KevinUSF00

You could see some separation between Ellison and Scott at IMG on Sunday. Ellison has great quickness and elusiveness after the catch, but Scott is amazing. He was able to get separation, had amazing hands, and for a smaller WR could still go up for the ball. He is special and it's sad to see that we won't be able to keep him home. That said, I think there are still alot of WR's in 2014 that can help this club, Ellison certainly included.

Is it sad that I'm checking Twitter every 10 minutes for Fullwood news, even though I know he doesn't announce until tomorrow? I swear, recruiting season cuts into my productivity. If my wife knew that I was checking recruiting sites regarding HS athletes and prospect discussion forums everytime I was on my phone she would leave me.

Had a chance to watch him at IMG this weekend and was really impressed by his size, speed, and awareness. He would be a great addition to this recruiting class.

None of the four main sites (247, Rivals, ESPN, and Scout) currently him rated. But BCP currently has him rated as the #67th best prospect in Tampa. http://bigcountypreps.com/181/2013-winter-fire-79/ He is right behind three star recruits K.Gant and Oruwariye, who we are also recruiting very hard. He is also ranked by BCP as the #1 Slot Reciever in the area: Slot Receiver Rank Name School Class 1 Jocqui Ellison Lakewood 2014 2 Talvin Bailey Armwood 2014 3 Brandon Robinson Alonso 2014 4 Malik Johns Pasco 2014 5 Reggie Campbell Largo 2015 6 Kaylaun Edwards Armwood 2015 7 Sammie Jackson Lake Gibson 2015 8 Codaryl Pandolfo Ridge Community 2014 9 Josh Hyde Strawberry Crest 2014 10 Trevor Laurent Armwood 2016 http://bigcountypreps.com/181/rankings/football-position-rankings/

I don't think it's a factor of the rating sites not liking him much. They simply don't rank players until they have evaluated them live or looked at thier tape. I would imagine that once he plays in the upcoming 7 on 7 tournament next week, the sites will take notice of him. Partucularily if he has already committed to USF. I wouldn't be suprised to see him just moved into a star ranking as early as next Friday. And if you look on the Hudl site, there is a 6 minute video of him on game film, plus game film from 5 of his other games.

Here is some Joc Ellison game footage: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/2148749/#highlights/51775379 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBh6Ocukwqg And some additional 7 on 7 footage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lR4FkLE37s&feature=youtu.be&a Training Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVQ1A9dCsnY http://www.tampabay.com/hometeam/blog/video-img-7-7-filled-highlights-and-whole-bunch-catches-joc-ellison/17207/ Additional Comments: BIG COUNTY PREPS â€@BigCountyPreps13 Apr College Coaches, Joc Ellison (Lakewood 2014 slot) is the closet comparison to Armwood's Alvin Bailey. As the kids say, " Don't Sleep!" "TEAM TAMPA WR JOC ELLISON, LAKEWOOD Second best WR on the day for the Tampa Bay teams. Did what ever was needed to keep the chains moving. Fast and soft hands. Made the QBs look good." http://bigcountypreps.com/181/img-7v7-day-1-observations-tampa-teams/ http://bigcountypreps.com/181/explosive-ellison-next-spartan-to-make-a-splash/ Explosive Ellison, next Spartan to make a splash In PINELLAS COUNTY, RECRUITING FEATURES / By TEAM BCP / 17 April 2013 inShare0 Joc Ellison, Lakewood Lakewood’s stars will be departing due to graduation. Tracy Johnson, the team leader, Rodney Adams and Marquez Valdes, one of the most dynamic duos in the area; the Griffin twins who were the story of the year along with numerous other role players will not be part of the team next year. However, the team won’t stop shining and stars will have to be replaced. Joc Ellison, Lakewood 2014 ATH was overshadowed by the attention on Valdes and Adams. But, his talents are on the same level. He is a very explosive, dynamic player who can do so much and make so many plays at different positions. When QB, Tracy Johnson went down do to injury, Ellison kept the offensive army moving. When Valdes or Adams were being keyed on, Joc was the “go to†guy. He has the ability to line up at several positions and continue to make plays. Ellison is known for his highlight acts. Jumping over taller players, running past faster players and making plays that seem difficult for the average athlete. “I can improve at my speed a little,†says Ellison. He is the “throwback†kind of athlete. Does his job and goes about his own business; never asking for the spotlight or the glory. However, he will get the spotlight this year and hopefully be worthy of the glory. Very much a team player and well liked by those who line up with him on Friday nights, Ellison has high remarks for one of his own. He speaks highly of teammate Ben Bryant. “He has everything it takes. If he is losing, he never gives up and always works hard.†He not only looks up to his teammate, Ben Bryant, he also admires head coach, Cory Moore. “He had everything it took to get to the NFL and he teaches me the same, why it’s going to pay off in the long run.†Currently, Joc holds a verbal offer from Toledo with interest from Houston, South Florida and Oregon. He plans on visiting USF this coming Friday and taking a visit to Oregon this summer in June.

