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The father of Ryan Green, one of the top running back recruits in the state of Florida, denied rumors Monday that Auburn had moved into his son's top three following a visit to the Plains for Big Cat Weekend, according to a report at ESPN.com ($):

“There is no top three, no top five, nothing right now,” said Green’s father, Vader Green. "Ryan said that Auburn was one of the top three visits he’s been on but that’s all.

“We have too many schools to sort through to make that sort of deduction right now.”

Insiders believe that Green continues to favor Florida State, Notre Dame and Florida, just as he did in late April.

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In case you missed it, new Memphis head coach Justin Fuente is blocking quarterback Taylor Reed from transferring to some schools against which Memphis is slated to play in the coming years. He's also blocking him from transferring to any school in Conference USA, which Memphis is leaving after this year.

It's a ridiculous move by the Memphis head coach, but is this something recruits would care about? Probably not.

First, realize that recruits don't usually pay attention to football as much as die-hard football fans do. They are quite often unaware of even the most public of issues impacting the sport.

For a recruit to become aware of the policy, it would probably have to come via an opposing coach's negative recruiting tactics. Coaches say publicly that they do not negatively recruit, though privately, many say it's a fact of life.

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Who better to provide our Memorial Day thank you than our resident military man, Bert:

To all who served before me and the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen defending Old Glory worldwide, I humbly salute you. #MemorialDay

— Bert (@ACCrefsSuck) May 28, 2012

Enjoy today with your family and be sure to appreciate the ability to do so.

Recently, Robert Nkemdiche, the top football recruit in the country for the class of 2013, told reporters that he plans to commit to a school in "a month or two." That, despite not having taken visits to all of the schools which he is considering. Some recruiting analysts aren't buying it.

For what it's worth, 5-star Robert Nkemdiche just told me he's committing this summer... I still think it will be a Signing Day announcement

— Laura McKeeman (@LauraMcKeeman) May 25, 2012

There shouldn't be any rush for Nkemdiche to commit early. It won't stop coaches from the schools to which he does not commit from calling, texting and harassing him in an effort to get him to change his mind.

Additionally, every school in the country will hold a spot for Nkemdiche. He will not be turned away. He's just that good.

And why would Nkemdiche commit before he has a chance to take official visits to schools like LSU and Texas? This is the biggest decision of his life to date. Given that he has the luxury of having a spot held for him, it only makes sense for him to take his visits and make his decision based on all the possible information and experiences he can gather.

Nkemdiche is believed to have a top group consisting of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Clemson, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Texas, in no particular order.

I agree with those who don't believe Nkemdiche will commit before National Signing Day. And if he does, I would expect him to continue to take visits even after committing.

As for the recent development of Georgia hiring a former assistant coach from Nkemdiche's high school, I think the potential impact of the hire is being overplayed. As the AJC points out, Nkemdiche has connections to many of the schools under consideration:

-Alabama: Nkemdiche's coach (Conn) played on Alabama's 1992 national championship team.
-Ole Miss: Nkemdiche's brother plays for Ole Miss, while his childhood best friend and Grayson teammate (David Kamara) has a scholarship offer from the Rebels.
-Clemson: Nkemdiche's coach (Conn) played football and roomed together with Dabo Swinney. One of Robert's Grayson's teammates, Wayne Gallman, is committed to Clemson, while Kamara has an offer.
-Mississippi State: Nkemdiche has lived with the family of Grayson QB Nick Schuessler, who signed with Mississippi State last February. Kamara holds an offer.

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The editorial team over at Barking Carnival took a look at the changing dynamic of recruiting involving Oklahoma and Texas. It seems the two fierce Big XII rivals aren't fighting quite as many recruiting battles in 2013 as they have in recent year. Specifically, it seems that the Sooners are not going after as many players in Texas for the 2013 class. BC expounds on a few potential reasons for this development, including this excerpt:

New staff at Texas. An evaluation change at Texas began with Muschamp on defense and, to a much lesser extent Applewhite's lobbying as a junior member of the offensive staff, but now we boast an entire staff more willing to work to find - and define correctly - desired player attributes. Previous staffs didn't and Texas fans believed the hype when pay-sites, in pandering complicity, pared the known universe of good players in-state to Players Texas Is Interested In. Before that, OU was getting a lot of the players that they wanted that we didn't particularly value. Probably at TCU's expense. Specifically, this staff now evaluates OL and Athlete ballas much differently than previous regimes.

Head on over to Barking Carnival to read more about Texas and Oklahoma recruiting!

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White was close to an offer from the in-state Alabama Crimson Tide before Florida State pulled the trigger and extended an offer, to which White committed almost immediately. Tomahawk Nation has the scouting report on white.

