Countdown continues for Plant football trio

Florida: Nation's No. 1 recruit James Wilder Jr. and teammates Phillip Ely and Tony Posada on the recruiting brink; Chris Moore commits to Cincinnati.

An off-season of intense recruiting could end this week for at least two of three highly coveted football players at Plant (Tampa, Fla.).
 

Plant quarterback Phillip Ely appears headed to the SEC.

Photo by Gray Quetti

Quarterback Phillip Ely and offensive lineman Tony Posada are expected to make their college choice announcements this week at the school’s South Tampa campus. Running back/linebacker James Wilder, Jr. was expected to make an announcement as well but may hold off on his decision for right now.
 
Ely, heading into his senior season with a 19-0 record as a starter and two state title rings, has narrowed his choices down among 20 offers.
 
A 6-foot, 175-pound right-hander, Ely threw for 20 touchdowns last season as a junior. Ely, who also spent part of the summer at the Elite 11 quarterback camp in Southern California, has offers from SEC schools Vanderbilt, Mississippi and LSU.
 
Posada, meanwhile, who is weighing offers from at least 20 schools, is said to leaning towards Michigan or hometown school South Florida.
 
A dominating 6-foot-5, 320-pound tackle, Posada also has offers from Texas Tech and Michigan State, among others.
 
That leaves Wilder still waiting to verbally commit.
 
A powerful runner and equally disruptive force as a linebacker-pass rusher, Wilder is ranked the No. 1 recruit in the country for the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com expert Tom Lemming.

At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Wilder ran for nearly 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns as Plant won its second straight state championship.
 
Among his numerous offers: Florida State, Florida and Georgia.

Plant is No. 11 nationally in the MaxPreps.com Xcellent 25 preseason rankings.
 
More recruiting news
 
Jefferson (Tampa, Fla.) wide receiver Chris Moore has verbally committed to Cincinnati.
 
Moore caught 30 passes and scored five touchdowns as a junior last season. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder chose the Bearcats among at least 15 schools.
 
His other suitors included Auburn, Michigan and Miami.
 
* Seminole (Seminole, Fla.) standout baseball player Joey Krehbiel has verbally committed to South Florida.
 
As a junior last season, Krehbiel helped lead the Warhawks to the Class 5A region finals. He hit a Pinellas County-best .476 with six home runs as a shortstop and posted nine saves as a pitcher.
 
* Hillsborough (Tampa, Fla.) soccer player Alexa Morse has verbally committed to Furman University in South Carolina.
 
Morse, a forward, led the Terriers with 17 goals as a junior last season.
 
Other Bay Area happenings
 
Former Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Seth McClung has taken over the girls basketball program at Pinellas Park (Largo, Fla.).
 
McClung, who had two tenures with the Rays from 2003 to 2007, was hired as coach at the school in July. Pinellas Park went 0-15 last season.
 
McClung was traded from the Rays to Milwaukee in 2007. After two seasons, he was signed by the Florida Marlins, who released him in March.
 
* With pre-season football practice starting this week and the regular season kickoff  less than a month away, Plant (Tampa) officials are close to putting the final touches on their new artificial turf at their stadium.
 
The new synthetic turf is expected to be laid next week, in time for its first home game September 10 against Hillsborough (Tampa).
 
* In the Tampa Bay area’s summer basketball league, Tampa Catholic (Tampa, Fla.) defeated Wharton (Tampa) 37-36 in the league championship game.
 
Tampa Catholic got 15 points from junior point guard Lashawn Harrison in the final. Wharton was led by rising senior Xavier Owens’ 12 points.
 
Tampa Catholic went 10-2 during the summer season, made up of competition among 20 teams through the Tampa Bay region.