Campus Confidential

By Adam Abramson

The fax machines are warming up all around the country because Wednesday morning hundreds of letters of intent will be pouring in light of national signing day.

I'm going to stick with you guys throughout the evening and tomorrow as I hear news from notable names. Tomorrow evening I'll try to put together a rough list of the top classes by school.

On Thursday, I'll be out of the office for 10 days, but I'll be back the third week of February to talk about who I think will be the impact freshmen of the 2007 class and spring football (yup, we're going to be in the thick of it pretty soon).

Here's what I'm hearing:

• East Meadow offensive lineman John Elliot will be attending Boston College. I know Virginia and Rutgers made late pushes for New York's top player, but to no avail. I actually thought someone could sneak in late and get the 4-star, but Jeff Jagodzinski did a good job of keeping the BC offensive lineman pipeline alive and flowing. The Eagles have a fine offensive line class with Elliot, fellow four-star Mark Spinney, Kenny Plue and Nick Schepis. Overall, Tom O'Brien leaving to North Carolina State hurt the boys from Chestnut Hill, but it wasn't devastating. Guys like Elliot, Eason, New Jersey linebacker Will Thompson and defensive end Corey Eason from Mansfield, Mass. keep the group on par with the average BC class.
• One player the Eagles will likely miss is RB/FB/LB Devon Ramsay, also from New Jersey. Ramsay is an extremely intriguing prospect because of his measurables: 6'2, 242, 4.6. He got on board way back in July, but his commitment has taken a lot of turns and he's been looking strongly at North Carolina -- where I think he'll end up, unless there are some late developments. I know UNC had been teetering with an offer, but he visited there over the weekend, who knows what went down there.
• Speaking of North Carolina, what a job Butch Davis is doing there in the short amount of time. But are we really surprised? It looks as if Marvin Austin, the STUD defensive tackle from Washington DC will end up donning the powder blue jerseys in front of a half-filled Keenan Stadium (although I think it'll start getting packed by 2008). Davis, who's always been known as a monster on the recruiting trail, has picked up DT Tydreke Powell and WR Rashad Mason in the last 10 days. If he can wrap up Austin, he's put together a very impressive class. Linebackers Da'Norris Searcy from Georgia and Quan Sturdivant from NC will be key parts in a defense that's in need of some serious help (Ranked 92 this year in yards allowed). By the way, he's not exactly done tomorrow. There's a few big-time guys deciding tomorrow who have Chapel Hill on the mind.
• Remember North Babylon product Jason Gwaltney? If you're from Long Island, how could you forget? Well, I heard he's back in Morgantown to try and walk on to West Virginia's team. However, it seems as if the 5-star (ranked so in 2005) will be up against another risk-heavy running back. Noel Devine, whose highlight tapes surfaced on the Internet after his freshman year of high school, has pledged to play football for Rich Rodriguez. If either one of these guys can pan out, WVU will carry on its recent dominance in the run game. Both Gwaltney and Devine are extremely explosive, but we've seen the trouble Gwaltney has had getting his bearings straight on the college level and it's no secret that Devine is a high-risk, high-reward prospect because he comes from a troubled past (if you're forgetting, he was briefly taken in by Deion Sanders, only to leave shortly after). Rodriguez has a very impressive list of 25 guys who plan on playing at WVU. Check out a highlight tape of Devine. Hello Maurice Jones-Drew all over again (although his HS competition was very average).
• What's going on with Florida State? I've been waiting and waiting for Bobby Bowden's final-week push and he's only got two studs on board the last month or so. A trio of good corners will be sending in LOIs but it's not very impressive after that (besides MLB Kendall Smith...beast). I think they'll wrap it up with a few key guys (maybe Marvin Austin, the ultimate rabbit out of the hat). I'm interested to see if running back Robert Elliott will hold on to his Ole Miss verbal or if he'll make the switch to FSU. I have a feeling he could make the switch with Devine heading to Morgantown.

That's all for now. I'll post if I hear anything tonight (being Tuesday) and we'll chat tomorrow about how unfair classes like Florida's and USC's class are. Also, I'll touch on Boise State's class...