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Marquez White, a cornerback from Dothan (Al.) Northview High School, has committed to the Florida State Seminoles according to several media reports from Alabama. White is 6'1" and 180 pounds, and projects to play the boundary corner position for the 'Noles. White's best offer aside from Florida State is Ole Miss (we do not believe the Bama offer is a full offer at this time). He is also a standout basketball player for Dothan.

White is unrated by most sites, but does have a rating of three-stars from 247sports suddenly a three-star recruit on all sites except for ESPN.

Stoops has evaluated many defensive backs this cycle. How many were given fully-committable offers? Not many. Says a lot about White #FSU

— TomahawkNation.com (@TomahawkNation) May 25, 2012

DB Marquez White is a solid get for #FSU - #Noles continue to do well in Alabama

— Keith Niebuhr (@KeithRIVALS) May 25, 2012

White has smooth hips, quick feet, & transitions well. Has the footwork to mirror smaller WR's and frame 2 match up w/bigger WR's

— YouthSportsSanDiego (@yssd) May 25, 2012

He has better balance and coordination than alot of the CB's on FSU's board. Superior to Baker & Robinson in terms of movement skills

— YouthSportsSanDiego (@yssd) May 25, 2012

"Hopefully I can play my freshman year," White told Scout. "It's a home away from home. I have family members who went to Florida State. I am very happy right now."

"I know all about the history and great players who played at Florida State like Deion Sanders," he said. "They have put a lot of players. I know it's a great school."

There is very little mystery or recruiting drama involved with White. If he receives a firm offer at the June camp from Coach Saban, "I will commit on the spot," White said. -- Alabama Intel

White appears to be a bit of an unheralded recruit at this point, though it is still very early in the recruiting process, with several schools showing interest in White of late, including Alabama and USC. White was offered by the Seminoles today and immediately jumped on board. The offer came just a day after Florida State DB coach Mark Stoops stopped in to watch White in practice. Several national analysts have praised white today, citing his rising stock.

It's also quite telling that all of White's offers have come since February 24. That tells me that he just emerged as a star player during his junior season. If he had been a standout as a sophomore, he would have had offers earlier in the cycle.

Thoughts on his film? For FSU to take him as a cornerback they must see some Xavier Rhodes in him, with his 6'1" frame.

White is the ninth commitment of the 2013 class for the Seminoles. FSU projects to take at least 24 and as many as 30 recruits in the cycle.

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Recently there have been quite a few articles blaming Florida State for the ACC's problems. A few of the criticisms are legitimate. Most are troll pieces looking for traffic from angry 'Nole fans (and they'll oblige), complete with huge leaps in logic and hypocritical inconsistency. There's a reason I refused to link the recent Hayes, Doyel, Dinich and Scott pieces. I found them disingenuous. Other pieces with legitimate, logical or fair criticisms of FSU have been linked and discussed.

They claim that if Florida State would have won more and not suffered through the lost decade, the ACC would be just fine and would not have been stuck with such a poor TV contract. That is partially true.

But it ignores the fact that the ACC would have nothing close to the contract it currently has if Florida State hadn't won the ACC 12 times in the last two decades, plus two national championships. Florida State is still the conference's most valuable program by a huge margin. That's because the 'Noles still move the needle.

The writers criticizing Florida State know this. They know that Clemson has only won a single conference title in the last two decades (and set a record by allowing 70 points in the Orange Bowl), despite having enormous resources.

But despite having won 12x the conference titles as Clemson since joining the ACC, FSU gets the blame, even though both programs are looking to leave the conference. Why? Clemson doesn't move the needle like FSU does. They aren't a national program.

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This is meta. It's not news. You've been warned. We'll have a more traditional article up shortly.

There are the leaders in the conference expansion news race, covering the Big XII, Florida State, Clemson and others. They include Ingram Smith and the 247sports Baylor site. And then there are those whom, for whatever reason, are behind. It may be that they don't want to burn a source. It may be that they no longer have great sources. Or it might simply be a business strategy to sell subscriptions during the slow season.

I think that is what we're seeing from some outlets covering both Big XII and ACC schools. Reports come out from the leaders, and the strategy is to

• deny the report;
• call it premature;
• attempt to discredit the reporters with ad hominem attacks (including implying that the reporter could not possibly have info on expansion because he attended Hampden-Sydney College);
• say they aren't legitimate new outlets (even if they are more legitimate than the outlet lobbing the criticism);
• cite their lack of credentials (What event for which someone would need a credential to cover is producing the conference expansion news? Oh, wait, none);
• refuse to link, cite or even name them;
• employ a word filter or monitor actively for mentions of the other outlets and deleting any mention thereof;
• suspend/ban paying members who repeatedly attempt to bring other voices to the conversation; and
• burn down the straw men they've created by refuting things (which do not exist) they claim are in the reports to which they will not link or cite.

