Gridironstuds.com Blog

June 19th

Gridironstuds.com member and St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Phillip Dorsett has committed to the Miami Hurricanes.  Click here to view Phillip’s highlight video.

Garner High School QB Bubba Starling has committed to Nebraska.  Click here to view his highlight video.

June 18th

St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Rashad Greene has committed to Florida St.

Venice H.S. (Florida) defensive end Clay Burton has committed to Notre Dame.

June 14th

Gridironstuds.com member and Chaminade H.S. (Florida) quarterback Jerrard Randall has committed to Oregon.

Gridironstuds.com Member Sean McVay leads Miramar to Heath Evans 7-on-7 Tournament Championship

It didn’t take long for McArthur high school transfer Sean McVay to make an impact for the defending Florida 6-A Champs Miramar Patriots.  Competing in the Heath Evans 7-on-7 tournament in Palm Beach, Florida this past weekend,  McVay played with glue on his hands and snatched up everything thrown his way.  As a result,  the Patriots handed the Glades Central Raiders a rare 7-on-7 tournament defeat enroute to taking the championship.  Tournament organizer Heath Evans lauded McVay with praise saying he played well and caught some 100 balls over the course of the tournament.   McVay looks like he will be an integral part of Miramar’s prolific passing attack this coming Fall.   Check out McVay’s 2009 highlight video on Gridironstuds.com, click here

JaJuan Story down to 14 schools

Standout all everything athlete Ja’Juan Story from Nature Coast Tech High School in Brooksville, Florida has cut his list of 28 offers in half.  Story has broken down the 28 offers to a list of 14 schools he will consider and those schools are Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, LSU, Miami, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, USF and West Virginia.  Story is also looking to hear from two other schools,  Oregon and Texas.  The 6’4″ 185 lb. Story was moved to quarterback this past Spring to get the ball in his hands more often.  He has taken unofficial visits to Florida St. and South Florida.   He will be in Gainesville next week attending the University of Florida’s camp.  Check out Ja’Juan Story’s highlight video on Gridironstuds.com,  click here.

Rumors and Wires bubba starling, clay burton, ja'juan story, jerrard randall, phillip dorsett, rashad greene, sean mcvay

It’s that time of year as the track seasons start to wind down to take a look at the football players (particularly the Gridironstuds.com members) that are getting it done on the track.  These athletes have traded in their helmets for the tank top and track spikes and have shown their versatility by heating up the synthetic rubber.

You have to start with the fastest man in the country and that’s Ryan Lankford of Paxon Advanced Studies School in Jacksonville.  Lankford has committed to Illinois to play football this Fall and will take his 10.41 speed to Champagne to try and help the Fighting Illini climb back up the Big Ten standings.  Lankford’s 10.41 time is tops in the nation.

2010 Miami Hurricanes signee Latwan Anderson (pictured right) from Glenville H.S. in Ohio  has heated up the track in a big way.  Anderson has moved from a very successful season on the football field to an equally as impressive season on the track.  Anderson currently holds the fastest time in the country in the 200 with a 20.92 clocking last Saturday at the Maralyn H. West Invitational.  However,  that’s not all,  Anderson also holds the fourth fastest time in the country in the 400 meters with a time of 48.42 also run last week at the Maralyn West Invitational.   The football standout signed a track scholarship with the Hurricanes in March,  one month after the February 4th National Letter of Intent Signing Date.  It was a move met with some skepticism but Anderson is proving that move to be fruitful signing for both the track and football teams at the University of Miami.

Yet another top performer from the Gridironstuds.com members is St. Thomas Aquinas’ Cody Riggs.  The 2010 Florida signee and defending Florida state champ in the 300 meter hurdles currently holds the top time in the event this year with a time of 36.51.  He also ranks 2nd in the 110 meter hurdles nationwide with a time of 14.03 and he ranks 6th in the long jump with a mark of 23′-2.5″.

Other Gridironstuds.com football players turned track athletes performing well in the sprints are:   Shane Wynn,  Anderson’s teammate at Glenville.  Wynn has posted a 10.60 in the 1o0 meters making him tied for 14th overall in the country.  Wynn also has a 21.45 in the 200 meters under his belt this season.  Crenshaw (California) High School’s De’Anthony Thomas laid down a 10.67 in the 100 meters and a 21.48 in the 200 meters.    Miami Northwestern’s Corvin Lamb who will play for Louisville in 2010  has a 2010 best of 10.78 in the 100 meters.

