MaxPreps All-Americans headed to USC, Florida, Texas, Alabama

By Kevin Askeland Feb 1, 2010, 12:00am

Trojans have the most All-American football recruits with five; Gators, Longhorns and Crimson Tide each have four.

The loss of head coach Pete Carroll doesn’t seem to have diminished Southern California’s ability to draw the nation’s top players.

Serra wide receiver Robert Woods is still solid at USC.
Serra wide receiver Robert Woods is still solid at USC.
File photo by Gary Jones

While five players have yet to announce their college choice, Southern California has the most commitments among the MaxPreps All-American first and second teams, followed by a three-way tie between Texas, Florida and Alabama.

Carroll was seen as a tremendous recruiter during his tenure with the Trojans, but his loss has, so far, not changed the minds of five All-American recruits. Kyle Prater of Proviso West (Ill.), Dillon Baxter of Mission Bay (Calif.), Xavier Grimble of Bishop Gorman (Nev.), Robert Woods of Serra (Calif.) and Matt Darr of Frontier (Calif.) have not officially changed their commitments to the Trojans, although there was some speculation that both Prater and Baxter might do so immediately following Carroll’s resignation.

The Trojans were stung by a few defections on signing day last year when All-American Vontaze Burfict opted for Arizona State and Randall Carroll and Morrell Presley decided on UCLA.

Perhaps one reason the Trojans have held on to their All-American haul this year is the choice of coach to replace Pete Carroll. Lane Kiffin, despite a spotty win-loss record, is considered a strong recruiter. In fact Tennessee, Kiffin’s former team, ranks just behind Alabama, Florida and Texas with three MaxPreps All-Americans.



Florida and Texas have made a late push to catch USC. The Gators have put together a strong class, especially on the defensive side of the ball where defensive end Ronald Powell, defensive tackle Shariff Floyd, safety Matt Elam and cornerback Cody Riggs all reside.

Texas, meanwhile, picked up commitments from defensive standouts Jackson Jeffcoat and Jordan Hicks just last week. They join previous commits Demarco Cobb and Reggie Wilson to give the Longhorns a strong defensive core of recruits.

National champion Alabama will also get plenty of help on defense with linebacker CJ Moseley and defensive backs Keenan Allen and Nick Perry. Quarterback Phillip Sims is the Crimson Tide’s other All-American recruit.

Of the 60 MaxPreps All-Americans, 47 have made their verbal choice while five are uncommitted. There were eight juniors on the two teams.

The two big prizes among the uncommitted players are tackle Seantrell Henderson of Cretin-Derham Hall and Marcus Lattimore of Byrnes. Neither have indicated where they might end up next year, although speculation has it that Henderson may sign with Ohio State and Lattimore will stay close to home at South Carolina.

Following are the MaxPreps All-American first and second teams with the college choice listed for each player.

First Team Offense



Da'Rick Rogers, WR, 6-2, 210, Calhoun (Ga.), Senior, Georgia


Kyle Prater, WR, 6-5, 210, Proviso West (Proviso, Ill.), Senior, USC

Greg Dent, WR, 6-0, 175, Glades Central (Belle Glade, Fla.), Senior, Florida State

Austin Seferian-Jenkins, TE, 6-7, 250, Gig Harbor (Wash.), Junior

Seantrel Henderson, OL, 6-8, 310, Cretin-Derham Hall (St. Paul, Minn.), Senior, Undecided


Ja'Wuan James, OL, 6-6, 285, North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.), Senior, Tennessee

Jake Alexander, OL, 6-2, 270, Jenks (Tulsa, Okla.), Senior, Tulsa

Tuni Kanuch, OL, 6-1, 285, Bingham (South Jordan, Utah), Senior, BYU

Evan Washington, OL, 6-5, 285, DeSoto (Texas), Senior, LSU

Dylan Favre, QB, 5-11, 195, St. Stanislaus (Bay St. Louis, Miss.), Senior, Mississippi State

Christian LeMay, QB, 6-3, 195, Butler (Matthews, N.C.), Junior

Malcolm Jones, RB, 6-0, 215, Oaks Christian (Westlake Village, Calif.), Senior, UCLA

