College Football: High School Recruiting

College Football

Who is the Washington area's next phenom in college football? Which local college is doing the best at wooing the area's elite high school athletes? Post staff writer Josh Barr rates the region's football recruits in a new feature for washingtonpost.com.

Ask him about how your school is doing. Barr was online Friday, Sept. 24, at 11 a.m. ET to take your questions on high school recruiting for college football.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

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Josh Barr: Good morning everyone... Last night was a great night for football and the weather looks perfect for this afternoon's games too. Should be a good one between Flowers and Roosevelt. Let's talk about recruiting...

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McLean, VA: Josh -

What's the latest on ER's Derrick Williams. Rumors had him favoring Penn State, but I can't imagine them winning the top recruit in the country. He is looking at the best of the best...does Maryland have a legitimate shot?

Josh Barr: I don't think Derrick is going to end up at Maryland. MY colleague Dan Steinberg had a story about 10 days ago saying that Derrick had eliminated Maryland from consideration.

As for where he ends up, that's anybody's guess. Derrick is going to visit Florida this weekend and plans to go to Florida State and USC in coming weeks. He has two more official visits to schedule. I'd look for Tennessee, Texas and Oklahoma to be in the mix.

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Baltimore, MD: How do u think Korey Cole would do at a big school like Tenn.?

Josh Barr: I think Korey (a WR/CB at Potomac, Md.) has a chance. He certainly is a talented player and though he goes up against other talented players in a tough league, the one thing that will be most challenging is at a place like Tennessee, Mississippi State or N.C. State (other schools he likes), athletes with his speed and ability will be much more common and the competition will be fierce.

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Ellicott City: Josh, Thanks for taking time to field questions. Mine are - What impact has Friedgen and Maryland success impacted the Terps getting DeMatha recuits into College Park? Is DeMatha still the local hot-bed for college stars in the making? If not, what high schools are stepping up as local recruiting grounds for top Div.I colleges?

Josh Barr: I don't think there is any question and Ralph and company are making progress getting DeMatha kids. Ralph has a very good relationship with several DeMatha coaches and has knows that DeMatha produces so many good players every year. In Ralph's first year or two, Maryland got some of the good DeMatha players but not the top ones. Well, this year they've got commitments from the best the Stags have to offer in Jeff Allen and Anthony Wiseman.

As for other schools, I don't think there is any question that no one produces as many top of the line players annually as DeMatha. But other schools do consistently produce top players -- see Eleanor Roosevelt, Suitland, Gwynn Park, Douglass and Forestville, all in Prince George's County. And if you can play, colleges will find you, wherever you are. I think it's fascinating how many Division I players are coming out of Forestville right now, even though it is one of the smallest public schools in the area.

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Falls Church, VA: To what or whom would you attribute this season's recruiting successes at University of VA. I believe they've landed something like 10-12 or more of the top 25 recruits in the state of VA. It's surprising to me that these kids would pick that school over other top football schools.

Josh Barr: Al Groh and his staff have been on the recruiting trail since hired. They made recruiting priority #1 and are getting their kids in the fold early. It's only the third week of the high school football season and UVa already has most of its recruiting wrapped up.

Why does it surprise you that kids pick UVa? It's a good school academically, in a strong league with a coach who used to coach in the NFL, a selling point that seems to resonate over and over with high school kids.

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Arlington, VA: Josh -

Good morning - always enjoy your columns. How are the Terps recruiting efforts shaping up? They had a solid class last year, but lost out on the top talent and failed to enroll Kent Hicks b/c of academics. It sounds like Derrick Williams is not going to CP. Is Maryland unable to land the best of the best from DC?

Josh Barr: I think Maryland's recruiting is going well. They already have several commitments and they're involved with several top players. As for Derrick Williams and a few of the other top players from the area deciding to go away for college, I wouldn't blame them or say it's a shortcoming for Maryland. When Florida, Florida State, Miami and other top "name" schools are involved, it can be tough. One thing to consider... Penn State and others used to have such status, but do you see Maryland losing recruits to those schools as often as before?

