USC, Nebraska, TCU Are Winners in Prep Recruiting

The national letter of intent day is made for people like Aaron Emanuel and Horace Smith.

Quartz Hill’s Emanuel, considered one of the country’s top three prep running backs and the target of coaches from Los Angeles to Seattle to Lincoln, Neb., made Wednesday a memorable day for two reasons: He picked USC over Washington and Nebraska as the place he will play his college football, and he ended the barrage of recruiters and reporters who have been filing into his family’s Palmdale home.

“This has been really stressful, especially when things get out of hand,” he said. “I almost got weak a couple of times--I almost got to the point of saying, ‘I want out of this madness.’ ”

For Smith, a 1984 graduate of Santa Monica High School who played last season at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona, Wednesday also meant a decision--once and for all. Few people bothered him at home, so Smith, a defensive back, spread the word of his college choice himself.

It will be Georgia, he called to say last week. No, he said Monday, on second thought he would accept a scholarship to Arizona State to be closer to home and play with a couple of his former high school teammates. Tuesday, however, was another day and another update, this one saying Georgia again. School officials there were able to confirm that one.

But on the whole--with the exception of Emanuel and Baldwin Park quarterback Michael Johnson, the Southern Section Division III Player of the Year, picking Arizona State--little was left to the imagination Wednesday as Southern California preps and some other big names nationally officially accepted scholarship offers.

The first returns on which school won this year’s national “talent derby” came out even before some schools had finished releasing its recruiting lists.

Max Emfinger, who publishes the National High School Football Magazine in Houston, said his early calculations showed Nebraska on top followed by USC and, to the amazement of Coach Jim Wacker, TCU. Michigan State was the only Big Ten school to rate the Top 10, but Emfinger said Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan had an outside chance to break the first 15.

“Quite honestly, it still hasn’t quite soaked in that this could be all really be true,” TCU’s Wacker, who signed more blue-chippers than the other eight Southwest Conference schools combined, told the Associated Press. “The response we have received this year has been just stinkin’ unbelieveable.”

USC and UCLA, having signed quality players at nearly every position, had big years. The Bruins beefed up the line with three All-Americans--Frank Cornish (6-4, 250, Chicago Mt. Carmel), Mike Lodish (6-4, 245, Birmingham, Mich., Brother Rice) and Rick Meyer (6-6, 230, Salinas)--and Mike Beech (6-6, 250, Newport Harbor) and Dave Hallstrom (6-3, 255, St. Francis), both All-Southern Section selections.

In addition to Emanuel, the Trojans signed three other Parade Magazine All-Americans--inside linebacker Delmar Chesley from Washington D.C.; offensive lineman Chuck Ebertin from Bellarmine Prep in San Jose and wide receiver Marlon Washington from Kansas City, Kan.--and numerous other all-stars.

USC is still waiting to hear the fate of Parade All-American linebacker Quintus McDonald from Montclair, N.J., who reportedly will pick between the Trojans and Penn State after dropping Notre Dame out of the running Wednesday.

Nebraska, which lost defensive end Sean Ridley from Omaha, considered the No. 1 prospect in the state, picked up two key players from Southern California--Richard Bell from Muir in Pasadena and quarterback Steve Taylor of San Diego Lincoln, the school that produced Marcus Allen--and a couple more from the South. The Cornhuskers also signed kicker Chris Drennan of Cypress.

The key word on Bell is versatile. He completed 96 of 171 passes for 1,551 yards and 19 touchdowns, rushed for 1,335 yards and 14 touchdowns and has run the quarter mile in 47 seconds. He was being recruited by Washington State as a quarterback, Nevada Las Vegas as a wide receiver, Oregon as a tailback, USC as a defensive back, but he chose the Cornhuskers and will play slot back in the Irving Fryar mold.

Notre Dame officials said they will not be releasing a complete list of recruits, but it appears that Gerry Faust has come up with another good crop, led by Riverside Poly’s Mark Green, the Southern Section Division I Player of the Year.

The Fighting Irish also reportedly signed Cornelius (Corny) Southall, an All-New York defensive back/tailback, Arizona’s top offensive player, quarterback Steve Belles from Phoenix St. Mary’s, D’Juan Francisco from Cincinnati’s Moeller High and two outstanding defensive players, New Jersey’s Ned Bolcar and Marty Lippincott (6-6, 250) from Philadelphia.

