Laremy Tunsil visiting Florida for LSU game

Laremy Tunsil, the consensus choice as the nation’s top offensive line prospect, has announced he’ll sign a letter of intent to play at Ole Miss. Tunsil chose the Rebels out of more than 20 offers. When SB Nation talked to him this summer, he said his choice would be determined by “environment, coaching and education.”

Entering the final two weeks before Signing Day, Tunsil had apparently narrowed his field to Alabama and Georgia. Ole Miss made a late push, with Friday’s news making the Rebels sound like the sudden and surprising favorite. As Tunsil told reporters after his visit to Oxford, he was “confused” as to where to go:

A major surprise if it comes true: it is being reported by Scott Kennedy of Scout that Laremy Tunsil, the top offensive tackle recruit in the country, is a done deal to play for Ole Miss.

This is a fairly big deal because Kennedy is not just some intern for the Mississippi Scout site. Kennedy is Scout’s National Director of Scouting, and has been with the company for 10 years. Here’s the tweet:

Recruit Laremy Tunsil’s top two is now three, and it does not include Florida State, he told Scout’s Chad Simmons Sunday ($).

Entering the weekend, Georgia and Alabama were considered to be the strong contenders, while Ole Miss and Florida State were thought to be on the outside looking in.

Tunsil has offers from a bunch of schools, including Alabama, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, Southern Cal, Florida, Florida State, Michigan and Notre Dame. He has already made a visit to Alabama and has planned trips to Ole Miss and Florida State in addition to Georgia. Alabama and Georgia are considered the most likely destination for his college choice. His Feb. 1 visit to FSU will be the last one he’ll make before signing day, which is on Feb. 6 this year.

The Bulldogs are trying to add to a class that already ranks among the nation’s top 10 according to Rivals. Georgia has a total of 29 commitments at this point, and 14 of those are four-star prospects.

A big part of recruiting is keeping currently committed prospects. Alabama will look to do both that and add new commitments this weekend as the national champion Crimson Tide welcomes six committed recruits to campus in Texas cornerback Maurice Smith, Alabama cornerback Jonathan Cook, Alabama receiver ArDarius Stewart, Georgia running back Tyren Jones, and Arkansas running back Altee Tenpenny, a major target who Arkansas is trying desperately to bring to Fayetteville.

They’ll try to persuade the following seven uncommitted recruits to join them in Tuscaloosa.

Laremy Tunsil, the top offensive line recruit in the nation, will visit Alabama this weekend, and could commit to the repeat national champions.

Tunsil has a host of offers, but has essentially limited his search to the Crimson Tide and Georgia, with Ole Miss, Florida State, and Texas in the rear view mirror. He takes his official visit to Tuscaloosa this weekend, and will visit Georgia next. However, Alabama has an added weapon in trying to recruit Tunsil: he’s friends with Alabama commit Derrick Henry, considered one of the top running backs in the nation, and Henry will be one of those trying to convince him to join Nick Saban’s squad this weekend.

Running back Derrick Green’s visit to Auburn wasn’t exactly well-timed. The Tigers were blown out by Georgia, and the crowd booed and left early. Still, Green had a lot of positive thoughts on his visit, and apparently took in a very different atmosphere than the one shown on TV. He spoke with Rivals.com.

He even believes that Auburn will not fire Gene Chizik and the rest of his coaching staff. Bruce Feldman, and many others, disagree.

Harris is no stranger to the Florida Gators, as his father played for Florida in the early-1990s. Harris is one of the top safety recruits in the country and is considered by most to be a heavy lean to Florida, though Florida State and a few other schools are technically in the mix. Harris looks like a linebacker, and may not be the most fluid safety in the country, but the Orlando (Fla.) Dr. Phillips star hits well and shows good instincts in pass coverage. After initially thinking he would need to move to linebacker, I now am convinced Harris can stay at safety – provided he is in the right system.

Another star defender, Trey Johnson, will also take in the game. The Auburn linebacker commitment out of Lawrenceville (Ga.) Central Gwinnett told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he would stay committed to Auburn “as long as there’s not a catastrophe.” Considering the fact that Auburn is an underdog of a touchdown at Vanderbilt this weekend, Johnson’s recruitment might become open very soon.

Laremy Tunsil, arguably the top offensive-line recruit in the country, will take an unofficial visit to Gainesville this weekend according to a report by ESPN’s Derek Tyson.

The visit is a bit of a surprise, given that he had recently named Georgia and Alabama as two teams out in front for his signature.

Is star offensive tackle recruit Laremy Tunsil headed out of state? A recent video interview with ESPN seem to suggest so.

Out of Lake City (Fla.) Columbia High School, Tunsil is widely considered the top offensive tackle recruit in the country, holding more than 30 offers. But those schools closest to him, Florida and Florida State, aren’t in his top group.

“It was pretty cool actually,” Tunsil said. “It was nice. I got to Georgia at 8:30 on Thursday night and left around 4:00 today. I was shown the campus and that is what really stood out to me. I liked all of it. Georgia is not the same as the other schools. Everybody cares about you there and the facilities are really nice. I will say the best campuses I have seen so far are Alabama and Georgia.”

For more on UGA football, visit Georgia blog Dawg Sports, plus SEC blog Team Speed Kills and SB Nation Atlanta.

Recruiters have to get creative, and in a letter to Tunsil, Cregg did just that:

It’s standard practice for coaches to diagram plays featuring the recruit on his visit to the school, but this is the first instance I’ve seen of a coach drawing up a play featuring the recruit in a letter. In case you can’t make it out, the letter reads:

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:

Laremy Tunsil is one of the top recruits in the country at any position. The 6’6”, 295 pound tackle out of Lake City (Fla.) Columbia High School holds offers from almost every major BCS program in the country and is a consensus five-star prospect. Tunsil is both a very good football player and a very promising recruit, with lots of impressive athleticism and plenty of room to pack on additional strength in a college weight program. After an impressive showing at the Orlando NFTC that earned him an invite to Nike’s The Opening, Tunsil stopped to chat with SB Nation.

“They made me work, they really made me work,” Tunsil said of the competition at the NFTC. He was defeated a handful of times, but did win most of his reps. “Devin Washington got me once or twice. He said he studied my film and knew my outside game was weak. I was like, ‘yeah, you got me on that’,” said Tunsil of the 2013 Orlando Jones High defensive end recruit. “[Jumbo defensive end recruit] Demarcus Walker got me once as well,” Tunsil said.

First, a little background. Laremy Tunsil is the top offensive tackle recruit in the country. The 6’6”, 270-pound Lake City (Fla.) Columbia High star is very athletic and agile, to go with his great frame. He’s a deserving five-star recruit and holds that ranking from the four major services.

He’s also going to be a national signing day decision. That means Tunsil won’t make his choice for another nine months. Yet in this era of recruits deciding earlier and earlier, that doesn’t stop fans from craving constant updates on the big tackle.