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Centreville, VA: Mr Barr: Do you feel that Evan Royster, a Westfield HS junior running back, has the skills to play for a top level Division I team?

Josh Barr: I haven't seen Evan play since last season, but even as a sophomore he looked like a special player. The consensus among high school coaches is that he is going to be a star...

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Bethesda, MD: Regarding Derrick Williams - is he being projected as a corner or a WR?

What's the rumor mill saying about his Saturday's next fall?

Josh Barr: Wow, Derrick sure is one popular guy! I think that he is likely to play receiver in college, but wouldn't be surprised at all if he played on offense and defense. He's a superb athlete and loves challenges.

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Josh Barr: i had a technical glitch to this question...

Centreville, Va.: Mr Barr: I am fairly new to the DC area, having moved here in 2001. In my opinion, I see much greater media coverage (especially in the Post) and more information/articles on players and teams from the Maryland suburbs than from Northern Virginia. I am interested in your opinion conocerning if you feel the quality of high school football and the players themselves is considered to be a higher caliber in Maryland, with the obvious impact that has on recruiting by colleges.

The answer...

I think everyone seems to agree that this season is a down year in terms of elite seniors in Northern Virginia. There are no surefire stars like there were last season with Eddie Royal, Sean Glennon, Olu Hall, Kevin Grant and others. There are some very good players to be sure, but no one that puts the same kind of fear into opposing coaches. But there is a very talented junior class on the horizon, including Westfield's Evan Royster.

As for coverage, I think we're pretty balanced. And with our Friday and Saturday football packages, we usually zone them so that readers in Virginia get Virginia high school stories, and readers in Maryland and D.C. get to read about their high schools...

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Ashburn, VA: How does Syracuse seem to get many blue chippers from this area?

Josh Barr: The Orange sure do seem to come down here a lot, don't they. It seems like some schools make different regions a priority, like I wrote about UConn this morning.

As for Syracuse, I think it has the advantage of knowing the area well, has a reputation for being a good place to play and makes this area a priority, seeking the top players. Of course, with the ACC/Big East realignments taking place, I'm not sure Syracuse will be able to maintain its place as a top choice for top players.

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Arlington, VA: I once sat next to AJ Ofodile on an airplane -at the time he was a reserve tight end for the Ravens. We were talking about schools (he was from Detroit, went to Mizzou) and he said how much he would have loved MD to take a look at him. His theory was - DC is a great area and players want to get the heck out of Detroit. Are there efforts by the Terps to go after some new areas - or are they focused on landing metro-area talent and regional hotbeds, like GA/FL and NJ/PA?

Josh Barr: I think Maryland is making progress recruiting in new areas and hopes to someday be a national name the way people think of Florida, Florida State, Miami, Notre Dame, etc. (That Underarmor commercial surely will help. Gotta give the marketing folks from that company a lit of credit.)

But for right now, no question Maryland's recruiting remains based on the East Coast, from Florida to New York, with some targeted areas like Georgia and D.C.

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Burke, VA: What recruits (if any) in the DC Metro area are being courted by Virginia Tech? Thanks and GO HOKIES!; BEAT NC STATE!;

Josh Barr: The Hokies have a bunch of local commitments already -- DeMatha's Kenny Jefferson and Robert Norris, North Stafford's Tony North (how many public school teams have had three Division I linemen? Wow?) and Stone Bridge TE Ed Wang. I wouldn't be surprised if they added one or two more up this way, but I think VT's local recruiting might be close to done for the year.

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Annandale, VA: After recently attending a game at Eleanor Roosevelt and watching High School football for many years in Northern VA and throughout the state of Virginia. Would I be wrong in saying the quality of football in Virginia is much stronger?

