•Niceville defensive back Romeo Finley has an offer sheet full of ACC schools. Miami, Clemson, NC State and Louisville have all extended him offers, and the 4-star recruit is considering them all at this point. He grew up a Miami fan, but that won’t necessarily steer his recruitment one way or the other.
•Clemson has done a good job of going into Florida and stealing recruits from the in-state programs. We already mentioned that the Tigers are in good shape with Rahshaun Smith, and they have a commitment from T.J. Chase. Clemson is also in the lead for 4-star offensive lineman Parker Boudreaux, an Orlando prospect. The Tigers will need to hold off several SEC suitors, but they’re in the driver’s seat in his recruitment.
•A name to watch for several ACC programs is Dominique Ross. The 4-star linebacker has offers from Duke, Miami, Virginia Tech, Boston College, Wake Forest, UNC, Pittsburgh and Georgia Tech. He took a junior day visit to Florida State, though the Seminoles don’t seem to have him too high on their recruiting board. It’s early in Ross’ recruitment, and any number of those ACC schools have a shot to land his commitment.
•Naturally, Florida will be tough to beat for a number of the state’s top recruits. That’s the case for Craig Watts, a 4-star athlete form Saint Petersburg who is considering Miami, UNC and Notre Dame but has the Gators on top. Ocala defensive end Jordan Woods has some interest in Florida State, but he has a stronger connection with Florida. Winter Garden wide receiver Eddie McDoom, a 4-star recruit, has interest in both Clemson and Louisville, but he named Florida his leader in early March.
•Despite the ACC’s prominence in Florida, there are some recruits who aren’t interested in any of the conference’s schools. Among them are 5-star defensive back Saivion Smith, who committed to LSU this winter. Wide receiver Elijah Stove, who resides in the panhandle, has a top five that doesn’t include any ACC programs. Four-star quarterback Feleipe Franks from Crawfordville has given a verbal commitment to LSU. Jacksonville running back Jalin Buie was once committed to Auburn, but he’s since backed out of that pledge. The 4-star recruit has collected offers from in-conference programs Virginia Tech, Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Miami and UNC, though he doesn’t seem particularly interested in any of those schools. Four-star athlete Woody Barrett has Auburn as his leader, though Louisville is also involved in his recruitment and has time to make up ground. Tampa defensive tackle Bo Peek was pursued aggressively Boston College, Virginia Tech, Louisville and Miami, but he’s since committed to Stanford.
•North Carolina is one of the leaders, along with West Virginia, for 3-star defensive tackle Kevin McCrary. The Tar Heels will also need to battle NC State, Duke and others for his commitment, but they’re more or less expecting to have him in their 2016 class. McCrary plays for Mainland High School in Daytona Beach.
•There could be dozens more North Florida prospects who gain traction as ACC recruits over the next several months. Many of them already hold offers from conference schools and are hoping to visit them and learn more about them over the spring and summer. Here are a few more names to keep an eye on throughout the cycle. All of these recruits are 3-star players:
Green Cove Springs running back Bilal Ally (Georgia Tech)
Fleming Island athlete Trey Sneed (Georgia Tech and Louisville, though Rutgers is in the lead)
Lakeland defensive tackle Keyshon Camp (Louisville and Miami)
Jacksonville running back Hussein Howe (UNC, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Wake Forest)
Orlando running back Tyrek Tisdale (Louisville, Miami, Pittsburgh)
Orlando linebacker Jonathan Jones (Duke)
Jacksonville wide receiver Kevin Stepherson (UNC, Wake Forest)
Daytona Beach defensive end Jachai Polite (UNC, NC State)
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