Decision time nears for south Florida football recruits

Each year, more and more top-notch football players are making verbal commitments early in the football recruiting process, some before their senior season even kicks off. But in talent-rich south Florida, there's still quite a few who have yet to decide which college program will earn their signatures on National Signing Day, which is only four weeks away.

Three who have yet to make a verbal commitment are Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) teammates — tight end Nick O'Leary, quarterback Jacoby Brissett and defensive end Curt Maggitt.

O'Leary, a grandson of golfing legend Jack Nicklaus, is widely considered the top-rated tight end prospect in the nation, and he also is a good punter and special teams player. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound O'Leary seems to be leaning toward Florida State, but he recently said that Alabama, LSU and Miami still are very much in the mix for his signature on Feb. 2. Alabama's Nick Saban, FSU's Jimbo Fisher and LSU's Les Miles each have made in-home visits with O'Leary and his parents. O'Leary and Brissett are in San Antonio this week and will play in the nationally televised U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday.

Video of Nick O'Leary



Brissett's stock has risen considerably following a stellar senior season in which he passed for almost 2,500 yards and 32 touchdowns despite being pulled in the third quarter in all but two of Dwyer's 13 games this season. He threw only one interception and was named the Offensive Player of the Year by both the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post, as well as the Palm Beach County Player of the Year at the annual Lou Groza Award banquet last month. Brissett has made official visits to Alabama, LSU and Wisconsin.

Video of Jacoby Brissett

Al Golden, the new head coach at Miami, has shown more interest in Brissett than former Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon since replacing Shannon, so it's likely that Brissett will take one of his remaining two official visits to UM this month. The Hurricanes lost their only verbal commit at quarterback when Northwestern (Miami) senior Teddy Bridgewater switched his commitment to Louisville two weeks ago following the firing of Shannon. "It all happened so fast," said Bridgewater, who also is in San Antonio this week for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. "One minute I was committed to Miami, and a day later I was open again."

It also helped that Bridgewater already had developed a relationship with Louisville coach Charlie Strong when Strong was at Florida. Wide receiver Eli Rogers, Bridgewater's teammate at Northwestern, also has made a verbal commitment to the Cardinals.{PAGEBREAK}MAGGITT DELAYS ANNOUNCEMENT
Dwyer's Maggitt was planning on making his verbal commitment during a South Florida outdoors show hosted by a family friend, but has decided to delay the announcement until sometime later this month. Maggitt, who was selected the big schools Defensive Player of the Year by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Palm Beach Post last month, said he wanted more time to think about his decision.

The 6-4, 215-pound Maggitt has made official visits to Alabama, LSU and Wisconsin and has said he will visit Tennessee and possibly Florida this month before making a decision.

Video of Curt Maggitt



HOLLIMAN WILL ANNOUNCE SATURDAY
Gerrod Holliman, a highly touted safety from Southridge (Miami), told reporters covering the Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio that he will announce his college decision Saturday during NBC's live telecast of the game.

"I've finalized (the decision) in my mind," Holliman said Monday. He has named Louisville, LSU, Ole Miss and West Virginia as his finalists after pulling back on his earlier commitment to Ole Miss last month.

Defensive back Andrew Johnson, a teammate of Holliman's at Southridge, also might announce his verbal commitment this week a little closer to home at the Nike South Florida All-Star game. Johnson also has Louisville, Ole Miss and West Virginia as his finalists. However, Miami has shown more interest in Johnson since Golden has taken over the Hurricanes' program and Johnson has hinted that if UM offers, he'll seriously consider signing with the ‘Canes.

Johnson is a standout all-purpose athlete on both sides of the ball. He had seven interceptions and returned three of them for touchdowns his junior year at Southridge, but played mostly on offense this past season, accumulating 2,500 all-purpose yards and 25 touchdowns while playing quarterback, running back and wide receiver as well as returning kickoffs and punts.{PAGEBREAK}THE CLOCK IS TICKING
The next four weeks could be a little stressful for a handful of other Division I prospects who have yet to make a decision, meaning the recruitment process will become more hectic as National Signing Day nears.

One of the most talented prospects still undecided is Glades Central (Belle Glade) 6-6, 220-pound wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, who is expected to remain in-state and sign with either Florida, FSU or Miami. Benjamin is almost 20 years old and was allowed to play only the first eight games this past season after he reached the Florida High School Athletic Association age limitation of 19 years, 9 months late in the season.

Video of Kelvin Benjamin



Two other Palm Beach County non-committed top prospects are running back Tre Mason of Park Vista (Lake Worth) and defensive end/tight end Robert Way of Glades Central (Belle Glade). Mason has numerous offers, including Auburn, Ole Miss and West Virginia. Miami and Syracuse are among the schools showing interest in Way, who was the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's small schools Defensive Player of the Year and could be a sleeper signing.

Stanford was the leader to snag talented Dillard (Fort Lauderdale) safety Wayne Lyons before the rumors began that Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh might be leaving for the NFL. Lyons also has made official visits to Michigan, Nebraska and UCLA. He's also considering Florida. Lyons, also in San Antonio for the Army All-American Bowl this week, has said he will not eliminate a program because of a coaching change, so Michigan still could be in the running despite the uncertain status of Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez. Lyons has indicated he might announce his decision Saturday during the all-star game's telecast.

Video of Wayne Lyons

Another Broward County standout still undecided is South Broward (Hollywood) running back Kevin Grooms, who has offers from Florida State, Kansas, Louisville and Tennessee. Safety Marcus Roberson of Class 5A state champion St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) has narrowed his choices to Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Texas Tech and Southern Cal.

Three highly rated prospects from Miami-Dade County also have not made verbal commitments yet — defensive back Robenson Therezie of Jackson (Miami), defensive back Jabari Gorman of Monsignor Pace (Miami) and linebacker Denzel Perryman of Coral Gables. Therezie is considering Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Tennessee. Gorman's finalists reportedly are Florida, Miami and Ohio State. Perryman has offers from Alabama, Florida, FSU, LSU, Miami and Notre Dame.

NOTEWORTHY
Columbus (Miami) wide receiver Tacoi Sumler and coach Chris Merritt will represent South Florida for the 2011 U. S. Under-19 National Team, which will face players from four continents in the second Team USA vs. The World game Feb. 2 in Austin, Texas.



Steve Dorsey, who covers the South Florida region for MaxPreps.com, is a freelance writer based in West Palm Beach. He has covered the South Florida high school sports scene for the past 29 years. He also is a contributing writer for American Football Monthly and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.