Richland Northeast star eyeing Trojans

Southern Cal is eyeing several football players from South Carolina, and one of them got a close up look at the Trojans last week making a pair of unofficial visits while visiting family in Southern California.

Richland Northeast defensive end Chris Bonds (6-4, 270) made one visit to see the school and a second to watch practice. "Everyone seemed so excited I was there," said Bonds, who met with Southern Cal head coach Pete Carroll. "He did sit down and talk to my mom and everybody."

Bonds said he will take his official visits to Michigan, Southern Cal, Notre Dame, Alabama and Miami.

"I've already visited South Carolina's campus and I'm using the official visits to go to places I normally wouldn't visit," he said. Bonds also has visited Alabama and Virginia.

ATH Tori Childers (6-5, 210) of Rock Hill and New Hampton Prep in New Hampshire signed his letter of intent with USC last Thursday morning. He faxed a copy to the South Carolina football office as well as mailed a copy back to Columbia to formalize his earlier commitment to the Gamecocks.

Childers said the coaches like him as a defensive back and receiver, and he expects to end up on offense.

"Hopefully I can show (receivers) coach (Steve) Spurrier Jr. that I'm a keeper," Childers said. He caught 40 passes for 700 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. Since he has fully qualified, Childers said the USC admissions people are checking to see if he can check out of the prep school and return to South Carolina and finish up the rest of his courses online.

The Gamecocks have offered LB Willie Ferrell (6-2, 223) of Tallahassee, Fla. "Coach (Shane) Beamer is trying to build a good relationship," Ferrell said of his USC recruiter. He also has offers from LSU, Illinois, Minnesota, Maryland, Florida International, South Florida, Central Florida, East Carolina and Florida A&M. Ferrell attended junior days at Florida State and Florida and will go to LSU for their spring game April 5. Last season, Ferrell had 183 tackles with seven sacks and three interceptions.

USC and Arkansas are the top two choices for WR Lance Ray (6-3, 200) of Havana, Fla. "It's because of the coaches, especially the receivers coach at both schools," Ray said. He also has offers from East Carolina, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Duke, Florida International, Central Florida and Iowa State. Ray also is hearing from LSU, Florida State, Florida, Central Florida and Georgia Tech.

RB Tavon Austin (5-9, 160) of Baltimore is just 633 yards from becoming the all-time leading rusher in Maryland high school football history. Last season, he rushed for 2,553 yards and 32 touchdowns. He also plays defensive back and had 50 tackles and four picks last season. USC just recently offered. Austin also has offers from Penn State, West Virginia, Maryland, Illinois, Virginia, Syracuse, Boston College, Rutgers and Virginia Tech.

DB Tarry Shankle (6-0, 173) of Norwood, N.C., was at Clemson's practice last Wednesday. "I saw how the players fit in," Shankle said. "They have fun, the coaches have fun, they aren't uptight." Shankle planned to be at N.C. State on Saturday, and he plans to attend spring games at North Carolina, N.C. State and possibly Clemson. He has offers from Clemson, USC, N.C. State, Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama and North Carolina. "Everybody is even," Shankle said.

OL Thomas Vonashek (6-7, 275) of Brunswick, Ga., attended USC's spring practice last Friday. He has not been offered.

Columbia High DB Damario Jeffery (6-3, 211) has USC and Alabama at the top of his current list. "I like everything South Carolina is pushing for," he said. "They are trying to be the best in the nation, and that starts with academics. I went to Alabama and I loved everything I saw. Plus, they are one of the old SEC powerhouses."

Jeffery has offers from USC, Clemson, Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Auburn, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Jeffery recently visited Georgia.

ATH David Sims (6-0, 208) of Calhoun County was scheduled to visit Georgia Tech over the weekend. He will attend Alabama's spring game and plans to visit Virginia Tech. Sims attended a USC practice last week along with teammate WR Alshoun Jeffery and OL Quinton Washington of Timberland. He has offers from USC, Alabama, North Carolina, Wake Forest, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Colorado and N.C. State.

Teammates DE Tariq Edwards (6-4, 225), TE Tyrell Edwards (6-4, 219) and WR Kinsman Thomas (6-3 195) of Marlboro County attended USC's spring practice Wednesday night. The Gamecocks have offered Tariq Edwards and Thomas. They also have offers from Clemson and Vanderbilt.

DB Justin Bright (6-2, 185) of Byrnes has offers from Florida State and Texas A&M. He's also getting interest from Clemson, USC, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Auburn and Georgia. He attended junior day at USC and Clemson's first spring practice. He's also been to Georgia and was scheduled to visit Auburn over the weekend. And he'll go to Florida State from April 2-5. Last season, Bright had 114 tackles and four interceptions.

USC has joined Clemson, Georgia, Florida and Florida State in making an offer to Byrnes WR Rico Sanders (5-11, 185). He's also hearing from N.C. State, Maryland and Tennessee. He has visited Clemson, USC and Georgia and plans to go to Florida State this week during his spring break. Clemson is his favorite.

DB Dre Kirkpatrick (6-3, 185) of Gadsden City, Ala., has more than 40 offers, including Clemson and USC, and he's not trimmed his list. He was scheduled to be at Auburn on Saturday and plans to go to Georgia this weekend and Alabama on April 12. He's also thinking about going to Tennessee's spring game. He has been to practices and junior days at Alabama and Auburn.

Dorman OL Brandon Thomas (6-4, 280) now has offers from Clemson, USC, North Carolina, Maryland and Vanderbilt, and more should be on the way. "So far, everybody that's watched him on film has offered," said Dorman coach Dave Gutshall. Wake Forest, N.C. State and Georgia Tech also are very interested. Thomas has been to a Clemson practice this spring and plans to visit again this week for a tour of campus. He attended junior days at Clemson, USC and North Carolina. He will go to UNC's spring game this Saturday. Clemson likes him as a guard while USC sees him as a tackle.

Richland Northeast ATH Derek Frost (6-1, 180) is getting significant interest from Louisville, and he plans to visit there this weekend. He went to a junior day at East Carolina. He's also getting some contact from USC, North Carolina and N.C. State.As a quarterback last season, Frost passed for 1,366 yards and nine touchdowns and rushed for 463 yards and six scores.

Wofford last week signed QB/P Craig Novack of Savannah, according to WTOC-TV. Novack is expected to focus on punting for the Terriers after averaging over 41 yards per punt last season.

WR Jamal Patterson (6-3, 200) of McDonough, Ga., will go to spring games at Georgia this Saturday, Florida on April 12 and USC on the 19th. USC and Clemson are two of his 31 offers. Patterson does not have a favorite.

OL Andre Harris (6-5, 320) of Lovejoy, Ga., is hearing from Clemson and USC but has not been offered. Harris said he's talked with Clemson line coach Brad Scott and gets mail from USC. Harris has offers from Maryland, Central Florida, Georgia Tech and N.C. State.

Basketball news

Clemson target 6-5 Travis Leslie of Decatur, Ga., committed last week to Georgia.

6-7 Kenny Mitchell of Decatur, Ga., committed to Charleston Southern. And the Buccaneers also have a commitment from 5-11 Jaden Isler of Clovis, N.M.

Clemson is showing interest in 6-5 junior Jeronne Maymon of Madison, Wis., The Associated Press player of the year in Wisconsin this season. He has offers from Baylor and Wisconsin-Green Bay.