Colleges flock to boarding school for top WR recruit

Deion Walker can run, but he cannot hide.

When healthy, he can run a 4.4 40-yard dash. Because of his speed, size (6-3, 185 pounds) and 37-inch leaping ability, he has become one of the top wide receiver recruits.

While he plays for tiny Christchurch (Va.) School, a boarding school 42 miles northeast from Williamsburg, his remote location hasn't been enough to discourage attention from colleges, especially since Walker is one of eight top-30 seniors who haven't made a verbal commitment.

"By the time he finished at school last spring (as a junior), we had over 50 visits from college coaches to our campus, including helicopters dropping on our football field," said Ed Homer, Christchurch's football coach. "When the head coach comes to the school, there is a lot of pressure, though they were all very professional and nice about it. … The problem that I see is the schools have to get verbal commitments so they can start on the following year's recruiting, but they're looking for a verbal commitment before the kids are even allowed to take an official visit to a school."

Walker will visit Florida State this weekend for his second official visit. His first was to Penn State, where he sat in the front row for a game next to Jeannette (Pa.) High quarterback Terrelle Pryor, considered the top recruit in the country and another player who hasn't given a verbal commitment. Homer said Walker may also make visits to Southern Cal and California.

At larger high schools, the pressure on top prospects can seem less intense. Two Armwood High (Seffner, Fla.) players who haven't committed verbally, Matt Patchan, a 6-7, 265-pound offensive lineman and Eric Smith, a 5-10, 239-pound running back, are still making their official visits.

"Both are holding out," Armwood coach Sean Callahan said. "People are staying with them. Neither one is feeling any pressure because the top guys who are OK. You hear so many great things about visits that you have to go on them."

Patchan visited Florida last week and plans two more official visits, to LSU. Miami while Smith is planning official visits at Auburn, Clemson and LSU.

Terrelle Pryor commitment:

Terrelle Pryor leads a list of players named this week to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, played in San Antonio's Alamodome on Jan. 5. Five of the other players named this week to the bowl will play in one game Friday night as Dayne Crist, Wes Horton and Anthony McDonald of Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.) will face D.J. Shoemate and Matt Kalil of Servite (Anaheim, Calif.).

Others players named to the bowl this week: Kyle Rudolph of Elder (Cincinnati), Darrell Scott of St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.), Jonathan Baldwin, Aliquippa (Pa.), Chancey Aghayere, Garland (Texas), Justin Johnson and David Snow of Gilmer (Texas) and Kenny Tate of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.), ranked No. 22 in USA TODAY's Super 25 ranking.

Rout rule?:

Last Saturday, Westhill (Syracuse, N.Y.) defeated LaFayette-Fabius-Pompey (LaFayette) 90-0 in football. In past years, LaFayette High had been competitive in Class D, but after a compromise was worked out to allow students from Fabius-Pompey, which doesn't have football, to play for LaFayette, the school was forced to play up in Class B because the combined enrollments of LaFayette and Fabius-Pompey. Unfortunately, only 30 players came out for football and the Lancers have lost five games by a combined 322-14 score. New York doesn't have a mercy rule. In neighboring New Jersey, a rule is being discussed for football where a running clock would be used whenever one team got up by 35 points or more. Another state that borders New York, Connecticut, is adopting a "score management" policy that could suspend coaches whose teams win by more than 50 points.

Burning rivalry:

One of the more unusual trophies, the Smudge Pot, will be awarded Friday at Bonita (La Verne, Calif.). The trophy goes annually to the winner of a football game between Bonita and San Dimas, two schools in an area east of Los Angeles once known as a citrus growing region. The trophy is a silver-plated and resembles smudge pots used in orchards, usually fueled by crude oil, to keep plants warm during a frost.

Bonita (2-2) has won three in a row against San Dimas, which is 4-0 this year and owns a 17-16-1 lead in the series.

Briefly

: Lamont Bryant, who coached Marshall (Chicago) to a 108-23 record in boys basketball the past four seasons, was fired on Tuesday. The Commandos were expected to be one of the top teams in the Midwest this season. A former Marshall player, Courtney Hargrays, was named the new coach on Wednesday. ... Two big streaks went by the wayside this past week. In girls swimming, Desert Mountain (Scottsdale, Ariz.) ended Xavier College Preps's 217 dual meet winning streak, a run that lasted 23 years. Whitney Lopus and Emily Barton each won two individual events to lead Desert Mountain. In boys volleyball, Maryvale (N.Y.) snapped Eden's (N.Y.) 107-match winning streak Tuesday. … Walnut Hills carries a 32-game football losing streak, the longest by a Cincinnati area school in 25 years. The Eagles play host to Little Miami (Morrow) on Friday.

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