Student Sports welcomes back its weekly college football recruiting ratings, the Recruiting Race, ranking the top 10 schools with the sixth installment this week. Here are the up-to-date ratings of the top college football recruiting classes for the Class of 2004.
Ratings are based upon player evaluations made at Nike Football Camps and from game film study, plus verbals, offers, trips and calls.
The STUDENT SPORTS RECRUITING RACE will be updated every week until signing day. Last week's ranking in parentheses. Players listed in bold indicate Student Sports Hot 100 selections.
1. PENN STATE (1)
Last week, we touched upon the Nittany Lions need for a quarterback and what direction they might go in. They just offered Ohio's Anthony Turner who threw for over 2,000 yards and 22 touchdowns as a junior and are also looking very closely at Virginia's Bush Hamdan, who we loved at the EA SPORTS Elite 11 workouts in Las Vegas. Pennsylvania's Jordan Steffy could be another option although we heard the athletic signal caller is looking elsewhere right now.
-Nittany Lion Commitments-
Wyatt Bowman (Cumberland Valley, Mechanicsburg PA) OL
Dontay Brown (McKeesport PA) LB
Gerald Cadogan (Portsmouth OH) OL
Dan Connor (Strath Haven, Wallingford PA) LB
Tony Davis (Howland, Warren OH) DB
Josh Gaines (Northrop, Fort Wayne IN) DE/TE
Matt Hahn (St. Anthony's, Melville NY) RB
Greg Harrison (Shenandoah Valley, Shenandoah PA) OL
Jed Hill (Struthers OH) TE
Austin Hinton (Secaucus NJ) OL
Dan Lawlor (Cumberland Valley, Mechanicsburg PA) FB
Mike Lucian (Linganore, Frederick MD) TE/DE
Rich Ohrnberger (East Meadow NY) OL/DL
Spencer Ridenhour (White Plains NY) DB
Mark Rubin (Amherst Central, Amherst NY) WR
Tyrell Sales (Butler PA) LB
A.Q. Shipley (Moon, Coraopolis PA) DL
Trent Varva (Lake Orion MI) OL
2. TEXAS (2)
The Longhorns never have a problem recruiting offensive linemen being the state of Texas annually turns out more quality linemen than any other state. Although he denies he has a leader, it's tough to imagine Garland (Texas) Lakeview's Cedric Dockery signing anywhere other than with the Longhorns. The SS Hot 100 selection has his choice of just about any school in the region but the Horns have long been considered the favorite and still look solid at this time.
-Longhorn Commitments-
Rashad Bobino (La Marque TX) LB
Greg Dolan (Westwood, Austin TX) OL
Myron Hardy (McNeil, Austin TX) WR
Jacob Hester (Evangel Christian, Shreveport LA) RB
Nathan Jones (Texarkana TX) WR/DB
Andrew Kelson (Lamar, Houston TX) DB
Derek Lokey (Billy Ryan, Denton TX) DT
Chris Ogbonnaya (Strake Jesuit, Houston TX) WR
Brian Orakpo (Lamar, Houston TX) DE
Ryan Palmer (Bowie, Arlington TX) DB
Nic Redwine (Robert E. Lee, Tyler TX) LB/DE
Jordan Shipley (Burnet TX) WR/DB
Bobby Tatum (Dunbar, Ft. Worth TX) DB/RB
Ramonce Taylor (Belton TX) DB
Adam Ulatoski (Carroll, Southlake TX) OL
Peter Ullman (Round Rock TX) TE
George Walker (Westbury, Houston TX) WR
3. MICHIGAN (3)
The Wolverines September 13th game against Notre Dame is shaping up to be a big recruiting weekend for Michigan. Among those players taking their official visits that weekend will be Missouri offensive lineman Brett Gallimore and California wide outs Cameron Colvin and Jaison Williams. Gallimore is fairly close to a decision and the Wolverines currently lead for both Colvin, the top offensive player on the West Coast and Williams.
