[Buckskin86]

Posted on Mon, Jun. 02, 2008
By MANNY NAVARRO
mnavarro@MiamiHerald.com

Jaamal Berry was watching Columbus High's spring intrasquad scrimmage two weeks ago when he ran into Miami-Dade County's all-time leading rusher Frank Gore.

It didn't take long for Berry, one of the nation's premier running backs in the Class of 2009, to challenge the former Coral Gables High and University of Miami grad with a friendly wager.

''I didn't tell him I was going to go after his record,'' said Berry, a 5-11, 193-pound running back from Palmetto Senior High who heads into his senior season with a list of 25 scholarship offers.

``I just told that I was going to have more yards than his cousin [Columbus High 2010 standout Jakhari Gore] and [Killian's] Lamar Miller and that I'd was going to lead Dade in rushing this year. We had some fun joking about it. But I know deep down inside we all seriously want to win it.''

Berry, who ran for 1,033 yards and 14 touchdowns on 140 carries as a junior, will need to do a little better than he did last year if he wants to win that bet.

After receiving just one scholarship offer (from Mississippi) during his junior season, Berry said he picked up six (Florida, Florida State, LSU and Ohio State) the week he ran a 4.43 at the Nike Combine and a ''ton more'' after running the 4.31.

Berry said his mother, Eartha, has kept all of the written scholarship offers for him and said she plans to put a few of them up in frames in his room by the end of the summer.

Even if the Hurricanes don't offer, Berry still has plenty of suitors. His Top 10 list includes Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Mississippi, Auburn, Clemson, LSU, West Virginia and Boston College. He says he really likes Ohio State a lot -- especially after taking an unofficial trip to watch the Buckeyes' spring game with several other local highly-touted 2009 recruits.

''We really had a great time,'' Berry said. ``I went up there with [Plantation defensive backs] Brandon McGee, Vlad Emielen, [St. Thomas receiver] Duron Carter and [Hallandale quarterback] Victor Marc. The campus was great. I loved the whole atmosphere. You could see the coaches and the players are real straight-forward people.''

Berry considering offers -- including FSU, UF - 06/02/2008 - MiamiHerald.com