This is part three of an occasional recruiting series in which The Baltimore Sun is following Franklin's Steven Smothers, Gilman's Ellison Jordan and McDonogh's Eric Burrell as they try to decide which college will be the best fit.
Summer is not vacation time for rising seniors on the football recruiting trail. College visits and camps dot the calendars of top recruits. But, just as important as the trips, the summer is time for a whole lot of thinking.
Franklin wide receiver Steven Smothers, Gilman defensive tackle Ellison Jordan and McDonogh safety Eric Burrell have plenty of offers. Now they want to whittle down their lists to five to 10 schools by the end of summer.
All three All-Metro and All-State players, whom The Baltimore Sun is following through the recruiting process until national signing day in 2016, picked up additional college scholarship offers this spring. Each is a four-star recruit ranked among the top 11 players in Maryland, according to the recruiting website Rivals.com, and each played a major part in his high school team winning a championship last fall.
Smothers, who scored four touchdowns in the Indians' Class 3A state championship game, has about 25 offers. Some of his most recent offers came from Arizona, Nebraska and Miami — one of his dream schools.
His speed and athleticism make him a prime recruiting target at 5 feet 9 and 160 pounds, and he has the ability to make sensational catches. He grabbed highlight-reel receptions in each of the past two state finals, including one just before halftime of last fall's 35-21 victory that sparked a rally from a 21-point deficit as the No. 2 Indians won their second straight state title.
While at the Sound Mind, Sound Bodies Football Academy last Thursday and Friday in Detroit, Smothers told ESPN recruiting analyst Tom VanHaaren that he was high on Florida, West Virginia, Nebraska, Rutgers, Oregon and Penn State, and he also liked Michigan, Clemson and South Carolina. Smothers Tweeted last month that his top 10 was coming soon.
After the Detroit camp, Smothers visited both Michigan and Michigan State.
He doesn't have an offer from Oregon — another of his dream schools — but he hoped his performance at the Detroit camp might bring one, Franklin coach Anthony Burgos said.
Smothers already has visited most of the schools on the top of his list, so, Burgos said, this summer is about making a few last visits and then narrowing down the list.
"I'm really trying to get him to get a top five by the end of summer," Burgos said. "A top 10 is still too big. When you're talking about 10 schools, you're still going to get things blurry and you might as well narrow down to five, because you only get five official visits. I think it's also about being courteous to the coaches — let them know that they're not in the top five, so they can go on and recruit somebody else."
As for making his final decision, Smothers has said all along he wants to commit on national television at one of the All-America games if he should be chosen for one. Smothers is among the early nominees for the Under Armour All-America game while he, Jordan and Burrell are all among the initial finalists for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Jordan and Burrell aren't sure when they might commit.
Like Smothers, Jordan already has visited most of the schools high on his list. Burrell, however, hadn't taken many visits and plans eight this month.
In the next week or so, Jordan, who also has close to 25 offers, said he aims to talk his preferences through with his parents and with Gilman assistant coach Henry Russell to try to decide on a top five or six by summer's end.
The 6-1, 260-pound tackle is in high demand for his ability to disrupt offenses and he usually did it despite drawing multiple blockers. His non-stop motor and his leadership were key to a Gilman defense that helped the Greyhounds earn a share of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship.
This spring, he picked up offers from Kentucky, Syracuse, Illinois, Vanderbilt, South Florida, Virginia and Old Dominion, his father's alma mater and a school he visited this spring. He also took trips to North Carolina, Rutgers, Penn State, Virginia Tech and Maryland.
"I knew from the get-go this was going to be tough," Jordan said. "They're all great schools and I can't go wrong. If I could duplicate myself, I would go to all of them, but in reality I can only go to one. I think it's time to start thinking about it and making some decisions."
Russell would like to see Jordan commit before his senior season, but Jordan said he's not sure he'll be ready to make that decision in the next few months.
At 6 feet, 175 pounds, Burrell had only seven offers in January but he added 11 more this spring after emerging as a playmaker on defense last fall. He recovered the fumble in overtime that secured a 21-14 win over No. 4 Gilman and gave the No. 1 Eagles a share of the A Conference title.
After going to Virginia and Duke the weekend of June 6, Burrell went to Boston College, Syracuse and Rutgers the following weekend and planned to finish his tour with Wisconsin, Iowa and Nebraska this weekend.
While he said he was looking forward to all the visits, he was most intrigued by the last three.
"I was thrilled about all three," Burrell said. "I've never been out there so I can't wait to visit them."
Burrell still has an open mind about all of the schools that have made him offers. He said he's never been a big college football fan, so he has no preconceived notions about any program.
"I'm just looking for the best fit for me and for my family," Burrell said. "I don't know what I want to major in. I think something in engineering. I like hands-on stuff. I'm looking at everything. I want a coach that will teach you and tell you what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong. I want to be surrounded by teammates who can help me get better and I want competition that will help me get better."
Once he completes his visits, he said he will narrow his list down to five or 10, but he doesn't plan to make his decision until after his senior season.
In the fall, each player can take five official visits, paid for by the universities, so each likely will get down to five by then. Each can make an oral commitment at any time and will make his choice official by signing a National Letter of Intent, usually on the first day of the football signing period, Feb. 3.
For now, it's just a matter of doing all the research to find the right fit.
"You can't go wrong at this point," Burgos said. "You could put the schools in a basket and pick one and whichever one it is, you're going to get a great degree when you're talking about kids of this caliber and the schools they have on their lists."
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