Here is a free article from Rivals that references Litton and Ellison: http://usf.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1498287 April 22, 2013 Richard Escobar RunningtheBulls.com Staff Writer BRADENTON -- The second day at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, which hosted the 2013 Southeast Regional Series NFA 7v7 tournament, had a lot of enthusiasm and talent being shown in front of a large crowd. The series had a lot of impressive young recruits on hand showing their abilities. Day two had a lot of excitement and there were tons of great plays being executed, which had the crowd highly entertained. Recruits from all over the state gathered in 14 teams to play in double elimination tournament. The eventual winner of the tournament was the South Florida Express Elite, which was lead by Class of 2014, University School, QB, Sean White (6'2 204lbs). The following players were the ones that stood out: Chase Litton (6-foot-6, 195lbs) Tampa Wharton High School, QB,- Team Tampa Litton was overall the best QB out on day 2. His vision to see downfield and to pick apart the defense was great to see. Litton had the ability to get receivers open, and to lead them away from the defenders. Whether it was a short pass or a deep bomb, Litton was able to lead his receiver to get open. Litton's bootleg play's were executed very well as he lead the receiver in the corner of the end zone to get the score most of the time. Artavis Scott - (5-foot-11, 180lbs) Tarpon Springs East Lake High School, WR,- Team Tampa Scott showed near-perfected route running. His QB was Litton, and they hooked up on several touchdowns during the day. Scott route's to the corner of the end zone was on par every time. It was really difficult for defenders to interrupt his routes. Jocqui Ellison - (5-foot-10 165lbs) St. Petersburg Lakewood High School, WR,- Team Tampa Ellison's QB was also Litton, and Ellison was Litton's short yardage receiver. Ellison would turn a 4 or 6-yard catch into a 10 or 15-yard catch. Ellison had great speed after the catch and was able to separate him self from defenders. Raheem Harvey (6'0 180lbs) - Largo High School, WR,- Team Tampa Harvey was another receiver for Litton. Harvey was the go-to middle of the field receiver. Harvey had great cuts and was able to get separation from his defenders and make spectacular catches with slant routes in the middle of the field. D'eondre Francois (6-foot, 182lbs) - Olympia High School, QB,- Central Florida Top Recruits Francois had great pump fakes to fool defenders and safeties to lead an open receiver downfield. It was obvious that Francois didn't focus on one receiver and was able to really disrupt the defense with his quick decision-making. He showcased that he can really put a lot of power behind his throws, and was able to stretch the field with long deep bombs. Sean White (6-foot-2, 204lbs) University School, QB,- South Florida Express Elite White proved that he has patience and will not force a ball in a tight situation. He often relied on deep bombs, and accurately pinpointed his receiver down the field. White was able lead his receiver's away from defenders during deep routes, and he was able to put the ball only for the receiver to have a chance at catching it.

Hmmm. So he has mentioned on twitter that he will announce on Wednesday. And he will be at USF on Wednesday, catching passes from Team Tampa teammate and new USF commit Litton. Sounds promising.