Manual Arts running Steve Broussard, working his way back to 100% after undergoing shoulder surgery a few days after leading the Toilers to their second straight City 3-A title at the Coliseum, had quietly been weighing his offers before choosing Washington State over Nebraska, which wanted him more as a fullback.

Broussard’s 6-1, 250-pound teammate, James Nichols, will attend New Mexico State, but the surprise was that offensive linemen Ronnie Harvey got virtually no offers from college scouts and did not sign.

Los Angeles Banning’s tailor-made-for-Oklahoma quarterback Jamelle Holieway was in more of a mood to celebrate. He even held a signing ceremony to celebrate his letter of intent with the Sooners. Two of Holieway’s teammates, fullback LeRoy Holt (USC) and wide receiver Sam Sutherland (Stanford), also visited Oklahoma before deciding to stay in California.

“Basically, it was the way they (Oklahoma coaches) presented themselves to me,” Holieway said of his final decision. “I liked it (the school) a lot. My cousin, George Cumby (a linebacker with the Green Bay Packers who played for the Sooners), gave me a few pointers on what to look for. And, they still run the type of offense (the wishbone) I like.”

Some area stars got away from area and Pacific 10 recruiters. Most notably are Serra wide receiver Steven Williams, who will be the third Williams brother to play at Illinois; Banning center Courtney Hall, who will attend Rice University in Houston; Carson quarterback Carl Thompson, who will attend New Mexico, and San Pedro All-City tight end Curt Jones, who chose Utah.

Cal apparently had its best recruiting year in the last six years, led by the signing of Davis running back Marc Hicks. Considered one of the best high school running backs in America as a junior after gaining 1,488 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns, he was hurt last season but still managed to gain 1,220 yards on 170 carries and score 14 touchdowns.

Washington, which finished 11-1 and runner-up to Brigham Young in the both wire-service polls, got running back Andre Riley of San Jose, who gained 1,672 yards and scored 28 touchdowns as a senior. The Huskies also nabbed one of the best talents in Southern California in tight end/linebacker Fabian Pope of Crenshaw.

Arizona landed both of Carson’s outstanding wide receivers, Derek Hill and Melvin Smith, as well as free safety Chris Wright, while teammate Leroy Ale opted for Oregon.

Pomona High, despite going 6-5 this season, continues to produce Division I players, sending linemen Reggie Gaddis and Kevin May and tight end Aaron Prisock to Arizona, quarterback Ray Artry and linemen Steve Brayton and Lamont Hall and nose guard William McMillan to New Mexico.

In addition to Johnson, Arizona State also signed Fremont wide receiver/defensive back Ray Whittenburg and Crenshaw’s Bernard Jones, who is also a fine high hurdler and student. The Sun Devils also dipped into Orange County and got another good quarterback in El Modena’s Brett Johnson and a fast wide receiver in Chip Rish of Marina.

Nationally:

--If tradition continues, Kevin Smith of South Salem, Ore., will be a name to remember. He turned down the two Oregon Pac-10 schools to sign with Brigham Young as a quarterback.

--Ohio State said it has or will sign 18 of the 20 recruits from Ohio, including 6-foot-8, 302-pound lineman Tim Moxley of Barnesville; linebacking twins John and Mike Sullivan from Mentor Lake Catholic; and Parade Magazine All-American quarterback Tom Bolyard from Orrville.

--Running back Brian Davis, Parade Magazine’s co-Player of the Year, headed a big year for Pittsburgh. The Panthers (3-7-1 last season) also signed consensus scholastic All-American tackle Mark Stepnoski. One player they did lose was North Allegheny lineman Ray Huckestein, who signed with Stanford.

--Texas made off with one of the nation’s top players in Ed Cunningham, a 260-pound offensive lineman from Sanford-Fritch in the Panhandle who had been recruited as a power forward in basketball by DePaul and Houston.

--Florida State, possibly benefiting from NCAA recruiting sanctions on the University of Florida, came up with a top player on offense, tailback Sammie Smith, and defense, linebacker Keith Carter. Smith is 6-1, 214 and has been timed in 9.6 in 100 yards, while Carter had also considered USC and Oklahoma among others.

--One of the top prep quarterbacks, Todd Ellis of Greensboro, N.C., who threw for 3,110 yards and 19 touchdowns, signed with South Carolina. Another standout quarterback, Chris Osgood of Moss Point, Miss., said he won’t make a college decision until next week and will make one more visit to the University of Miami this weekend.

--Hart Lee Dykes, a wide receiver from Bay City, Tex., being courted by virtually every big-time program in the country, chose Oklahoma State over Illinois.