Aquinas receiver is Bulls' 2nd commitment
Still here in New Orleans, and was literally walking on Bourbon Street when I got confirmation Sunday night on the second commitment in USF's 2009 recruiting class. His name is Dwayne Difton, and he's a 6-foot-1, 180-pound receiver from Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, which won the state's Class 5A championship last fall.
"They have a great program. I feel like it's a great fit for me," said Difton, whose commitment was first reported Sunday by Josh Newberg at USFnation.com.
Difton has speed to stretch opposing defenses and said he's been timed at 4.48 seconds in the 40-yard dash. He had 19 catches for 276 yards and two touchdowns for St. Thomas Aquinas as a junior, and said he chose the Bulls over offers from Syracuse and Troy and said he was also being recruited by schools like Florida and Auburn.
Syracuse signed two players from St. Thomas Aquinas last season in Dorian Graham, a three-star defensive back, and Jeremiah Harden, a two-star running back. And USF might not be done at Aquinas for this recruiting class, as Difton said USF is also looking at two other receivers there: Duron Carter is a 6-2, 170-pounder who had 22 catches for 361 yards and eight touchdowns, and Gabe Holmes is a 6-5, 200-pounder who had 10 catches for 203 yards and two scores.
Why such interest in one position at one school? It doesn't hurt that Aquinas' receivers coach is former NFL standout Cris Carter, who is Duron's father. He's worked with Difton and his fellow receivers for the last two seasons. "He's taught me the position well," Difton said. "I feel like basically I'm playing on a college level right now."
Difton was recently ranked by the Miami Herald as the No. 4 prospect for the 2009 class in Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Difton made his commitment to USF assistant Larry Scott, who pulled in two key Miami recruits for the 2008 class from Northwestern linebacker Quavon Taylor and Archbishop Carroll cornerback George Baker. He joins Dunedin running back Adaris Bellamy as the first commitments for the '09 class.
Times sportswriter Greg Auman, who covers USF, will post news and thoughts on the Bulletin and we invite your participation in the comments area.
Wow, no comments yet...anyway, great news! Larry Scott seems to be our secret weapon in recruiting now. I hope he stays around long enough to start beating out Miami themselves down there.
Posted by: Windbane | March 31, 2008 at 09:52 AM
I think Miami had one of the top 5 recruiting classes in the country.
Posted by: Ari Hinkelberger | March 31, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Went over to Scout to check it out- Duron Carter looks almost exactly like his father, plus the dreads of course.
Difton has decent size, and as the top WR from a good program, he should be a good get, but I'm not sure WR should be too much of priority this season.
I like Larry Scott a lot; he really knows what he is doing. He'll grab a few more good ones (at LB, please!), I'm sure.
Posted by: Dave W | March 31, 2008 at 10:08 AM
How about some o-line help? After reading the last post about the scrimmage I think we need to focus on bringing in some big boys to open up some holes for the running backs and give the qb some time so he does not have to scramble every play. The o-line never seems to get much attention. BTW, what ever happened to Justin Green?
Posted by: Bulls '04 | March 31, 2008 at 10:56 AM
I checked with Green last week, and he was still in the process of finishing re-taking a class that would supposedly clear up any academic hurdles. He still plans on being at USF this fall, once all that is cleared up.
Posted by: G.A. | March 31, 2008 at 11:07 AM
What exactly was your point, Ari?
Posted by: Windbane | March 31, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Nice, love the blog, keep up the good work!
Posted by: Bulls '04 | March 31, 2008 at 01:07 PM