Class of 2011 wide receiver Phillip Dorsett of St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) has bests of 10.79 in the 100 meters, 21.97 in the 200 meters, 15.05 in the 110 meter hurdles, 39.14 in the 300 meter hurdles and has a nationally ranked mark of 47′ 9.50 in the Triple Jump.  Oh and by the way,  Dorsett is also a member of Aquinas’ 400 meter and 1600 meter relay teams.  He is the most versatile track athlete in this report.    Douglas High School (Florida)  junior Orville Reynolds has a 10.80 clocking in the 100 meters to his credit this 2010 outdoor season.  2010 Florida St. signee Lamarcus Joyner of St. Thomas Aquinas (Florida) has a 100 meter best of 10.83.   8th Grade sensation Sony Michel from American Heritage Plantation (Florida) clocked a 10.82 yesterday in his district meet.   Yes,  I did say 8th grade.

LSU 2010 signee Kadron Boone,  wide receiver from Trinity Catholic in Florida has a 100 meter best of 10.87.   2010 Ohio St. signee Corey Brown from Cardinal O’Hara (Pennsylvania) is ranked 28th in the country in the 200 with a time of 21.80.   Louisville 2010 signee Michaelee Harris from Miami Northwestern is 9th in the country in the 400 with a time of 48.65.

High School Football cody riggs, corvin lamb, de'anthony thomas, kadron boone, lamarcus joyner, latwan anderson, Michaelee Harris, orville reynolds, phillip dorsett, ryan lankford, shane wynn

Friday April 9th

St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Rashad Greene has received a scholarship offer from the University of Miami.  Miami joins Florida, Florida St., Wake Forest and Georgia as the schools that have offered Rashad Greene.

Arizona St. is the latest school to make an offer to standout Inglewood H.S. (California) wide receiver Patrick Onwusor.

Thursday April 8th

Plantation DE Ryan Shazier will be making yet another trip to Gainesville, Florida to check out the Gators.  Soon after this trip,  Shazier is expected to put out his list of top schools after this trip.

Wednesday April 7th

Clemson and Central Florida are the two latest schools to make offers to Nature Coast Tech H.S. wide receiver Ja’Juan Story.  Story now has 19 total offers.

Tuesday April 6th

The University of Miami has made an offer to St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Phillip Dorsett.

Rumors and Wires ja'juan story, phillip dorsett, rashad greene, ryan shazier

Can you say deep threat?  Click on this video if you like long touchdowns from the wide receiver position.  Long TDs are Phillip Dorsett’s specialty.  If you need the ball delivered to the end zone from 50 yards out or more,  Dorsett Delivers like UPS and he’s more exciting than a brown truck with yellow lettering.  Opponent after opponent is left munching on Dorsett’s dust in his highlight video as he and his Aquinas buddies routinely ran it up on their opponents.  If he wasn’t catching a bomb,  he was catching a short pass and making his way through traffic to the endzone.  When he wasn’t doing that,  he was taking reverses and turning the gridiron into his personal playground.  Having 4.36 speed in the 40 yard dash certainly helps and Dorsett shows you how that is done.  No real reason to wonder why Florida, Nebraska, Notre Dame, North Carolina, Ohio St., Rutgers, Tennessee and Wisconsin have all put their bids in already.  View Phillip Dorsett’s highlight video,  click here.

Video of the Day phillip dorsett

Over 250 of the best talent in South Florida converged on the Dolphins Training Facility this past weekend to take part in the Under Armour Combine.

Athletes’ height and weight were taken and they were tested in drills such as the 3 cone, 300 yard shuttle, pro shuttle, bench press, vertical jump and of course the 40 yard dash.

This year’s crew of competitors were not as fast as last year’s crew.  The 2010 class at the Miami UA Combine had a number of skilled position players go under 4.5 in the forty.  This year’s group had only a handful but that does not mean that there aren’t some solid players in the 2011 class.

