Towering Thompson still holding out

The largest football recruit in our area is faced with a month of life-altering decisions.

Jefferson County's Willie Thompson is a daunting 6-foot-7 behemoth of an offensive tackle who began the 2004 football season weighing in at 275 pounds. These days Thompson has to get his 82 inches of arms around a decision of where to play his college football.

The most impressive offer on Thompson's table is Louisville. The up-and-coming power is competing with Middle Tennessee State and East Carolina in terms of official offers.

"It's a tough choice," Thompson said. "Right now I just can't come up with anything clear."

Thompson does admit to favor Louisville despite the long ride home from Kentucky.

"Those three are all pretty close. Right now I am waiting on maybe an ACC or an SEC offer to come through and jump in. If the right one comes, I'll probably take it and walk," Thompson said.

Thompson has been courted by both Florida and South Carolina, but not offered. There's also a possibility at Georgia Tech. There's the belief that Thompson only needs to raise his SAT score 30 points to 900 and cement an offer from the Yellow Jackets.

"Some of the coaches have told me that," Jefferson County coach J.B. Arnold. "They've said that Coach (Chan) Gailey wants to see a 900 before they offer."

That seems to tantalize Thompson. The young man speaks as if an education is the most important thing to him.

"Georgia Tech would be a pretty good place," Thompson said.

PROSPECTS GALORE: Glenn Hills is getting an unusual amount of attention.

"We are looking at the chance of having three to four players sign somewhere on National Signing Day," Glenn Hills coach Felix Curry said. "That would be real big. It's been a while since we've had anybody sign on Signing Day, much less three or four guys."

Leading the list of Division I-A offers is Larry Knight. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end was officially offered by Central Michigan last week. Knight flashed fine technique in just his first year at the position in 2004.

"Coaches say the thing they like about him is his frame." Curry said. "He's got the build you can just see a strength coach packing weight on. Another big draw is his books. He's got like a 3.4 grade point average and has scored above 1,000 on his SAT."

Tackling terror Reggie Wesby has received his own batch of Division II offers, as has the team's other senior linebacker, the academically sound Travis Jefferson.

"I truly think Reggie might end up somewhere like Georgia Southern or East Carolina," Curry said. "He's a player. Somebody's just might pull the trigger on him after this waiting game."

Cornerback Aquantis Mobley, perhaps the Spartans' most talented senior, is likely to go the prep school route to get his academic package in order for a solid Division I-A offer down the road.

NO BUDGING: Wagener-Salley's Channing Schofield has been courted like he has the wings of Achilles attached to his cleats. The 5-foot-10 cornerback's 4.4-second speed in the 40-yard dash has earned offers from several big-time schools.

He's had offers from Georgia, South Carolina and Vanderbilt, but chose to play for Wake Forest.

"He's had a late push from South Carolina but he's not going anywhere," Wagener-Salley coach Steve DeRiggs said. "He's visited USC on his own twice and Georgia, but he's all for Wake Forest."

The 175-pound Schofield had five interceptions this season.

BYRD STORY: C.J. Byrd is a lock to play for the University of Georgia. Georgia coach Mark Richt visited the North Augusta campus this week, and Richt and Georgia coaches Jon Fabris and Willie Martinez then made an in-home visit with the Byrds on Thursday.

"One of the assistant coaches had mud on his shoes and got it all over my mother's carpet," Byrd said with a chuckle. "So everyone in my house, the Georgia coaches and my family, are all down on the floor trying to scrub it out. Coach Richt was telling us how to get the stain out and everything."

One topic of discussion was Byrd's chance of seeing some time at safety as a freshman. Those odds increased with Thomas Davis' early exodus to the NFL.

"Coach Richt said the position was wide-open," Byrd said.

Top area commitments

Player, School, Position, CollegeC.J. Byrd, North Augusta ,S, Georgia
Marcus Washington, Burke County, LB, Georgia
Channing Schofield, Wagener-Salley, CB, Wake Forest
Justin Wheeler, North Augusta, WR, Vanderbilt

Reach Jeff Sentell at (706) 823-3425 or jeff.sentell@augustachronicle.com.