Lemming's Top 100 football list updated

By Mitch Stephens Jan 22, 2011, 2:53am

Creator of national football recruiting reports adds 22 to Class of 2011 and moves South Pointe (S.C.) defensive end Jadeveon Clowney to No. 1 spot.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That age-old philosophy was upheld by CBS Sports/MaxPreps football recruiting expert Tom Lemming, who Friday came out with his updated Top 100 list for the Class of 2011.

Here is the list.

Indeed 22 new players were added to the elite group, but then again 25 remained the same.



Demetrius Hart
Demetrius Hart
The most impressive newcomer was Demetrius Hart, a 5-foot-8, 185-pound running back from Dr. Phillips (Orlando, Fla.) who leaped all the way to the No. 45 spot.

"It was impossible to leave him out of the top 100 after his incredible senior year," Lemming said. "He broke records at Dr. Phillips and will be an impact freshman at Alabama."

Other newcomers among the top 70 were athlete Odell Beckham (Newman-New Orleans, La.) at No. 59, defensive back Valdez Showers (Madison-Madison Heights, Mich.) at No. 61, running back Mike Blakely (Manatee-Bradenton, Fla.) at No. 66, wide reciever Malcolm Mitchell (Valdosta, Ga.) at No. 68 and linebacker Lamar Dawson (Boyle County-Danville, Ky.) at No. 69.

Beckham is going to LSU, Showers and Blakely to Florida and Mitchell to Georgia. Dawson is uncommitted.

"If they have remarkable senior seasons and get better, they get (bumped) up," Lemming said of his newcomers.

The new No. 1 player is no stranger to being head of the class.



South Pointe (Rock Hill, S.C.) defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has been at the top of most lists and after another remarkable season - 162 tackles and 29.5 sacks - he is Lemming's top recruit as well.

Clowney replaced Plant (Tampa, Fla.) running back and linebacker James Wilder, who moved to the No. 2 slot. Wilder is headed to Florida State and Clowney is uncommitted.

"(Clowney) is a freak of nature," Lemming said of the 6-foot-6, 240-pound senior who has reported marks of 4.6-seconds in the 40-yard dash and 36 inches in the vertical leap. "He's the best I've seen since Mario Williams. He got  better his senior year, while Wilder had some injuries and didn't play as well as his junior season."

Doran Grant
Doran Grant
The biggest riser on the list was defensive back Doran Grant, a 5-11, 180-pound defensive back from St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio). The Ohio State-bound standout jumped 59 spots to No. 32 overall.

Other big leapers into the top 10 were St. Peter's Prep (Jersey City, N.J.) running back Savon Huggins - 45 spots to No. 5 - and Menendez (St. Augustine, Fla.) linebacker Tony Steward up 22 spots to No. 6. Aaron Lynch, a 6-6, 240-pound defensive end from Island Coast (Cape Coral, Fla.) moved up a whopping 39 spots to No. 22.

Both Huggins and Steward are uncommitted. Lynch is headed to Notre Dame.



"Out of all the backs I saw on tape and in person, Huggins impressed me the most," Lemming said. "And (Lynch) impressed everyone at the Army All-America game. He was the best player on the East according to their coaches."

Steward was part linebacker group that Lemming considered the best of all positions among the 100.

"(Steward) and Stephone Anthony were the two best linebackers in the country," Lemming said.

Director of Editorial Content Steve Montoya contributed to this report.