-Wolverine Commitments-
Roger Allison (Lake Orion MI) LB
Jeremy Ciulla (Kennesaw Mountain, Kennesaw GA) OL
Grant DeBenedictis (St. Andrew's, Boca Raton FL) OL/DL
Mike Hart (Onondaga Central, Nedrow NY) RB
Chad Henne (Wilson, West Lawn PA) QB
Will Johnson (Lake Orion MI) DL
Max Martin (Bob Jones, Madison AL) RB/LB
Alex Mitchell (Bay City Central, Bay City MI) OL
Chris Rogers (North Allegheny, Wexford PA) LB/TE
Charles Stewart (Harrison, Farmington Hills MI) DB
Morgan Trent (St. Mary's, Orchard Lake MI) WR
4. OKLAHOMA (4)
The Sooners made quite an impression on WR Lance Leggett when he tripped in last weekend and seem to have as good a shot as the Florida schools of landing the Sunshine State native. Another Floridian that the Sooners hope to lure to Norman is 6-3, 225 pound linebacker Keith River of Lake Mary, who says OU is creeping up his list towards the top.
-Sooner Commitments-
Corey Bennett (Roosevelt, San Antonio TX) DE
Rhett Bomar (Grand Prairie TX) QB
Brett Bowers (Trinity Christian Academy, Jacksonville FL) DB
Alan Davis (Heritage, Colleyville TX) DE/TE
Garrett Hartley (Carroll, Southlake TX) K
Randy McAdams (Leander TX) OL
Chris Patterson (Hubbard, Chicago IL) LB
J.D. Quinn (Garland TX) OL
Cameron Schacht (Coppell TX) OL
Fred Strong (SF Austin, Austin TX) WR
D.J. Wolfe (Eisenhower, Lawton OK) RB
5. OHIO STATE (5)
The Buckeyes always do well recruiting in Florida and one Sunshine Stater who's seemed to have Ohio State as the first school out of his month over the past few months is South Miami LB Javier Estopinan. The 6-3, 235 pounder is a prototypical Big Ten 'backer with size, strength and speed and is considering NC State, Miami, Florida and FSU along with Ohio State.
-Buckeye Commitments-
Joe Bauserman (Lincoln, Tallahassee FL) QB (greyshirt)
Erik Haw (Independence, Columbus OH) RB
Chad Hoobler (Carrollton OH) LB/TE
Shaun Lane (Hubbard OH) DB
Ben Person (Xenia OH) OL
Antonio Pittman (Buchtel, Akron OH) RB
Steve Rehring (Lakota West, West Chester OH) OL
Jon Skinner (Mt. Carmel PA) OL
Brandon Underwood (Hamilton OH) DB
Sirjo Welch (Beechcroft, Columbus OH) DB
Miles Williams (Austintown Fitch, Youngstown OH) WR
6. PITTSBURGH (6)
Things have been going along swimmingly for the Panthers in recruiting lately, but they took a loss this week when Cleveland (Ohio) St. Ignatius DE Mike Massey dropped Pitt from his list. In better news, the Panthers continue to look good with Dade City (Fla.) Pasco wide receiver Johnny Peyton.
-Panther Commitments-
Craig Bokor (Hopewell, Aliquippa PA) OL/DL
Chase Clowser (Keystone, LaGrange OH) OL
Corey Davis (Peabody, Pittsburgh PA) DE/LB
Adam Gunn (Kiski, Vandergrift PA) DB/QB
Rashad Jennings (Lynchburg Christian, Lynchburg VA) FB
Andrew Johnson (North Hills, Pittsburgh PA) RB
Scott McKillop (Kiski, Vandergrift PA) LB
Anthony Morelli (Penn Hills, Pittsburgh PA) QB
Alphonso Smith (Pahokee FL) DB
Darrell Strong (Plantation FL) TE
Steve Walker (Buchtel, Akron OH) DB
David Weber (Upper Merion, King of Prussia PA) OL
7. TEXAS A&M (7)
Rumors swirled this weekend that Lafayette (La.) LB Alton Boudreaux committed to A&M while in College Station to checkout the A&M-Arkansas State game on an unofficial visit. While Boudreaux said he is yet to pledge A&M, the Aggies certainly are looking good for the 6-3, 230 pounder who clocked a 4.53 40, benched 21 reps and posted a 36-inch vertical jump at the NIKE Camp in Texas.
