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SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Keller Chryst (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) has plenty of history to follow.

His grandfather, George Chryst, was a longtime high school football coach and the head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. His father, Geep Chryst, is the quarterback coach of the San Francisco 49ers. His uncle, Paul Chryst, is the head coach at Pittsburgh. Another uncle, Rick Chryst, was the commissioner of the Mid-American Conference for 10 years. And if that wasn’t enough, Chryst was named after a football icon: Michael Keller Ditka, Jr.

Yet, with all the potential fanfare surrounding his family and upbringing, Keller, the No. 2 quarterback in the country, has found a way to stay off the grid, far removed from the usual media and recruiting attention that comes with being one of the nation’s top quarterback recruits.

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A junior college receiver who has offers from several big-time programs was recently offered by Texas.

D’haquille Williams is the first junior college prospect to land a Texas offer. HornsNation caught up with two of his coaches at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College this week, and both made it clear they’ve never coached a guy like him.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound wide receiver is one of the nation’s top juco prospects. He put up 1,295 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns on 67 catches as a freshman at MGCCC and also has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Miami, Texas A&M, USC and a long list of schools.


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The accolades are growing by the day for defensive tackle Garrald McDowell (Covington, La./Covington).

Becoming an Under Armour All-American, being invited to The Opening and getting ranked No. 105 in the ESPN 150 is not a bad way to start a spring.

Oklahoma has taken notice as the Sooners are the latest of many top schools to enter the race to land McDowell, who is 6-foot-3 and 257 pounds. With offers from Alabama and Florida and USC, among several others, it’s going to be a busy few months coming up for McDowell.


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Official Visit: Thomas’ trouble; AU heats up

May, 8, 2013
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NoleNation’s Corey Dowlar talks with Phil Murphy about the latest in Florida State 2013 signee Matthew Thomas' saga, and TideNation's Greg Ostendorf stops by to talk about the impending decisions of ESPN 150 recruits Tre’ Williams and Justin Thornton.
Originally, ESPN 150 linebacker Tre' Williams (Mobile, Ala./St. Paul’s) was going to announce his college choice at the Under Armour All-America Game, but after talking it over with his family, he’s decided that he’s ready to go ahead and make his commitment.

Williams will announce his decision Wednesday afternoon at his high school.

“I talked to my family, and I thought that I needed to go ahead, enjoy my senior year and have all that stress off of me, all of the pressure,” he said. “I wanted to go ahead and get rid some of that so I could focus on my senior year of football and school in general.”


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RB Mixon still open to everyone 

April, 30, 2013
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Holding more than 40 offers, running back Joe Mixon (Oakley, Calif./Freedom) is arguably the most sought-after recruit in the West region. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound, four-star back is the top running back in the West and the No. 135 player in the country. His offer sheet has seemingly grown by the minute this spring, but he isn't in any hurry to narrow it down.

Despite tweeting out a list of 16 programs several weeks ago, Mixon said Sunday that he only did that to highlight the schools recruiting him the hardest, not anything to be taken as a group of finalists.

"I'm still talking to a lot of people," Mixon said. "The recruiting thing has been crazy the past couple of weeks. I've pretty much been taking it well. I talk to them before school, during lunch and after school. I'm not to the stressful part yet, but the hard part has been staying in contact with everybody."


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RecruitingNation: Building for the future

April, 28, 2013
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Tom Luginbill breaks down what some of the top teams in the country have done this spring in recruiting.

RN Top 10: D.C. NFTC 

April, 22, 2013
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The RN Top 10 will appear throughout the camp and combine season and rank prospects based strictly on their on-field performance at that particular event. It does not reflect their overall prospect ranking.

ASHBURN, Va. – The East Coast and mid-Atlantic states represented well on Sunday as eight players earned invites to The Opening at the Nike Football Training Camp outside of Washington, D.C. Defense ruled the day, led by two five-star prospects from Virginia.

10. Nick Scott
Fairfax (Va.) Fairfax |RB| 5-11, 180

Scott stood out among a field of backs who were overshadowed by the prospects at nearly every other position. He earned the attention of coaches for his strong play and versatility but missed the MVP award, which went to Vincent Lowe (Chesapeake, Va./Grassfield), who also posted the top SPARQ score.

Scott committed to Penn State in February over an offer from Boston College.

ESPN national recruiting analyst Craig Haubert’s take: “He’s got a great frame, and what I like about him as a Penn State verbal, he’s a versatile player. He may not run by you, but he does a good job in route-running.”


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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- ESPN 150 linebacker Tre Williams (Mobile, Ala./St. Paul’s) is one of the top players in the state, so it’s no surprise that the defending national champions have made him a priority for the 2014 class.

Williams visited the University of Alabama for the their spring game this weekend.


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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Clifton Garrett (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) had never been to the University of Alabama. He’d never even been in the state of Alabama. On Friday, the ESPN 150 linebacker made a stop in Tuscaloosa on his way to LSU for the Tigers’ spring game.


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#BlueChipBattles: ESPN 150 release edition

April, 19, 2013
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Speedy Noil, Adoree Jackson, Da'Shawn HandStudent Sports, ESPN, ESPNSpeedy Noil, Adoree Jackson and Da'Shawn Hand are three of the most coveted recruits in the Class of 2014.
#BlueChipBattles Insider: RecruitingNation summoned its writers from around the country to outline the recruiting battles for the ESPN 150's top 10 prospects.

Plus, rank the battles in SportsNation.

#TopFBMixtapes: Athlete mixtapes are all the rage in this highlight-crazed era of sports. We reached out to our Twitter followers to find out which 2014 football stars had the best highlight reels on YouTube, then had our staff rank and comment on the top submissions.

Tom Luginbill writes Insider: After talking to many coaches across the country and hearing their frustrations, here are their five biggest complaints about homemade highlight videos.
BUFORD, Ga. -- ESPN Watch List defensive end Lorenzo Carter (Norcross, Ga./Norcross) credits his blindingly pink socks and highlighter yellow shoelaces with helping him win the defensive lineman MVP award at the Atlanta NFTC on Saturday.

The award came with a brilliant gold dog tag that complemented his outfit. But what really caught Carter’s eye, and fashion sense, was the big gold box that he was handed that contained his invitation to The Opening.


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When the SEC comes calling, recruits tend to listen. It is no different with ESPN Watch List linebacker Clifton Garrett (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South).

Garrett will visit Alabama and LSU on consecutive days next weekend, checking out the Crimson Tide on Friday before going to Baton Rouge for the LSU spring game Saturday.


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Basketball brought Thomas Holley (Brooklyn, N.Y./Abraham Lincoln) to California first. Football could bring him back.


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Watching ESPN Watch List cornerback Tony Brown (Beaumont, Texas/Ozen) compete is almost like watching a one-man show. No matter what he does, there’s the understood notion that he’s going to excel.

On the football field, he’s one of the nation’s best cornerbacks, an athlete with more than 20 scholarship offers. Over the weekend, Brown not only won the defensive back MVP award at the Dallas Nike Football Training Camp but also earned an invitation to The Opening this summer in Oregon.


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