If Litton commits tomorrow, signs looks positive for USF obtaining Ellison's committment. He currently lists 5 offers, according to Scout. (UMass, Ball State, Bowling Green, Indiana, and USF) http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=6497736 1) Here is a video of Litton and Ellison connecting over and over again for Team Tampa. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghBuqOQ5kLU 2) On June 3rd, according to a unknown source article on google search, Ellison named USF as his favorite. Also, the TBT Home Team had some nice comments about Ellison: Six picks to click for Team Tampa 2. Litton: He could walk away from the Team Tampa experience with a bushel of offers and a quick climb up the recruiting rankings. With a tall frame and a cannon arm, he can make any throw.. 5. Jocqui Ellison, Lakewood: The talented Spartan is primed for a breakout fall season in pads, but should wow with his athleticism this weekend http://107.20.24.34/hometeam/blog/breaking-down-weekends-img-7-7-regional/17188/

How the mighty have fallen. Giddens wasn't even drafted among the top 30. 8 D-Line players were taken ahead of him.

I like it. Everyone was waiting to make fun of the new conference name and they picked something so safe that it's hard to make fun of. It's not exactly fresh or innovative, but it works for a conference that wants people to focus on the product on the field. That said, it's time to move forward to division alignment. I took a stab at ranking the top 12 annual football programs and then put them in the best geographical alignment. 1. Cincinnati 2. USF 3. UConn 4. UCF 5. Houston 6. Tulsa 7. Navy 8. Temple 9. SMU 10. ECU 11. Tulane 12. Memphis Here is my alignment. The East is much tougher, but it makes the most sense geographically. Get ready for alot of USF/UConn/UCF vs Cincy for as long as they stick around. East Division USF UConn UCF Navy Temple ECU West Division Cincinnatti Houston Tulsa SMU Tulane Memphis

He is ranked #12 in the Top 24 of the Class of 14 by the Tampa Bay Times http://www.tampabay.com/hometeam/blog/debate-time-look-ahead-class-2014/16386/ Projecting the class of 2014 1. Mason Cole, East Lake OL 6-5/280 Committed - Michigan 2. Artavis Scott, East Lake WR 5-11/180 Top offers: Florida, FSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State 3. Vincent Jackson, Jesuit LB 6-2/235 Top offers: Oklahoma, USC, Ohio State 4. Jarvis Stewart, Largo RB 5-10/175 Committed - USF 5. T.J. Harrell, Tampa Catholic LB 6-1/210 Top offers: FSU, Florida, USF, Georgia 6. Chase Litton, Wharton QB 6-5/190 Top offers: LSU, USF 7. Reilly Gibbons, St. Petersburg Catholic OL 6-6/275 Top offers: Miami, USF, Oklahoma 8. Isaiah Wynn, Lakewood OL 6-3/266 Top offers: USF, Vanderbilt, West Virginia 9. Corey Martinez, Tampa Catholic OL 6-3/295 Top offers: FSU, Miami, USF 10. Kyle Gibson, Armwood S 6-1/175 Top offers: Mississippi State, UCF, Vanderbilt. 11. Mike Johnson, Countryside DB 5-11/175 Top offers: Cincinnati, USF, Purdue 12. Frankie Hernandez, Largo LB 6-0/180 Committed - USF 13. Devin Abraham, East Lake DB 5-10/166 Top offers: N.C. State, USF, South Alabama 14. Rohan Blackwood, Nature Coast DE 6-5/200 Top offer: UMass 15. Maurice Hall, Gibbs ATH 6-1/186 Top offer: Oklahoma 16. Anthony Davis, Chamberlain LB 6-1/220 Top offers: Houston, Toledo, UMass 17. Keith Harrington, Northeast RB 5-8/165 Top offers: Arizona, Indiana 18. Jeremiah Jackson, Hernando LB 6-1/190 Top offer: Purdue. 19. Tajee Fullwood, Tampa Bay Tech CB 6-2/175 Top offer: UMass. 20. Derrick Ingram, Jefferson WR 6-1/185 Top offer: UMass 21. Marcus Mosley, Alonso TE 6-4/200 Top offer: South Alabama 22. Raheem Harvey, Largo WR 6-1/180 Top offers: Indiana, Middle Tennessee State 23. Napoleon Maxwell, Admiral Farragut ATH 6-0/190 Top offers: Virginia, UMass 24. Cortavious Givens, Admiral Farragut RB/LB 5-10/200 Top offers: UMass, Virginia 25. Montel McBride, Plant City OL 6-4/305 Top offer: Ohio

I'm actually liking "America 12" as a new conference name. If they would have named it Big 11, Big 12 and Big 10 fans would still make fun of it. You are never going to please everyone and at least it's a simple and clean name. Plus it will be one of the first conferences listed when you check conference standings.