Josh Barr: Probably. I think the level is pretty balanced locally anyway. This season's Eleanor Roosevelt team is not the powerhouse of last season, though I still think the Raiders are pretty good. Wouldn't it be nice if the area's top teams from Maryland and Virginia, public and private, played each other during the regular season? Those games used to happen more often, but seems like they've disappeared.

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Springfield, VA: Hi Josh, The DC area has so many different high school leagues and divisions within the leagues. How difficult is it for recruiters to evaluate individual players especially those from lower division schools that don't get a chance to play against upper tier competition?

Josh Barr: No question it's tough for recruiters. But with summer camps, combines, etc., recruiters have their opportunities. Look at Forestville -- which, though they didn't qualify academically, had three players last year get Division I scholarships. You would think that would be a once-in-a-decade thing for a school that is one of the smallest in the Maryland 2A. But this year, the Knights have talented WR-DB Jermaine Lindsay (committed to Akron) and LB Allen Whitaker has Division I offers too. RB Justin Tillman and others probably will play somewhere and I haven't even mentioned their star junior lineman, Antonio Logan-El, who has already committed to Maryland.

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herndon, va: As a long time U of Nebr fan, it seems that the Huskers made an occasional "hit" in this area, but nothing steady. Have you noticed much of an NU presence?

Josh Barr: Well, the Huskers have a commitment from McDonough TE-DE David Harvey, who moved to the area from South Carolina, went to camp in Lincoln and impressed enough to get a scholarship offer. We'll have to see if this leads to Nebraska getting more players. Assistant coach Phil Elmassian has been at UVa, VT and WVU, so he knows this area well.

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Kensington, MD: Why in the world did the Post drop the HS Sports Show on Comcast? There are a whole bunch of upset coaches and players and parents in the area.

Josh Barr: Unfortunately, I don't have an answer. I wish it was still on, too. I know it was quite popular and (disclosure, I'm friends with Mark Thomas, who pretty much ran the show) I think it was an excellent product.

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Damascus, Md.: What is the best way to expose high school football players so they get considered for college recruitment

Josh Barr: There are so many ways for colleges to learn about kids... Some learn from high school coaches promoting their kids and sending game videos to colleges to highlight their performances. Others are "discovered" at combines or summer camps. The one thing that seems to be concrete in all of this is that the recruiting timetable has moved up, so that a player's junior season/offseason are much, much more important. Is that a good thing? I don't know, but coaches will tell you it leads to more mistakes in recruiting.

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RE: Falls Church, VA: It surprises me that UVa has had so much success because they're beating out "elite" programs in the ACC (Florida State & Miami) for recruits. FSU is a good school. Bowden wasn't a pro coach. Yet they still land some of the best players in the country. Same for Miami.

Josh Barr: Guess that says something for Groh and his staff and their ways of recruiting.

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Josh Barr: All this talk about Derrick Williams, I'm surprised no one has brought up Northwest QB Ike Whitaker. He's very, very good and will make some college happy. Maryland and Virginia Tech are among those hoping Whitaker chooses them.

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Somewhere in america: My son was recrited for football by a 2A school and it's been a very positive experience. I won't mention the team because (they kinda suck but) the school graduates 85% of its student-athletes. We go to all the home games and have tail gates and cheer like crazy when they manage to win. It's a labor of love it really is. I've gotten to know the parents of the other athletes and its just a lot of good fun. He's not on a full ride and he's not a starter but he's a realiable guy off the bench when they need to hold the defensive line.

Josh Barr: That sounds great. One of the things that often gets lost in the shuffle is that most of these high schoolers aren't going to the NFL, no matter what they think. Those who are able to use their ability to their advantage, get a scholarship, go to college on someone else's dime and make the most of it really should get a pat on the back. Not enough players realize this.

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Josh Barr: Thanks for the questions, everyone. Hope you enjoyed. Let's see if the weather can be like this every Friday night and Saturday afternoon!

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