He likely will be recruited as an athlete/defensive back/wide receiver.

Fremd is 6-0 and one of the best teams I've seen in recent years. I attended last Friday's Fremd/Palatine game and observed several talented juniors on coach Mike Donatucci's roster. But I was most impressed with a senior at Palatine, 6-6, 240-pound defensive tackle/end Monroe Brooks, whom I was told is participating in his first year of football.

Brooks has long arms and long legs, perfect for a defensive pash rusher. He also has good quickness off the ball. He is very aggressive. He seemed to be mad at everyone on every play. He isn't a great player yet but he has potential to be one. He passes the look test and quickness test. If I'm a Big 10 school with a scholarship left, I'd give it to him in a second. He will weigh 280 pounds in two years. He has a great future. All he lacks is polish and experience.

Fremd has four juniors who have Division I potential--6-1, 218-pound linebacker Ben Perna, 6-0, 190-pound defensive back Mike Tauchman, 6-0, 200-pound running back Mike Gyetbay and 6-2, 220-pound defensive lineman/tight end Jeff Bobek.

Perna makes a lot of plays. He is strong, very athletic and could be a Division I linebacker. Tauchman had four interceptions in only three quarters and also caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in Fremd's 26-7 victory over Palatine. He is very aggressive and steals everything thrown in his direction. He also is an outstanding baseball player. Gyetbay, whose father played at Syracuse, has MAC potential. And Bobek, whose father played at Iowa, also demonstrated a mean streak.

I continue to be impressed with Mark Tolzien, Fremd's senior quarterback. At 6-1, he lacks the height that many college recruiters are looking for. But he is as good or better than his older brother Scott, now at Wisconsin.

Posted by Second Season at 06:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I attended the Barrington/Fremd game last week and observed several good prospects, including Fremd quarterback Mark Tolzien and three sophomores who showed Division I potential and will bear watching in the next two years.

Tolzien isn't tall at 6-1, which is why he hasn't received a lot of scholarship offers, but he has command, presence and throws all of his passes on the money. I was impressed with his ability to roll out and throw on the run. He can throw the deep pass. Given a chance, he should shine in college. But will he get a chance?

Christian Lombard, Fremd's 6-6, 275-pound sophomore right tackle, will be one of the most recruited players in the state in two years. He is very athletic and moves well. Once people figure out who he is, he'll attract plenty of attention. On the game program, however, he was listed at 6-5, 260 and a senior...wrong number, wrong class, wrong size and wrong position. Keep an eye on him.

Barrington has two sophomores to watch--6-0, 165-pound cornerback Brett Seeger, brother of former Bronco quarterback Garrett Seeger, and 5-8, 185-pound tailback Terrance Terry, who is as good as former Barrington star Andre Anderson (who went to Michigan State) at the same age. Seeger, only 15, is a good cover corner and showed good instincts. Terry has good vision, strong legs and good speed.

Barrington also has three other players who impressed me--6-4, 260-pound junior offensive tackle Trevor Laue, whose brother is at Western Michigan, 6-3, 205-pound senior wide receiver J.C. Stickney and 6-4, 260-pound defensive tackle Andrew Cobb, who has been offered by Air Force.

Laue will weigh close to 300 pounds in two years. Stickney makes plays, shows Division I skills and projects as a Mid-America Conference player as a safety and wide receiver. Cobb will attract more interest once other colleges see his senior tapes.

Elsewhere, Lemont's Brett Nagel has informed colleges that he doesn't want to be recruited on defense. He wants to be a quarterback, tight end or receiver. He favors Stanford, Boston College and Iowa. His cousin, former Joliet Catholic star Coby Fleener, is at Stanford.

Nationally, Will Hill of Jersey City, N.J., the best free safety in the country, picked Florida over USC. He is Florida coach Urban Meyer's biggest catch to date. Hill also is an outstanding option quarterback.

Illinois coach Ron Zook is anxious to get running back/athlete Lamaar Thomas of Fort Washington, Md., to visit the Champaign-Urbana campus. Thomas, a top 100 prospect, has made unofficial visits to Ohio State and Maryland.

Michael Floyd of St. Paul, Minn., a wide receiver who is the best uncommitted player in the Midwest, has narrowed his choices to Ohio State, Minnesota and Notre Dame with Michigan still in the mix. Floyd was Minnesota's Player of the Year as a junior.