-Aggie Commitments-
Kevin Bryant (Lufkin TX) TE
Kerry Franks (West Orange-Stark, Orange TX) ATH
Quentin Gardner (Lee, Tyler TX) DB
Stephen McGee (Burnet TX) QB
Ryan Miller (Barbe, Lake Charles LA) OL
William Morrissey (Silsbee TX) DT
Chris Smith (Allen TX) DE/TE
Keondra Smith (Lee, Tyler TX) RB
8. LSU (7)
The LSU basketball program received good news this past week when 6-8, 330 pound power forward Glenn Davis chose to stay home and play for the Tigers. The Baton Rouge (La.) University product is also a phenomenal football prospect and while he is currently saying he will no longer play the sport, don't think LSU coach Nick Saban and his staff won't keep the door open for Davis to join the football team after he's enrolled if he sours on hoops.
-Tiger Commitments-
Mit Cole (Picayune MS) TE
Glenn Dorsey (East Ascension, Gonzales LA) DT
Max Holmes (Parkview Baptist, Baton Rouge LA) OL
Tyson Jackson (West St. John, Edgard LA) DL
Quinn Johnson (West St. John, Edgard LA) LB
Curtis Taylor (Franklinton LA) WR
Jerald Watson (Central Catholic, Morgan City LA) RB
Claude Wroten (Mississippi Delta JC MS) DT
9. UCLA (9)
The nation's top running back, Palestine's (Texas) Adrian Peterson, has not set any of his official visits yet but said he's close to setting a trip to UCLA for the October 24th weekend. In his first game of the season, the talented 6-2, 210 pound Texan rushed for 220 yards and four touchdowns.
-Bruin Commitments-
Brian Abraham (Rancho Cucamonga CA) OL
Daniel Drayton (Los Altos, Hacienda Heights CA) RB
Ryan Graves (Venice, Los Angeles CA) WR
Brigham Harwell (Los Altos, Hacienda Heights CA) DE
Kenneth Lombard (St. John Bosco, Bellflower CA) DL
Bryan Payton (South Hills, West Covina CA) DB
Aaron Perez (Charter Oak, Covina CA) P/K
Will Price (Western, Anaheim CA) LB
Shannon Tevaga (La Mirada CA) OL
Rodney Van (Poly, Long Beach CA) DB
10. ILLINOIS (nr)
Illini fans got a good look at true freshman Lonnie Hurst last weekend in Illinois' season opener versus Missouri. A Class of 2004 recruit who favorably compares to Hurst is 6-3, 190 pound Bryant Creamer of Chicago (Ill.) Simeon. Creamer caught 14 scores as a junior and currently list the Illini and Virginia as his two leaders.
-Fighting Illini Commitments-
Brock Bolen (Valley View, Germantown OH) RB/LB
Bobby Buchanan (Joliet Catholic, Joliet IL) DB
Xavier Fulton (Flossmoor, Homewood IL) DL
Justin Harrison (Bloomington IL) DB
Tyjuan Jones (Trotwood-Madison, Trotwood OH) DB
Zach Logan (Trotwood-Madison, Trotwood OH) DB
Fabian Martin (Prosser, Chicago IL) WR
Walter Mendenhall (West, Niles IL) RB/DB
Dan Motuliak (Jefferson, Lafayette IN) DL
Derek Walker (Glenbard East, Lombard IL) DL
Russ Weil (Minooka IL) LB/FB
Remond Willis (New Madrid Co. Central, New Madrid MO) LB
On the bubble: Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Washington, Washington State