Is it me, but outside of Texas and Oklahoma, the Big 12 is a pretty average conference. I'm not sure that most of the other programs are all that much better than USF/Cincy/UConn/UCF etc.

Given that we got screwed in the latest round of realignment, I'm suprised that I'm not hating this schedule. I honestly don't care that we replaced Pitt and Syracuse with Houston and UCF. There really isn't a huge difference in the quality of those teams. The key is keeping strong non-conference games on the schedule though. Having Michigan State and Miami on this schedule really helps from a quality standpoint. If those games start to be replaced by Ball State and Toledo and then you replace Rutgers and Louisville with ECU and Tulsa, it starts to get pretty ugly......fast. But at least we can enjoy this year.

Uncle Luke on the Lockette hiring: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/2013/03/telly_lockette_leaving_miami_c.php "I want to congratulate Telly Lockette. He's getting an opportunity that great high school football icons such as Walt Frazier and Billy Rolle were never afforded. Lockette is the first African-American coach from a Miami-area high school to land a job with a major college program. On Monday, University of South Florida Bulls head coach Willie Taggart added Lockette to his staff as running backs coach, according to CBS Sports reporter Bruce Feldman. The 37-year-old Miami Northwestern alum has an impeccable football resumé. During his four-and-half-year run as the head coach at Miami Central Senior High, Lockette was the first coach in Miami-Dade history to take his team to three consecutive state title game appearances, winning two championships. No team from Miami-Dade or Broward has beaten Lockette's Rockets since 2009, when the Miami Northwestern Bulls beat Central. Throughout his career, Lockette has coached some of the best running backs to come out of Miami-Dade, from Antwain Easterling to Devonta Freeman to Joseph Yearby and Dalvin Cook. During his tenure at Miami Central, roughly 70 of his players have signed scholarships to big-name programs, from Florida State to Oklahoma to Syracuse to Clemson. I was hoping the University of Miami would hire Lockette following a long tradition of bringing in high school coaches that began under Howard Schnellenberger. In the 1980s, he hired Joe Brodsky, then-head coach at Hialeah-Miami Lakes, to be the running backs coach. Brodsky went on to coach the tailbacks for the Dallas Cowboys under Jimmy Johnson. Dennis Erickson continued the tradition by hiring Don Soldinger as running backs coach. But, for whatever reason, the Hurricanes passed on Lockette, allowing Taggert to swoop in. No question, the USF coach made a big power move. Lockette will recruit any kid from South Florida he wants. For instance, Lockette grew up with the parents of the student athletes who are playing high school football. That makes him valuable. And all the high school football head coaches will rally around Lockette. Seeing him land an NCAA coaching gig gives them hope other universities will come knocking on their doors. A lot of high school coaches aspire to get to a college coaching job. But universities in Florida have a problem hiring high school coaches from Miami-Dade. It's not like Texas, a state that has established a tradition of elevating high school coaches to the collegiate level. If Lockette succeeds in getting the top players from South Florida, he'll give the Bulls a leg up on every other college. That's why the high school coaches will want Lockette to do great. I hope his success will get other universities in the Sunshine State, from FSU to UM, to jump on the high school head coaches bandwagon."

Michigan just offered Mr. Bayes. Pretty impressive offer list right now. http://espn.go.com/college-sports/football/recruiting/player/_/id/172785/jimmy-bayes Also, from Monday: Kyle Bennett â€@KyleBennett247 RT @Bulls247: #USF commit Jimmy Bayes planning visit to FSU - http://ow.ly/ilKeS Hope that we can hold onto him. Long, long, way to go.

Thinking that if we land two more uncommitted players this Spring, it's going to be the following (in order of likelyhood) 1. Tice 2. Johnson 3. Kirkland 4. Kemp 5. Coley 6. Valdez 7. Woulard

Ahh, the hat game. So played out. Going to Cuse.

Thinking that he is leaning towards Miami. Given what Miami did to Kirkland, I'm guessing they told him that we NEED to know if you are coming to hold a scholarship for you. Since we haven't heard anything about Miami backing off, I think that he might have already given them a silent one. Now if the NCAA get's their act together by signing day, things might be different.