Posted by Second Season at 03:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Remember Miles Stroter, King High School's 6-4, 340-pound offensive lineman? He was ranked among the top 10 prospects in the Chicago area before his senior year and was offered a scholarship by Illinois faster than you can say "King Kong." But then he virtually disappeared. Whatever happened to him?

Stroter is a freshman starter at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. King coach Lonnie Williams believes he can play at the next level. But he has a lot of proving to do.

He was a big kid, hard working and thick. But scouts wanted to see more movement skills. He had Division I potential coming out of King but he needed work and refinement.

Illinois offered early. He was called the best lineman in the state. Then Illinois withdrew its offer after seeing him play as a senior. His father took him around the country and promoted him but the youngster never received any big-time offers.

"The recruiting process got funny," Williams said. "He got offers from Illinois and Mid-America Conference schools. But he ignored the MAC and turned off other recruiters. He wanted other offers. He got hung up in the process and turned people off. But he likes the situation he is in now."

Williams says current King star, 6-4, 315-pound offensive lineman Jeff Allen, who is committed to Illinois, is quicker and more athletic than Stroter.

I agree that Allen has great athletic ability but he is overweight. He must go on a diet like former Young, Miami and NFL star Russell Maryland did to become a big-time prospect. Allen could be a diamond in the rough. Illinois offered early, when he didn't have any offers. He is a three-star player in my rankings. He has potential but he isn't a good one yet. He has Big 10 size and good feet but he must be more consistent.

Posted by Second Season at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The business of evaluating and rating the talent and skills of high school football players is an inexact science. In most circles, you are a genius if you rank someone as the No. 1 prospect in the area, state or country and a bum if you don't. Which brings us to the subject of Garrett Goebel, Montini's 6-4, 270-pound lineman.

Goebel is my choice as the No. 4 player in the Chicago area this season--behind St. Rita's Darius Fleming, Mount Carmel's Steve Filer and Marian Central's Sean Cwynar. Goebel is committed to Ohio State while Fleming, Filer and Cwynar opted for Notre Dame.

So critics leap to the conclusion that I have a pro-Notre Dame bias. Not true. Look at the film. National scouts from Rivals came to Chicago to see Fleming personally and came away convinced that he, not Filer, was the No. 1 player in the area. In the case of these four players, I would argue that it doesn't matter who is 1-2-3-4. Do you prefer apples or oranges or pineapples or peaches?

How can you get upset over being ranked No. 4? No one ever is satisfied. That's why I try to avoid getting into debates with parents and high school coaches, who are the least objective of all. You never can win that argument. Over 30 years, however, I think I have been right more times than not.

I recall when Rivals rated Martin O'Donnell of Downers Grove South among the top offensive linemen in the country. He was a good player, I felt, but not a great one. But when he committed to Illinois and I didn't rate him among my top 100, Illini Nation said I was anti-Illinois. O'Donnell has been a solid contributor at Illinois but hardly an impact player or NFL prospect.

Most evaluators believe Goebel will play offense in college. He is good on defense but better on offense. His competition level isn't as high as Fleming's or Filer's. Cwynar is in the same conference as Goebel but I believe he is better because he is quicker.

I've seen film on all of them. And film gives you an opportunity to evaluate players with much more scrutiny than at camps or combines or games. Cwynar showed more explosiveness on defense. Both Cwynar and Goebel can play on either side of the ball but Cwynar is better on defense.

Why do I rank Fleming ahead of Filer? In my view, both rank among the top 50 in the nation, higher than other evaluators who usually lean to players from the West, South and East. Fleming had a more productive junior year. Filer had a better game when their teams met earlier this season. They are different kind of players. Filer is more lateral, Fleming has more burst. But have NFL potential.

Posted by Second Season at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm not going to say "I told you so" when it comes to the play of Rashard Mendenhall, Illinois' fast-emerging running back. But I wonder what all those skeptics and naysayers who predicted that he was vastly overrated--by me, that is--are saying today.

So let's re-examine how the former Niles West product was discovered and how then Illinois coach Ron Turner recruited him and why I believe, if he stays healthy, he will be a certain first-round selection in the NFL draft, maybe after this season.

On a tip from a friend, I first saw Mendenhall as a sophomore. He was muscular and fast. They don't come that way on the North Shore very often. On the first play that I observed, he swept left, like the great Jim Brown, and went 75 yards for a touchdown. He broke a tackle and blew by everyone. I was amazed by his burst and strength.

