Inside recruiting/Running Backs

Sporting News, The, Oct 2, 2000 by Bobby Burton

Recruiting analyst Bobby Burton ranks the top 25 senior prospects.

                                           Town/High school
                                     40    (schools player is
Rk.   Name               Ht./Wt.    Yd.    considering)

 1.   Kevin Jones         6-2/200   4.23   Chester, Pa./
                                           Cardinal O'Hara
                                           (Va. Tech, Penn St.,
                                           Wis., Tenn., Mich.,
                                           Fla. St.)

Widely considered the nation's top overall prospect, Jones
has speed, power, balance and sharp instincts--all the tools
necessary to be a great runner. How great? His 4.23 40 at a
Florida State summer camp broke the record held by NFL star
Randy Moss.

 2.   Jabari Davis        6-0/230   4.5    Stone Mountain,
                                           Ga./Tucker
                                           (Tenn., Ga., Texas,
                                           Ala., Miss. St.)

 3.   Derrick Tinsley     6-1/180   4.4    Marietta, Ga./
                                           Marietta
                                           (Tenn., Miss. St.,
                                           Fla., Fla. St.,
                                           Ala., Aub., Neb.,
                                           Mich. St.)

 4.   Kelly Baraka        6-1/185   4.4    Portage, Mich./
                                           Northern
                                           (Mich., N.D., Tenn.,
                                           Neb., Mich. St.,
                                           Ohio St., Pur., Wis.)

 5.   J.R. Lemon          6-2/217   4.5    Tyrone, Ga./
                                           Sandy Creek
                                           (Clem., Ga. Tech,
                                           N.C., Mia.,
                                           N.D., Fla. St.,
                                           Stan., Neb.)

 6.   Carnell Williams   5-11/192   4.42   Attalla, Ga./
                                           Etowah
                                           (Ala., Tenn.,
                                           Fla. St., N.D., N.C.
                                           St., Mich., La. St.,
                                           Mia.)

 7.   Cedrick Houston     6-0/200   4.4    Clarendon, Ark./
                                           Clarendon
                                           (committed to
                                           Arkansas)

 8.   Cedric Benson       6-0/195   4.5    Midland, Texas/Lee
                                           (committed to Texas)

 9.   Eric Shelton        6-3/236   4.5    Lexington, Ky./
                                           Bryan Station
                                           (Tenn., Fla. St.,
                                           Fla., Texas, Mich.,
                                           Ohio St., N.C.)

10.   Maurice Hall       5-10/185   4.35   Columbus, Ohio/
                                           Brookhaven
                                           (Mia., Penn St.,
                                           Tenn., Fla. St.,
                                           Ohio St., N.D., Wis.)

11.   Thez Robinson      5-11/185   4.5    Lyons, Ga./
                                           Toombs Co.
                                           (E. Caro., Clem.,
                                           Ga. Tech, Tenn.,
                                           Fla. St., Fla.,
                                           Ga., Aub.)

12.   De'Arrius Howard   5-11/220   4.45   West Memphis,
                                           Ark./West Memphis
                                           (Aub., Miss., Mich.,
                                           Mich. St., Ken.,
                                           Tenn.)

13.   Tramain Hall       5-11/180   4.47   Deerfield Beach,
                                           Fla./Deerfield Beach
                                           (Mia., N.D., Fla.
                                           St., Ind., Fla.,
                                           Neb., Mich.)

14.   Daryl Poston       5-11/180   4.28   Huntington Beach,
                                           Calif./
                                           Huntingdon Beach
                                           (USC, Cal, UCLA,
                                           Wash. St.)

15.   De Andre Belin      6-0/230   4.49   La Verne,
                                           Calif./Bonita
                                           (Tenn., Ohio St.,
                                           Wash. St., Texas
                                           A&M, USC)

16.   Donta Hickson      5-10/185   4.4    McKinney, Texas/
                                           McKinney
                                           (Fla. St., Neb.,
                                           Mich., Mich. St.,
                                           Texas A&M)

17.   Anthony Johnson     6-0/185   4.45   Jefferson, Texas/
                                           Jefferson
                                           (Kansas St., Texas,
                                           Texas Tech, Colo.,
                                           Okla.)

18.   James Buchanan      6-2/235   4.6    Sarasota, Fla./
                                           Cardinal Mooney
                                           (Texas, Fla., Fla.
                                           St., B.C., Mia.)

19.   David Underwood     6-0/219   4.38   Madisonville,
                                           Texas/Madisonville
                                           (committed to
                                           Michigan)

20.   Damien Nash        5-11/195   4.3    East St. Louis,
                                           Ill./East St. Louis
                                           (Fla. St., Ill.,
                                           Ga., Neb., Mich.,
                                           Ohio St., Ga. Tech)

21.   Brandon Brokaw      6-1/225   4.54   Pennington, N.J./
                                           Pennington
                                           (Penn St., Neb.,
                                           Ohio St., N.D.,
                                           Iowa, Pur., Wis.)

22.   Ayo Saba            6-0/255   4.75   Blackwood, N.J./
                                           Highland
                                           (Syr., Kansas St.,
                                           Penn St., Wis.,
                                           Tenn., Fla. St.,
                                           Iowa)

23.   Brandon Jones       6-1/215   4.5    Peru, Ind./Peru
                                           (committed to
                                           Purdue)

24.   Seymore Shaw        6-0/210   4.4    Shawnee, Okla./
                                           Shawnee
                                           (Okla. St., Okla.,
                                           Kansas St., Neb.)

25.   Thomas Plummer      6-2/218   4.5    Toronto/Henry Carr
                                           (Stan., Ohio St.,
                                           N.D., UCLA,
                                           Northwestern)