College football notebook 7/13

In the notebook today we have a basketball school getting serious about football recruiting, a quarterback getting back on the radar screen and why UCLA’s trio of disgraced freshmen weren’t given formal releases…

North Carolina re-secures Russell, bags other top prospects

Don’t look now, but North Carolina is starting to make some serious inroads on the recruiting trail.  Butch Davis has secured six verbal commitments in the past ten days:

7/2: DB Kameron Jackson out of Madison, AL
7/5: OL Jamar Lewter out of Washington, DC
7/7: DB Darien Rankin out of Salisbury, NC
7/9: RB/LB Christian Russell out of Raeford, NC
7/10: QB Marquise Williams out of Charlotte, NC
7/11: OL Landon Turner out of Harrisonburg, VA

The commitments of Lewter And Turner were a couple of great gets, as Lewter sports standing offers from Auburn, Clemson, Pittsburgh and USC (among many others) while Turner’s offer list is highlighted by Florida, LSU, Michigan State and Virginia Tech.

Russell’s pledge is actually a re-commitment that appears to end his recruiting saga.  While playing for Fayetteville (NC) Westover High last season, he gave a verbal commitment to the Tar Heels.  But then his coach, Milton Butts, decided to leave Westover to take the Hoke County High job just down the road.

Not only did Russell end up following Butts over to Hoke, but at his coach’s behest he also opened his recruiting back up.  Butts is no stranger to having heavily recruited players, having been the high school coach of guys like Joey Evans, Aaron Curry and Tank Tyler.  As he tells it, the demand for Russell might actually exceed that of anyone he’s previously coached.

The rising senior took unofficial visits to Alabama, Duke, N.C. State and UCLA in previous weeks and at one point it looked like he’d end up anywhere but Chapel Hill.  But Davis convinced him late last week to once again give some verbal love to the Heels.

As a junior, Russell not only tallied 136 tackles but also ran for 1,728 yards and 23 touchdowns.  He’ll probably translate into a linebacker on the next level, but then again, you never can tell.  I thought Allen Bradford would end up at linebacker at USC, and we see how that turned out.

Speaking of the Tar Heel linebacking corp, All-ACC first teamer Quan Sturdivant was arrested a few days back for possession of weed.  Sturdivant toyed with the idea of entering the NFL draft before deciding to return for his senior campaign.  Now his availability for the season opening tilt with LSU in Atlanta is in doubt.

Marve is back on the radar screen

Quarterback Mitch Mustain transferred from one BCS conference school to another one and was never heard from again. Robert Marve did the same, leaving Miami and ending up at Purdue.

After having to rehab a torn ACL during his mandatory sit out season, Marve appears to have avoided Mustain’s fate. Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com reported today that Marve will be Purdue’s No. 1 quarterback when preseason drills start in August.

Marve had a good spring practice but didn’t necessarily make sophomore Caleb TerBush irrelevant in the quarterback race.  But now he’ll get the first team snaps in preparation for the season opener on Sept. 4 in South Bend.

Neuheisel kicks three incoming freshmen off the team…so does UCLA need to grant them releases?

Coming out of Fontana (CA) Kaiser High last season, linebacker Josh Shirley was one of the nation’s most sought after recruits.  Miami, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Tennessee and every top school on the West Coast pursued him hard. In the end he decided to go with UCLA over Washington.

Wide receiver Paul Richardson and defensive back Shaquille Richardson were also highly coveted members of what turned out to be a pretty damn good recruiting effort by Rick Neuheisel.  Once the dust had settled, Rivals had it ranked as the nation’s 8th best.

But it appears that the three players might never wear powder blue and gold after they were all arrested for allegedly stealing another student’s purse in late June.  Neuheisel kicked the trio out of summer school and also barred them from enrolling for the fall quarter.  Apparently they MIGHT be allowed to enroll in January if certain unspecified requirements are met.

Reports also said that the three could face additional discipline from the UCLA Dean of Students. That’s the part the confuses me, though.  If they’re kicked out of summer school and barred from enrolling in the fall, what discipline could the crusty old dean enforce?  Are these guys even attending UCLA at this point?  And if one is kicked off a team, doesn’t that require a formal release?

I did some digging on the NCAA web site to figure this thing out.  Here goes: there has been no formal announcement from UCLA saying the players have been released from their scholarships because there doesn’t have to be.  Once an incoming student-athlete is barred from enrolling, the letter of intent that he signed is rendered null and void.

Therefore, Shirley and the two Richardsons are free to go wherever they want to. Of course, that would be contingent on another university accepting them in the wake of criminal charges.  And no other school will comment because the trio now qualify as recruitable athletes.