Recruiting: Six from Plant to visit USF-WVU
One point I've heard made from the "don't play college ball on Friday night" crowd this week is that because high school players are busy playing on Friday night, they won't be able to attend or watch the Bulls' big game against No. 5 West Virginia.
First, there's TiVo, and second, not all high school teams are playing this week. Among those with bye weeks this week is Plant, which will have six USF recruits making unofficial visits as guests of the Bulls at Raymond James Stadium. Most notable of the six is junior quarterback Aaron Murray, who has made a strong impression in his first four starts since taking over for Robert Marve, now at Miami.
Murray already had a scholarship offer from USF before his first game this season, but check out his numbers in Plant's 3-1 start: he's thrown for 1,302 yards, with 11 passing touchdowns and zero interceptions, rushing for another 277 yards and four scores. According to Plant coach Robert Weiner, the other five including two seniors with scholarship offers from USF: receiver Derek Winter, who graced the cover of the Times' Hillsborough County season preview section, and running back Lovell Jackson.
The other three due to visit from Plant are offensive lineman Rhonne (pronounced "Ron") Sanderson, defensive lineman Tyler Evans, and receiver Cornelius Gallon. Gallon has made a big splash -- Winter has three touchdowns in four games so far, while Gallon has caught seven. By the way, you can learn a ton about Plant from our team page at the Times' High School Hub. Some really good stuff there -- with pictures on player pages and college-quality statistics. Plant, by the way, is No. 4 in our latest Top 50.
Lots more to come on USF-West Virginia -- in the morning, I'll add links to our preview in sports, a column from Gary Shelton and a story on 1A (yes, the actual front page) about how this is exactly what USF had hoped for when it launched its football program. Keep those comments coming ...
Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin and we invite your participation in the comments area.
I really hope we can land Murray.He is a STUD!
Posted by: tampaboi | September 28, 2007 at 09:53 AM
bad day to show to a bunch of recruits. i remember last time WV was in town, it was our homecoming.. talk about another bad decision.. way to ruin a relationship with the alumni-- by getting blown out 28-13. and now we are showing our recruits how to choke on national television? we need POSITIVE publicity, not negative national pub
Posted by: cee | September 28, 2007 at 02:26 PM
Cee, just so I understand this correctly: you would only bring four- and five-star recruits in, and would only do so for visits when playing lesser teams you were confident you'd win against, not the bigger games that draw bigger crowds. OK, got it.
Posted by: G.A. | September 28, 2007 at 03:06 PM
Depends how you are selling it...
I think that if you are promising immediate playing time, then showing them getting shellacked by WVU would be a good thing. Certainly after watching a woodshed game, those impressionable youngsters certainly would think they could step right in......
Posted by: Reality | September 28, 2007 at 03:18 PM
Wow Greg - get em!
Posted by: DELdaBULL | September 28, 2007 at 04:32 PM
Shouldnt all the games be big crowds Greg? This town is FULL OF USF GRADS!!!! They should be supporting the Bulls through thick and thin.......
Mad props to the 800 strong USF fans that endured last season's basketball team. Those are the true Green and Gold fans!!!!!
Posted by: Reality | September 28, 2007 at 05:11 PM