Richland NE star offered by Trojans

Richland Northeast defensive end Chris Bonds (6-4, 270) has received several new major offers, none bigger than the one he got from the Southern Cal football program on Friday.

Bonds has been strong on the Trojans, and their offer puts them at the top of his list along with South Carolina and Virginia. Bonds, who has family in Southern California, plans to visit Los Angeles during his spring break. He visited Charlottesville, Va., and USC last month.

The Gamecocks continue to push hard for Bonds. "Coach (David Reaves) is always on top of me," Bonds said. "I'm going over there for the first day of spring practice (March 19)." Bonds other recent offers are North Carolina, N.C. State and Boston College.

Now that they've totally backed off their commitments to Clemson, Columbia High teammates DB Chris Payne (5-11, 191) and DB DaMario Jeffery (6-3, 211) are loading up on offers. Both were offered last week by Oklahoma. Payne also has offers from USC, Clemson, Michigan State and North Carolina and is expecting one from Auburn. Jeffery also has offers from North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Alabama and Auburn.

Clemson remains one of the prime contenders for OL Bobby Massie (6-6, 315) of Lynchburg, Va. He will attend Hargrave Prep, Va., this fall. "I heard from Clemson right after Signing Day," Massie said. "I talked to coach (Andre) Powell and coach (Billy) Napier, and they told me I was going to be the top offensive line guy they are trying to get." Massie has offers from Clemson, Georgia, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, Alabama and Miami.

ATH Stephon Gilmore (6-2, 190) of South Pointe was scheduled to be at Tennessee on Sunday for a combine. He has offers from the Volunteers, USC, Clemson, Florida State, Florida, Alabama, LSU, N.C. State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Maryland. "I'm still open," Gilmore said. "Clemson and South Carolina are recruiting me the hardest." Most schools are recruiting Gilmore as a cornerback.

Clemson is showing interest in LB Adrian Cavanaugh (5-11, 210) of Ashland, Va. He visited Clemson last season for the Virginia Tech game. He's been to Virginia for junior day and is to go to Maryland this Saturday. Cavanaugh has an offer from Richmond and also is hearing from Syracuse, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.

USC has offered WR Nukeese Richardson (5-9, 165) of Pahokee, Fla. He also has offers from Florida, Florida International, Florida Atlantic and Wake Forest, and he's hearing from Clemson and LSU.

DE Sam Montgomery (6-5, 240) of Greenwood made an unofficial visit to USC on Saturday along with DE Justice Cunningham (6-3, 232) of Central. That was Montgomery's first chance for a close up look at the Gamecocks program. Montgomery attended Clemson's junior day last month, his fourth trip to Clemson, and he plans to make an equal number of visits to USC. He will be back at Clemson this Saturday for another junior day. Montgomery also has offers from Alabama, North Carolina, N.C. State, Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Maryland, Southern Cal and Miami.

Clemson commitment RB Roderick McDowell (5-10, 175) plans to visit USC soon with his mother to give the Gamecocks a closer look. "USC is showing a lot of interest right now," he said. "Even though I committed to Clemson, I'm going to show South Carolina some love, to show respect to them." McDowell also has an offer from Kentucky.

USC is the first offer for LB Tariq Edwards (6-4, 215) of Marlboro County. He's also drawing interest from Clemson, Duke, Virginia Tech and North Carolina. Edwards had 81 tackles and four sacks last season and can also play receiver.

USC has offered RB Jarvis Giles (6-0 180) of Tampa, Fla. He rushed for 1,378 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior and also has offers from Tennessee, Central Florida and Florida International. He's also getting interest from Florida, Florida State, Miami and South Florida.

DB Terry Shankle (6-0, 170) of Norwood, N.C., has offers from Clemson, USC, North Carolina, N.C. State and Alabama. He's been to junior days at Clemson and North Carolina and was scheduled to be at Tennessee this past weekend.

Clemson and USC are among the nearly 50 offers for LB Petey Smith (6-0, 240) of Seffner, Fla. Some of his others are Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Miami and Florida. He plans to get his list down to five to seven schools around the end of spring practice.

Calhoun County ATH David Sims (6-0, 208) was offered by Georgia Tech last week as a quarterback. He also has offers from USC, Alabama, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Tennessee as an athlete.

USC has offered LB Matt Coffee (5-11, 210) of Fort Walton Beach, Fla. He's also getting interest from Clemson, Alabama, Florida and Florida State.

Clemson and USC have offered RB Lonnie Pryor (6-1, 195) of Okeechobee, Fla., as have 17 others, but he's a very big lean to Florida State right now.

N.C. State and Tennessee are new offers for Beaufort DE Duane Chisolm (6-4 255). He also has offers from USC, Clemson and Kentucky.

Carvers Bay DL Kwame Geathers (6-6, 310), the brother of USC defensive end Cliff Geathers, has offers from USC, Clemson, Georgia, Maryland and Florida State. He's also hearing from Michigan. "South Carolina is showing the most interest," Geathers said.

Clemson is showing interest in RB Brandon Wegher (5-11, 190) of Sioux City, Iowa. The Tigers have not offered but have invited him to a summer camp. He has offers from Iowa, Kansas, Penn State, Texas Tech, Illinois, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Wyoming, San Diego State and South Dakota State. Last season, Wegher rushed for 2334 yards and 34 touchdowns.

Byrnes WR Rico Sanders (5-11, 180) has added offers from Florida and Florida State to his list. He also has offers from Clemson and Georgia and is hearing from USC, N.C. State and Maryland.

Illinois offered Greenwood DB DJ Swearinger (6-1, 205) last week. He also has an offer from Vanderbilt and is hearing from USC, Clemson, N.C. State, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Texas.

RB Desmond Scott (5-10, 184) of Durham N.C., has been offered by USC, Clemson, Virginia, North Carolina, N.C. State, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida and East Carolina. He's also hearing from Wake Forest, Rutgers, Michigan, LSU and Boston College.

Calhoun County WR Alshon Jeffery (6-3, 217) said last week USC is recruiting him the hardest right now. He has football offers from USC, Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee, while Southern Cal and Tennessee are close to offering, he said. Jeffery has basketball offers from Kentucky and Tennessee. He was scheduled to visit Tennessee on Sunday.

Clemson and USC are showing interest in LB Daniel Mack (6-1 198) of Miami. He has offers from Ole Miss, Eastern Illinois, Florida International and Liberty.

Wofford added two signees to its class in OL Josef Grommer (6-5, 265) of Spartanburg and DL TJ White (6-3, 270) of Troy, Ohio.