More on Copeland: Freshman wide receiver Travares Copeland is leaving the Mountaineers for "personal reasons." http://pittsburgh.sbnation.com/2012/11/8/3619176/travares-copeland-west-virginia-football West Virginia Mountaineers coach Dana Holgorsen announced on Thursday that freshman wide receiver Travares Copeland has left the football team. Holgorsen stated that Copelan left for "personal reasons" and declined further comment. The Mountaineers planned on redshirting Copeland this season, but pulled the shirt during their game against Texas Tech Red Raiders. Copeland hauled in ten catches for 55 yards, and started at receiver against the Kansas St. Wildcats and the TCU Horned Frogs. Copeland had indicated on his Twitter account Wednesday that he was considering a transfer, and that the reasons for transfer were family related. Rivals.com ranked Copeland as a three-star recruit of high school. Copeland was a dual-threat quarterback for Treasure Coast High in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Copeland also visited Florida International and Rutgers before committing to West Virginia. West Virginia will square off Saturday against the Oklahoma St. Cowboys. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on ABC/ESPN2. Additional information from this report: http://blogs.post-gazette.com/sports/on-the-mountain/36030-wr-travares-copeland-leaves-program There was a flurry of information from his twitter account over the course of the last day that suggested a departure was nearing. The account, @T_COP3LAND had a message yesterday that read “I think Transfering is best 4my situation back at home…I ask god to #OrderMyFootsteps?? According to the release Head Coach Dana Holgorsen “will have no further comment.â€

Matt Porter â€@mattyports #NCState, #USF and #FAU appear to be destinations for former Treasure Coast WR Travares Copeland, who left #WVU last season. http://rivals.yahoo.com/usf/football/recruiting/player-Travares-Copeland-106527;_ylt=Ahajso0cNzsLDJ5W22pfzNx6uZB4

Would make sense. Played for....wait for it.....Manatee Bradenton. He almost transferred to USF after he left UF after a semester. Would make even more sense for him to come back home now. In fact, I can't really imagine him going anywhere else at this point. IMO http://rivals.yahoo.com/usf/football/recruiting/player-Mike-Blakely-98997;_ylt=AjKyp5JY8zP4CfyQu3XVMeV6uZB4

Here is what makes even less sense. Senat is currently ranked as the #46th ranked player in the State of Florida. Everyone from #1 - #45 is a four star. So you might be thinking, okay the cutoff must have been moved to #45. But you'd be wrong. While the #46th ranked USF commit was downgraded to a three star, the players ranked #47-51 are STILL RANKED AS 4 STARS!!! #45 Stacy Thomas LB Miami, FLGulliver Prep Thomas missed time with a knee injury as his team finished 6-6. 4 stars 6'2" 235 list #46 Deadrin Senat DT Immokalee, FLImmokalee Senat led his team to the Class 5A state final playing defensive tackle and offensive line for the Indians. 3 stars 6'1" 311 South Florida #47 Skai Moore LB Fort Lauderdale, FLUniversity School Moore racked up 93 tackles, four interceptions returning two for scores, and five sacks during his senior season. 4 stars 6'2" 210 list #48 Jaynard Bostwick DT Port St. Lucie, FLSt. Lucie West Centennial Bostwick was the bright spot on a team that finished the year 1-8. 4 stars 6'4" 291 list #49 Freddie Stevenson LB Bartow, FLBartow Stevenson registered 133 tackles, 18 for loss, one interception, and seven sacks. 4 stars 6'1" 220 Florida St. #50 Mike Heuerman TE Naples, FLBarron Collier Heuerman's team ended the year with a first round playoff loss and 7-4 record. 4 stars 6'4" 220 Notre Dame #51 De'Asian Richardson DE Orange Park, FLFirst Coast Richardson only played three games this fall before transferring schools for off the field reasons. 4 stars 6'3" 285 Louisville http://rivals.yahoo.com/usf/football/recruiting/rankings/rank-3157

It's my understanding that Davis recieved his USF offer about three weeks ago. He was on campus for the letitfly 7 on 7 competition at USF this weekend, but it wasn't an official visit. I feel much more confident about Kemp coming than Davis, and I don't feel very confident in that.