In terms of who laid down the fastest forty time,  that one was easy.  Former Gulliver Prep wide receiver and soon to be Columbus High School Explorer Tacoi Sumler.  Sumler ripped up the 40 yard track in a blazing 4.33 time that made the scout on hand do a double take on his stop watch.  Sumler is an explosive athlete that has been on display for a the last three years.  His star continues to shine bright and his stock continues to rise.  Plantation H.S. defensive end, tight end Ryan Shazier cranked out an impressive 4.44 weighing in at 201 lbs.  Between Sumler’s time and Shazier size / speed combo,  that supersede anything that took place at last year’s Under Armour Combine in Miami.

Other times of note were: Phillip Dorsett WR (St. Thomas Aquinas) 4.43,  Avery Johnson – WR – (Ely H.S.) – 4.40, Marquis Noble WR (Bucholz H.S. – Gainesville) 4.49, Deontae West – DB (Hialeah H.S.) 4.54, Gary Holmes – RB – (Seminole Ridge H.S.) 4.52,  Melvin Noel – WR – (Dr. Krop) 4.53,  Tim Burton – CB – (Cardinal Gibbons) 4.57, Brandon Rose – CB – (West Broward) 4.57, Jeremy Cash – DB – (Plantation) 4.58, Andrew Johnson – CB – (Southridge H.S.) 4.59.

I was quite impressed with the way Niles Lawerence from Nova High School moved around.  The 6’2″ 297 lb. Lawerence was a linebacker,  believe it or not, last season for the Titans.   Lawerence laid down a 4.90 in the forty which was a time that rivaled quite a few of the wide receivers, running backs and defensive backs in attendance.  Lawerence is a prospect that is picking up steam with schools like Florida St., Michigan and Cincinnati taking a look at him.

DT Patrick Williams from University School showed his cat like quickness in 1-on-1 drills with the offensive linemen and impressed many in attendance.  St. Thomas Aquinas’ Jelani Hamilton was a big body moving well.  The 6’4″ 250 lb. Hamilton carries his frame like a linebacker and has the potential to make some things happen this upcoming season.

I spent a lot of my time eyeballing the 7-on-7 and 1-on-1 sessions.  Not surprisingly,  Northwestern’s Teddy Bridgewater was the most competent, confident and capable quarterback in the group.  Gavin Block of Dr. Krop H.S. in Miami showed some good things but not many QB’s stood out.

The Wide Receiver group had a number of solid players.  North Broward Prep’s A.J. Sebastiano is the most polished wide receiver in this class.  I continue to be impressed by his route running ability, releases from the line of scrimmage and overall football I.Q.   He’s not a blazer on the watch but is as fast as he needs to be to get away from any of the defensive backs covering him.  Andrew Johnson,  brother of former Ely High School standout Patrick Johnson, shows some great speed on the field.  With a little bit of polish he’s going to be a force to reckon with.  St. Thomas Aquinas’ Phillip Dorsett and Tevin Allen were impressive in the 1-on-1 and 7-on-7 sessions.  Both players looked explosive and comfortable running routes and sitting down in zones.  Sumler does not only rely on his speed,  he brings an accomplished route running ability to his game which makes him even more of a threat. Jesse York,  junior from Boyd Anderson H.S.,  is a brash, confident receiver who has substantial physical tools.  He’s one to keep an eye on.  Marken Michel also shows a tremendous amount of skill.   Michel has a powerful build, excellent quickness, good speed and an understanding of his wide receiver position.  He’s an underrated star that deserves some attention.

The defensive back group has some promising stars.  Jeremy Cash (Plantation H.S.),  was all over the field in the limited amount of reps you get at events like this.  Cash and teammate Ryan Shazier were hard not to notice when they took the field and were flying around.  Boyd Anderson’s Harmon Brown was full of talk but could back it up.  Reminded me a lot of Class of 2010 standout Tony Grimes with his intimidation and aggressiveness.  Brown has the confidence to play the cornerback position and adds to that some solid skills.   Cardinal Gibbons’ Tim Burton has the build and the skill to make big things happen in the Chiefs’ secondary in 2010.  Southridge High School’s  CB Andrew Johnson and Gerod Holliman also stood out in this group.  Both players are extremely competitive and when there’s a play to be made,  they are eager to make it.  Johnson and Holliman show great defensive back skills and good footwork.   They have benefited from the resurgence of Southridge High School under coach Pat Burrows.

High School Football a.j. sebastiano, andrew johnson, jelani hamilton, jeremy cash, pat williams, phillip dorsett, ryan shazier, tacoi sumler, Teddy Bridgewater, tevin allen, tim burton