Eight DeKalb Schools’ Football Players on ESPNU Watch List

The ESPNU 150 Watch List for 2012 senior football players has a DeKalb County flavor to it as eight players are garnering high interest in the college recruiting wars.

Two of the eight, Columbia’s O’Kenno Loyal and Stephenson’s Mike Davis, finished in the top three in rushing a year ago.

Loyal (5-11, 220) finished as the top rusher in the county a year ago with 183 carries for 1,460 yards (162.2/game) and 15 touchdowns in just nine games. He also caught 14 passes for 140 yards (10.0/reception) and 2 touchdowns. Loyal is considering Tennessee, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn and Louisville in a long list of colleges recruiting him.

Davis (5-10, 190) recently committed to Florida State while considering Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia Tech and South Carolina among others. The Stephenson running back was third overall in the DeKalb rushing stats with 127 carries for 1,151 yards (104.6/game) and 10 touchdowns in 2010. He also added six receptions for 88 yards out of the backfield.

Offensive linemen Brandon Greene (Cedar Grove) and Joe Harris (Lithonia) are also on the ESPNU 150 Watch List. Greene (6-5, 290) recently committed to Alabama while also considering Ole Miss, Louisville and Central Florida. Harris (6-3. 327) is weighing his choices between Georgia, Clemson, Florida State, Alabama and South Carolina.

The final four on the list are all linebackers with two more from Stephenson named.

Stephenson’s Darreon Herring (6-2, 200) became the second of three Jaguars to commit early and one of two DeKalb athletes to commit to Vanderbilt. Herring had 52 tackles, 2 interceptions, 2 fumbles caused and 1 fumble recovered in 2010.

The third Jaguar to commit is outside linebacker Raphael Kirby (6-1, 215) as he decided to take his talent to the University of Miami (FL). He also considered Florida, Louisiana State, Georgia, Auburn and Florida State.

Stone Mountain outside linebacker Ukeme Eligwe has become one of the most
highly recruited players in DeKalb after an impressive 2010 campaign in which he accounted for 121 total tackles (a county high 95 solo tackles) with 15 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 3 fumbles caused and 1 fumble recovery. Eligwe (6-2, 208) recently committed to Florida State after considering South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Auburn and Arkansas.

Tucker’s Jacob Sealand joined a pair of former teammates (James Vaughters,
Stanford; Norman Hayes, Harvard) in aiming for one of the top academic
schools in the country as he joined Stephenson’s Herring with a commitment
to Vanderbilt. He also considered North Carolina, Purdue, Virginia Tech,
Wake Forest and South Carolina.

Sealand (6-1, 215) finished with 75.5 tackles in 2010 to lead the Tiger defense as they advanced to the Class AAAA state semifinals. He added 7.5 sacks, 14 tackles for a loss and 2 fumbles caused.