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Laremt Tunsil is the top offensive tackle recruit in the country. Out of Lake City (Fla.) Columbia High School, the 6'6", 280 pound Tunsil holds offers from most of the top schools. He's in no rush to make a decision, but did speak about some of the factors that will ultimately sway him in this excellent interview ($) with Florida Rivals site Inside The Gators.

One particular point that caught my eye was the discussion about his relationship with coaches:

"The relationship I have with the coaches is the most important thing," said Tunsil. "My position coach is who I am going to be with every day. I have to have a great relationship and be able to trust him.

...

Asked about the coaches he feels most comfortable with, Tunsil replied, "The two head coaches I have a relationship with are Nick Saban and Will Muschamp. They aren't personally recruiting me, but I can call them up and talk to them. I called coach Saban a couple of weeks ago to talk.

"Position coaches I have a good relationship with are Will Friend from Georgia, Tim Davis from Florida, Chris Kiffin from Ole Miss and especially Rick Trickett from Florida State."

Tunsil goes on to talk about a lot of different topics, and this is definitely worth a read. I hadn't heard Ole Miss mentioned by Tunsil all that much, so that is a new development indeed. Many continue to believe that Florida and Georgia are the top two schools competing for his services. This belief is supported by the frequency with which Tunsil mentions the Bulldogs and Gators in his talks with the media.

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For a while now, most have believed that elite safety recruit Su'a Cravens is going to end up at USC. He is set to announce on June 6. But before making the call, the Murrieta (Calif.) Vista High School recruit will take unofficial visits to Michigan and Nebraska. Both schools are believed to be in Cravens' top group, along with Ohio State and UCLA. Cravens will leave for his visits on Tuesday.

Leavin on Tuesday... Don't know exact dates though...

— Su'a Cravens (@5StarSKC21) May 22, 2012

Cravens also recently clarified that he did not release a top three or give exact dates of visits for each school

I never gave out dates or a top 3...

— Su'a Cravens (@5StarSKC21) May 21, 2012

Cravens also tweeted that his academics are in good order:

Grades are lookin as strong as kimbo slice !!! Last days of scool

— Su'a Cravens (@5StarSKC21) May 21, 2012

Will the visits to Michigan and Nebraska be enough to sway Cravens from the prohibitive favorite USC? It's unlikely. But in recruiting, the most recent visit often has a disproportionate amount of pull with a kid, so there is certainly some hope for Michigan and Nebraska.

Make sure to check out SB Nation's scouting report on Cravens.

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For more on Wolverines football, visit Michigan blog Maize 'n' Brew, plus Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire and SB Nation Detroit.

For more on Huskers football, visit Nebraska blog Corn Nation, plus Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire.

For more on Trojans football, visit USC blog Conquest Chronicles, plus Pac-12 blog Pacific Takes and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Robert Nkemdiche was originally supposed to make his college commitment announcement this week. That changed in early May, with Nkemdiche postponing his announcement. ESPN caught up with the talented defensive end to get the latest with his recruitment. Here are some excerpts from the video embedded at the bottom of this article.

One of the benefits of Nkemdiche postponing his announcement is greater exposure for his teammates. "I like getting the coaches here and seeing our other guys, It makes me happy, knowing that I have that power to have coaches here and they see other players making plays," Nkemdiche said about other coaches coming to Grayson's practice and noticing his teammates.

The focus then switched to his own recruitment. "I have my top schools LSU, Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia, Mississippi State and Texas," Nkemdiche said when asked about his top schools. He did not specify any order.

Alabama has long been considered by many to be the prohibitive favorite for Nkemdiche.

"Alabama is a great school, great coaching. Nick Saban, that dude puts people in the NFL. And that's one of my main goals to go college is to go to the NFL. I saw the draft and they put tons of people ion the NFL. That's a main factor with me. [Alabama defensive coordinator] Kirby Smart does a great job recruiting me, he's always on me, and I like that. He gives me a lot of good advice and things like that," Nkemdiche said

Nkemdiche also spoke about LSU, Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, though in somewhat less detail, as you can see in the video.

Nkemdiche said that he will likely decide in the next month or two after taking visits to LSU, Alabama and Mississippi State, "Just to see them one more time." He was unsure of his plans to visit the other schools on his list.

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For more on Tide football, visit Alabama blog Roll Bama Roll, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills.

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