RECRUITING / JEFF FELLENZER : Tackle Gray Is Making the Grade on and off the Field

Germaine Gray may be the biggest Florida State football fan west of the Mississippi. That’s big as in 6 feet 5 and 255 pounds.

Gray, a preseason All-American at Rialto Eisenhower High, The Times’ top-ranked team, terrorizes opponents from his defensive tackle position. He has a 3.6 grade-point average in college prep courses and has been timed in 4.79 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

Most scouts consider Gray and 6-5, 245-pound Travis Kirschke of Anaheim Esperanza the top two defensive line prospects in California this year.

All of which may explain the phone call Gray received at home during a Saturday afternoon last month as he was getting ready to watch his favorite college team play at Clemson in a nationally televised game. The call came from Florida State recruiting coordinator Ronnie Cottrell, who was checking in from the Seminoles’ locker room.

“Germaine is an impressive-looking kid who has everything colleges look for--good size, strength, quick feet,” said Dick Lascola of the Scouting Evaluation Assn. in Fallbrook, Calif.

Amazingly, Gray is playing this season with a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He originally hurt the knee in a game last season, then reinjured it in the spring. He’ll have surgery after the season.

Gray considered sitting out the season entirely, but decided the risk of not getting a college scholarship outweighed the medical risks involved. That factor, plus the memory of Eisenhower’s 35-14 loss to Mater Dei in the Southern Section Division I championship game in December, made Gray determined to play this fall.

So far, he has scheduled recruiting trips to Florida State, Washington State and Arizona State. Other schools also being considered include Washington, Cal, Miami, Texas and Colorado, where his brother LaMarr played linebacker (1988-1990) after graduating from Pomona High. Gray acknowledges that he has a soft spot for Washington State, which is the only college to assure him of a scholarship, even before his impending surgery.

“I grew up here, but it’s weird--the only hometown team I like is the Lakers,” said Gray, who sees himself as a defensive end in a four-man front and favors colleges that use the formation.

So will he follow his heart and sign with Florida State?

“I always saw myself as a Seminole, but now that it’s time to pick a school, you start thinking, ‘Wow, it’s pretty far away,’ ” Gray said. “If Florida State was in New Mexico, I’d go there.”

Inside job: Don’t expect La Verne Damien’s Jonathan Himebauch to fall for any slick sales pitches from overeager college football coaches.

Himebauch, a 6-3, 242-pound senior, knows a lot more than most teen-agers about the recruiting process. Small wonder. His dad, Jack, is the recruiting coordinator at USC.

Himebauch, who runs well enough to play inside linebacker in Damien’s defense and also plays on the basketball team, is considered a major college prospect who will probably end up at guard or center in college. Among the schools interested are Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon, Duke and the service academies.

But what about USC, where Jonathan’s older brothers Chris and Curt (a former Trojan walk-on defensive back) currently attend school?

“That’s up to our coaching staff,” the elder Himebauch said. As long as he’s comfortable and we’re comfortable with his choice, he can go anywhere he wants.”

Even UCLA, which sent some early correspondence?

“Now, if that happens, there might be a few people who would want to lynch me,” Himebauch said with a laugh.

Add inside job: Thanks to a special exemption, Himebauch is able to watch his son’s games in person.

Normally, NCAA rules prohibit college football coaches from attending high school games until the last week of October (the Pac 10 Conference date is Nov. 1). But when the rule was challenged a few years ago by former Georgia Coach Vince Dooley so that he could watch his son play, the NCAA created an exemption for father-son circumstances.

Notes

Jacque Vaughn, Pasadena Muir’s outstanding 5-foot-11 point guard, visited Michigan over the weekend. Besides the Wolverines, Vaughn is still considering Indiana, where he visited two weeks ago, Kansas and Nevada Las Vegas. He has dropped Stanford from consideration. Kentucky stopped recruiting Vaughn recently when it got a commitment from 6-3 guard Jeff Sheppard of Peachtree City, Ga. So who’s got the edge? Hint: Vaughn is scheduled to visit Kansas on the final weekend (Nov. 7-8) before the early signing period for basketball players begins Nov. 11. And the Jayhawks’ current point guard, former Reseda Cleveland star Adonis Jordan, is a senior.

More basketball: UCLA received official visits last weekend from 6-6 swingman Charles O’Bannon of Lakewood Artesia, brother of UCLA’s Ed O’Bannon and one of the top six players in the country; 6-10 forward-center Scot Pollard of Kamiakan High in Kennewick, Wash., one of the nation’s best big men, and 6-2 guard Ed Gray of Riverside North. O’Bannon has narrowed his choices to UCLA, USC, Michigan and Kentucky. He’ll visit Kentucky during the school’s celebrated “Midnight Madness” weekend Oct. 31-Nov. 1, when basketball practice officially begins. Pollard, who attended Torrey Pines High before moving north last summer, is still considering Brigham Young, Arizona, Washington State, Louisiana State and Kansas. It would be a major surprise if Pollard, a Mormon, doesn’t follow in the footsteps of his older brothers Carl and Alan and sign with BYU. Gray, who also excels as a wide receiver-defensive back in football, will most likely play only basketball in college. Besides UCLA, Gray is still considering UNLV, Kansas, Connecticut and Tennessee, although the Rebels may not be as interested now that they have an unwritten commitment from 6-3 guard Jermaine Smith of Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va.

Jaha Wilson, a 6-6 swingman from San Francisco Riordan, has told friends that he will attend USC, although some schools, including Arizona, are hoping he’ll change his mind. . . Michael Stewart, a 6-10 center from Sacramento Kennedy, has given an unwritten commitment to Cal. . . One of the best players in Orange County, 6-8 Keith Van Horn of Diamond Bar, gave an unwritten commitment to Utah during his first official college visit last weekend. He had been considering Cal, USC, Arizona State and Pepperdine. . . New Cal State Fullerton Coach Brad Holland has received an unwritten commitment from Chris Dade, a 6-foot point guard who also plays football for Oceanside El Camino. Dade chose the Titans over Washington, San Diego State and St. Mary’s.

Nationally, two-time defending NCAA champion Duke got an unwritten commitment from 6-10 forward Joey Beard of South Lakes High in Reston, Va., who picked the Blue Devils over Virginia. Beard, one of the country’s premier players, attends the same high school that produced Duke standout Grant Hill. Indiana received an unwritten commitment from 6-4 guard Sherron Wilkerson of Jeffersonville, Ind. As a result, 6-5 Chris Kingsbury of Hamilton, Ohio, will probably sign with Ohio State. Notre Dame has unwritten commitments from two promising big men--7-0 Matt Gotsch of Friendswood, Tex., and 6-10 Marcus Hughes of Detroit.