Two 3-star recruits to join Bulls in January

A pair of three-star recruits who had signed with USF but initially failed to qualify academically will join the Bulls in January, an early start to Jim Leavitt's next recruiting class.

Safety Charlton Sinclair of Jacksonville, one of the top recruits in USF's 2007 class, was held up this summer when the NCAA questioned a summer class he had taken. The 6-foot, 190-pound Mandarin graduate has since qualified and has been admitted into USF for spring classes.

Defensive end Craig Marshall of Fort Walton Beach, who signed with USF in 2006 but didn't qualify, will finish his associate of arts degree from Pearl River Community College this fall and enroll at USF in January, Pearl River coach Tim Hatten said. Marshall, 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, redshirted last season, so he'll have three years of eligibility with the Bulls.

Marshall is the fifth member of USF's 2006 recruiting class to join the Bulls after failing to qualify initially, joining offensive linemen Kevin McCaskill and Jeremiah Warren, defensive end David Fonua and safety Jerrell Young. Marshall had a fumble recovery in Pearl River's season finale Saturday, along with an interception in the third overtime Saturday to clinch a victory. He's a former high school teammate of USF tight end Andrew Ketchel at Choctawhatchee. So of those nine that didn't make grades that fall, more than half will be on campus a year and a half later.

Because USF didn't use its full allotment of 25 initial scholarships this fall, it's believed that one of the January additions can be "rolled back" to the 2007 class and not count toward the maximum of 25 players for the 2008 class. Sinclair and Ketchel were both rated as three-star recruits by Rivals.com and Scout.com; that's as high a rating as any player in the current class of commitments has.

Two key recruits from Pearl River will be making visits to USF this weekend: former Dunedin standout Theo Wilson, who could be a receiver or defensive back, and linebacker Kion Wilson, a four-star recruit from Jacksonville who is also considering Miami. Sinclair, who has been working in Jacksonville to stay busy this fall, said he'll also be in Tampa for the Cincinnati game.

Comments

[Booooooooooooyahhhhhhhhh]

Go figure, they were probably also waiting for them to finish their pre-trial diversion programs! SCUMMERS!

[nickdelray]

Great report Greg.It's always nice to get good news...Go Bulls!

[Adam]

Boyah-

Nice comments. I love it when a kid tries to get their life in order only to have someone like yourself try to tear them down. Kudos to you sir, may your perfection shine for all eternity.

Thanks for the report Greg. Four star linebacker sounds good, keep the competition up there. Any chance Pearl River is stashing away a 4-5 star defensive tackle for us?

That just what I would expect out of USF recruits, academic problems, just take a look down that sideline during the game.

[Sanjay]

Adam, Leslie Stirrups is at PRCC. He committed to USF 2 years ago, did not qualify, entered the criminal justice system (I think he got some diversionary program) but finally ended up at PRCC. He may want to get back to Tampa, and he was a 4-star DT when he came out.

[can't tell u, but i know what i'm talking about]

rumor around camp is that there will be a new kicker kicking field goals this weekend. walk-on transfer, morgan riley will be taking over for delbert alvarado.

[Ken]

Well, Alvarado has been like that girl from the fairy tale--when he's good, he's been very, very good, and when he's bad, he's been horrid. Surely a new kicker would be announced ahead of time, wouldn't it?

[Boooooooooooooyaaaaaaaaa]

Wow, not much argument and even someone confirming my initial thought. I'm all about someone wanting to get their life together. However, that is still embarassing for you "top tier" University and mediocre football program.

[G.A.]

Can't tell u ... Everybody always says the most popular player on a struggling football team is the backup kicker. Here, I guess it's the backup kickers.

When the Bulls go through field-goal drills in practice, it's just Delbert Alvarado and Justin Teachey attempting the kicks. Morgan Riley seems to get most of his work as a kickoff specialist, and I think he'd do well there, but Teachey's better at kicking into the end zone than a lot of kickers USF has gone up against.

If USF is making a change at kicker, it would go against everything Jim Leavitt has said this week and shown in practice.

[G.A.]

Again, if you're making a comment critical of a school's academic standing, spelling words like "embarrassing" -- or for that matter, "your" -- correctly gives that much more credibility to what you're saying.

[cee]

we need to quit wasting our scholarships on 3-star juco transfers.. notice how jimbo can only get above 2-stars if they have some kind of "catch".. like academic or legal troubles.

[Ari]

HA HA HA HA HA HA
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Again, if you're making a comment critical of a school's academic standing, spelling words like "embarrassing" -- or for that matter, "your" -- correctly gives that much more credibility to what you're saying.

Posted by: G.A. | November 01, 2007 at 08:55 PM
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HA HA HA HA HA

that should be nominated for "Post of the Year."