As a senior, I ranked him among the top 10 players in the nation. Then he got hurt and missed part of his senior season. But he ended up among my top 15. I never penalize a kid for being injured, only for poor performance. He was the best running back I have seen in the Chicago area since 1979, better than Alvin Ross, Robert Farmer and Jimmy Smith.

Ron Turner did an exceptional job of recruiting him. Turner brought in Rashard's older brother Walter, a borderline prospect, and Rashard committed to Illinois before Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State had a chance to get in the door. It was Illinois' greatest recruiting coup in the Chicago area since they landed Jim Juriga in 1981.

Other recruiting analysts liked Mendenhall but no one rated him as highly as I did. They said I overrated him, especially after he got off to a bad start at Illinois. He wasn't an instant impact player. Now he is showing what he showed me in high school, a great combination of size, speed and power.

Two years ago, I took a hammering on him from Websites who love to take shots when a kid doesn't perform up to expectations. But now I feel justified in my high ranking and putting him on my All-America team. He would have played in the U.S. Army All-America Game if he hadn't been hurt. That's the issue here. Unfortunately, Mendenhall has a history of injuries. But if he stays healthy, he could be a great one.

Posted by Second Season at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was shocked when Morgan Park's Demetrius Jones left Notre Dame. The way Notre Dame is playing, he could be back in the mix in a week or two. But, football-wise, he made a great decision. he will be the starting quarterback at Northern Illinois on the day he becomes eligible. If he had opted to go elsewhere, he would have had to battle for a job. Sure, he didn't look good in his opening game against Georgia Tech--but he has great talent. He could have been a major player at Notre Dame. He will be at NIU.

What has happened at Notre Dame? Vinny Cerrato, who coached at Notre Dame for nine years and was Lou Holtz' chief recruiter, said it comes down to one of three things: Notre Dame doesn't have talent, the coaches aren't teaching or developing the players on the football field or they are not developing them in terms of strength and speed.

"Every year, coach Holtz' seniors played the best of their career. They played better each year. They improved each year," said Cerrato, now personnel director of the Washington Redskins. "We had all three phases. The coaches did a great job teaching. Today, something is lacking."

The offensive line is in for considerable criticism, especially after freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen was sacked nine times against Michigan. He simply didn't have enough time to set up in the pocket to throw passes. It was a massacre.

Well, the offensive line boasts several high school All-Americans, players who were recruited by every major program from USC to Florida. Sam Young was the No. 1 offensive lineman in the country two years ago. Five years ago, Neil Sullivan was the No. 1 center in the nation. Dan Wenger turned down Florida for Notre Dame. Matt Carufel was nationally recruited. None of these guys were sleepers. All of them were recruited nationally. You do the math.

I think it's only a matter of time before these young and inexperienced players develop, youngsters like running backs Robert Hughes, James Aldridge and Armando Allen. They were three of the most recruiting running backs in the country over the last two years.

Meanwhile, Arthur Brown of Wichita, Kan., the nation's top defensive player and my choice as the No. 4 prospect in the country, has dropped four schools--Notre Dame, Florida State, Texas A&M and Mississippi. He is leaning to Oklahoma, Nebraska, USC, North Carolina and Miami (Fla.). He is a 6-2, 218-pound linebacker with 4.4 speed who runs faster than most backs and hits like a defensive lineman.

Michigan State got its biggest recruit in John Adams, a 6-0, 180-pound defensive back from Akron, Ohio, who has 4.37 speed. The Spartans got him away from Illinois, Pittsburgh, Iowa and Syracuse.

Davin Meggett, the son of former NFL player Dave Meggett, committed to Maryland. When I saw him in February, the 5-8, 203-pound running back from Clinton, Maryland, didn't have any offers. Maryland didn't like him early, then offered. He chose Maryland over Illinois, Rutgers and Virginia.

Posted by Second Season at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Richards' Tommie Thomas is the best athlete I've seen in Chicago this year. After watching him pass for 134 yards and rush for 114 yards and score the winning touchdown in the last three seconds to beat Lemont 23-22 on Friday in Oak Lawn, there is no doubt in my mind that he ranks among the top 200 players in the nation. If only he can make the grade.

Thomas reminds me of Vince Young with his great ability to run as a quarterback. He is an average passer with a good arm and he is capable of keeping Richards in every game with his ability to scramble. But he will be a defensive back in college. Everybody is recruiting him as a defensive bac