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WR Ricquan Southward (Official Thread)

LOVED his tape. Pure athlete with some intense will to get the ball! Similar athlete to Stanford really, probably a little bit better IMO.

Side note: His current HS teammate is Evan Goodman, a 4* OT who is committed to ASU... Long shot for sure but it sounds like Erickson will be "retiring" this week.
 
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southcampus;2049672; said:
LOVED his tape. Pure athlete with some intense will to get the ball! Similar athlete to Stanford really, probably a little bit better IMO.

Side note: His current HS teammate is Evan Goodman, a 4* OT who is committed to ASU... Long shot for sure but it sounds like Erickson will be "retiring" this week.

Evan's brother Devon is at ASU....
 
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Welcome to the Buckeye family, Ricquan.



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Love the commit! Can't wait to snag more kids from FL! If I do recall didn't drayton also get commits from the 8 lakeland kids that went to uf some years back(Ahmad black, Chris rainey, etc)? If so, we're going to see a number of kids joining our squad from that region.
Best of luck to riquan!
 
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Lakeland's Southward Flip-Flops on Miami Commitment, Instead Opts to Sign With Ohio State
Sun. November 27, 2011
By SOLANGE REYNER
THE LEDGER

LAKELAND | Lakeland wide receiver Ricquan Southward is flip-flopping on his commitment to Miami.
The Dreadnaughts' playmaker is opting instead to sign with Ohio State next season.

Southward made his decision early Sunday evening, Dreadnaughts wide receiver coach Will Bahler told The Ledger.

He is the second local player to decommit from the Hurricanes. Lake Gibson's Trent Taylor, who had also verbally committed to Miami, changed his mind in late September and signed with Tennessee because of qualms about potential penalties the Hurricanes face from the NCAA.

That wasn't the case here, said Bahler.

"Nothing on that front changed his mind," said Bahler.

It was a number of other factors, including Southward's relationship with Ohio State wide receivers coach Stan Drayton, who recruited Lakeland's Javares McRoy to play for Florida when he was the recruiting coordinator there in 2010.

"There was a comfort level there," said Bahler. "Coach Drayton never pressured him into anything. He told him to sign with whatever is best for you."

Experiencing the atmosphere at a night game also helped.

Southward made an official visit on Nov. 19 to Ohio State to watch the Buckeyes play Penn State in a Big Ten matchup, a game that brought in 105,493 fans.

"It's a lot more of a college type atmosphere," said Bahler. "And when you talk about Ohio State you're talking about one of the top five college programs, historically.

http://www.polkpreps.com/news/artic...mitment-instead-opts-to-sign-with-ohio-state/
 
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http://www.the-ozone.net/recruiting/2011_12/SouthwardCommit.html

?I think he decided now that he knows Urban Meyer is going to be there, although I?m sure he isn?t going to openly say that because he?s not there yet,? said Tom Loy, who has covered Southward?s recruitment for FlaVarsity.com, an affiliate of Rivals.com.

Southward had been committed to the University of Miami (Fla.) for the past month, but decided he would rather be a Buckeye after taking an official visit to Columbus last week. ?He visited Miami and pulled the trigger on that pretty quickly. I wasn?t surprised. The kid is from Florida and one of his first major offers was from Miami,? Loy said. ?He pulled the trigger and at first he was all about Miami and being a Hurricanes fan, but I think that kind of wore off when he visited Ohio State. The facilities and the coaching staff and just the atmosphere in general.?

Ohio State was the first school to offer the 6-2, 190-pound wideout, who was relatively unknown in recruiting circles heading into his senior season at Lakeland High School. ?He had a lot of talent ahead of him,? Loy said. ?He?s had four guys ahead of him that were Division I prospects, so he didn?t play a lot. He played sparingly as a junior and had some nice plays.?

That is not uncommon in the state of Florida, which might be the most talent-rich in the country when it comes to a per-school basis. Schools like Lakeland?which is one of the best in the state?often have late bloomers who finally get their chance after waiting two or three years. In this case, Southward was behind four pretty talented receivers.

Loy has seen a lot of high school football in the state of Florida, and he thinks Southward might actually be better than all four of the guys who were keeping him off the field for the past three years. ?When I watch him on film, I think of Terrelle Owens and Dez Bryant,? he exclaimed boldly. ?He?s physical, he?s fast and he really knows how to go up and get it. His physicality on the field and how smooth he is at 6-2, 195 pounds.?

Because he did not play much last season, Southward is rated very low on the recruiting boards. He is rated as a 2-star prospect by Scout.com and isn?t much higher on Rivals.com. "We had him ranked I believe around 145th in our Florida Varsity Top 160,? Loy said. ?We had him ranked prior to him ever having any stars or any article written on him. We saw some film, spoke to him and we put him in because we were that impressed.?

His only major offers so far have been Ohio State, Miami and Ole Miss, but schools like Florida, Florida State and Texas Tech have also shown serious interest.

Back in October, Southward set school single-game records for catches (12) and receiving yards (238) against Hialeah. He also scored the game-winning touchdown, which should only help his stock rise. ?He?s definitely someone we are going to move up to the 100 to 110 range in our next update,? Loy said. ?Which is pretty good in the state of Florida. He?s a great get for Ohio State.?

Oh-by-the-way, he happens to be a pretty solid person as well. ?The academics are a big thing. If you talk to him for a minute, you realize pretty quickly that he has his head on straight,? Loy added. ?He?s a real mild-headed kid. He?s well spoken. He?s not going to be an academic issue.?
 
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