K. P. Parks, RB, 5-7, 190, West Rowan (Mount Ulla, N.C.), Senior, Virginia

Herschel Sims, RB, 5-10, 185, Abilene (Texas), Junior

Dillon Baxter, ATH, 6-0, 205, Mission Bay (Calif.), Senior, USC

Zach Hocker, K, 5-11, 170, Russellville (Ark.), Senior, Arkansas State

First Team Defense

Jadeveon Clowney, DL, 6-6, 240, South Pointe (Rock Hill, S.C.), Junior

Jacques Smith, DL, 6-2, 235, Ooltewah (Tenn.), Senior, Tennessee

Jackson Jeffcoat, DL, 6-5, 233, Plano West (Plano, Texas), Senior, Texas

Sharrif Floyd, DL, 6-3, 310, Washington (Philadelphia), Senior, Florida

Matt Elam, LB, 5-10, 190, Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), Senior, Florida

Jordan Hicks, LB, 6-2, 210, Lakota West (West Chester, Ohio), Senior, Texas

William Gholston, LB, 6-6, 245, Southeastern (Detroit), Senior, Michigan State

Corey Nelson, LB, 6-1, 200, Skyline (Dallas), Senior, Texas A&M

C.J. Mosley, LB, 6-2, 220, Theodore (Ala.), Senior, Alabama

Robert Woods, DB, 6-1, 170, Serra (Gardena, Calif.), Senior, USC

Nick Perry, DB, 6-2, 190, Prattville (Ala.), Senior, Alabama

Demarco Cobbs, DB, 6-2, 205, Central (Tulsa, Okla.), Senior, Texas

Keenan Allen, DB, 6-3, 195, Northern Guilford (Greensboro, N.C.), Senior, Alabama

Matt Darr, P, 6-2, 210, Frontier (Bakersfield, Calif.), Senior, USC

Second Team Offense

Robert Joseph, WR, 5-9, 170, Northwestern (Rock Hill, S.C.), Junior

Tai-ler Jones, WR, 6-0, 180, Gainesville (Ga.), Senior, Notre Dame

Tobias Singleton, WR, 6-2, 180, Madison Central (Madison, Miss.), Junior

Xavier Grimble, TE, 6-5, 245, Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas), Senior, USC

James Hurst, OL, 6-5, 285, Plainfield (Ind.), Senior, North Carolina

Matt James, OL, 6-8, 280, St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio), Senior, Undecided

Tyler Grubbs, OL, 6-6, 277, Highlands (Fort Thomas, Ky.), Senior, Miami (Ohio)

Christian Lombard, OL, 6-6, 280, Fremd (Palatine, Ill.), Senior, Notre Dame

Nick Rowland, OL, 6-4, 295, Centennial (Peoria, Ariz.), Senior, Oregon

Scotty Young, QB, 6-3, 190, Ryan (Denton, Texas), Senior, Texas Tech

Phillip Sims, QB, 6-1, 215, Smith (Chesapeake, Va.), Senior, Alabama

Tony Jones, RB, 5-8, 180, Don Bosco Prep (Ramsey, N.J.), Senior, Colorado

Marcus Lattimore, RB, 6-0, 210, Byrnes (Duncan, S.C.), Senior, Undecided

Matt Perez, RB, 5-11, 200, Maine South (Park Ridge, Ill.), Senior, Indiana

Gavin Webster, ATH, 5-10, 200, Lutcher (La.), Senior, Southeast Louisiana

Carey Spear, K, 5-10, 165, Mayfield (Cleveland, Ohio), Senior, Vanderbilt

Second Team Defense

James Wilder Jr., DL, 6-3, 220, Plant (Tampa, Fla.), Junior

Reggie Wilson, DL, 6-4, 240, Haltom (Haltom City, Texas), Senior, Texas

Shawn Green, DL, 6-1, 273, Grayson (Loganville, Ga.), Senior, Georgia Tech

Nduka Onyeali, DL, 6-1, 240, Mullen (Denver, Colo.), Senior, Arizona State

Jason Meehan, LB, 6-4, 240, Webster Groves (Mo.), Junior




Max Bullough, LB, 6-3, 210, St. Francis (Traverse City, Mich.), Senior, Michigan State

Ronald Powell, LB, 6-4, 240, Rancho Verde (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Senior, Florida

D.J. Welter, LB, 6-1, 220, Notre Dame (Crowley, La.), Senior, LSU

Emmanuel Maxwell, LB, 5-11, 200, Midwest City (Okla.), Senior, Undecided

Alec Ogletree, DB, 6-3, 210, Newnan (Ga.), Senior, Georgia

Airek Green, DB, 6-1, 200, Thomas Dale (Chester, Va.), Senior, Undecided

Keanon Lowe, DB, 5-10, 170, Jesuit (Portland, Ore.), Senior, Washington


Cody Riggs, DB, 5-9, 165, Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Senior, Florida

Michael Palardy, P, 6-1, 175, Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Senior, Tennessee