ESPN Recruiting Nation Football

Defensive back James Crawford (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) would like to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Charles Woodson. And that means the 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior would like to find himself in Michigan’s class on signing day.

However, Crawford will need to exercise patience and hope that some things shake his way.

"I hear from the Michigan coaches pretty often, and I think they are going to offer, but it depends on what Leon McQuay does," Crawford said. "They like me, but they only have so many slots."

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The high school career of ESPN 150 safety Leon McQuay III (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) came to an end on Friday, as Armwood fell in the playoffs to nationally ranked Gainesville (Fla.) High School.

Though his season is over, things are starting to heat up with McQuay's recruitment. He continues to have a top five of Florida State, Oregon, Vanderbilt, Michigan and USC. Michigan defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery was on hand to watch McQuay on Friday.

McQuay has taken official visits to all of his favorite schools except for Southern Cal but is planning to visit USC next weekend. Florida State and USC have made a big push for McQuay over the last several months. But with FSU defensive coordinator Mark Stoops taking the head coaching job at Kentucky and USC defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin stepping down this past week, McQuay said he is waiting to see who will replace them before he making any changes with his recruitment.

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When the Ducks hosted Colorado on Oct. 27, the game was played in poor weather and was over by the end of the first quarter. Neither the rain nor the fact they didn't arrive at Autzen Stadium until the third quarter dampened the spirits of safety Leon McQuay III (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) and his parents.

The No. 32 player in the ESPN 150 made the long trek to the Northwest for his second official visit of the year. After previously visiting Vanderbilt -- a school he is more serious about than most people think -- McQuay and his parents were able to explore Eugene to get all of his questions answered about the university and the Ducks' football program.

"It was a great experience. You actually have to visit and see the place in person to do it justice and [to] get a full impact of what's going on there," McQuay Jr. said. "Everything about it was great. All the way down to how many uniform combinations they have."

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Over the last 20 years the Tampa Bay area has grown significantly in population, and as families settled in communities around Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties, their children began to play sports. Sometimes a surge in prospects in one particular area can be attributed to the simplest things, but even with the population growth, it took a couple of programs to really help grow the area into what it has become.

The programs at Seffner (Fla.) Armwood and Tampa (Fla.) Plant can take credit for much of the success of the area. Armwood won state championships in 2003, 2004 and 2011 (the last championship was vacated by the Florida High School Athletic Association in the spring) and made it to the final game in 2005 and 2010. The Hawks had several top prospects come through the program like former Under Armour All-American Petey Smith (Alabama), Torrey Davis (Florida), Eric Smith (Auburn), Matt Patchan (Florida), Eric Striker (Oklahoma), Matt Jones (Florida), Josh Grady (Vanderbilt) and Cody Waldrop (South Carolina).

Plant won state championships in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011 while also making the finals in 2010. Much like Armwood, Plant could not have accomplished so much without talented performers like Robert Marve (Miami, Purdue), Aaron Murray (Georgia), James Wilder Jr. (Florida State), Drew Madhu (Stanford), Orson Charles (Georgia), Eric Dungy (Oregon) and Philip Ely (Alabama).

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SEFFNER, Fla. -- ESPN 150 defensive back Leon McQuay III (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) said he had a “great time” on his recent official visit to Vanderbilt and will announce his final decision at the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 4.

The 6-foot-2, 183-pound senior has kept Vanderbilt in his top group of schools since he was a junior and visited the campus on several occasions.

While McQuay didn’t talk about whether this visit was much different or not, he was impressed with the school and the effort he saw from the football team in a 31-17 loss to No. 2 Florida.

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Leon McQuay III (Seffner Fla./Armwood) certainly made the most of his Saturday.

The ESPN 150 safety started off in Gainesville, Fla., unexpectedly taking in the Florida-Kentucky game before heading up the road to Florida State for the showdown with Clemson. He wasn't able to spend too much time speaking with the Florida coaches because of the time crunch.

"It was all right," McQuay said of his time at the Gators' game. "I just watched the game and that's it."

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During the next couple of weeks there will be several recruiting capsules of Florida's top programs.

School: Armwood (Seffner, Fla.)
Head coach: Sean Callahan
2011 record: 0-15 (15-0 on-field record was vacated by FHSAA when Armwood was found guilty of transfer violations)

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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- A couple of weeks ago, ESPN 150 safety Leon McQuay III (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) had a top three of Michigan, USC and Vanderbilt. On Friday, McQuay III said one program's stance has caused a ripple at the top.

"Michigan moved out of my top three because they said they might not have a scholarship for me by the time that I am ready to commit, which is November 26," McQuay III said at Champion Gridiron Kings. "Now FSU, USC and Vanderbilt are my top three."

The Trojans are intriguing to McQuay III not only because of the tradition, but also because of the potential for future success.

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As I clear out the notebook from this past weekend's IMG Madden 7-on-7 nationals and prepare for The Opening this weekend, there are a few observations I wanted to share.

-- It was clear from the beginning that Team Tampa was the best group at IMG. They were the most organized and prepared thanks to weekly workouts since February. Even if the team wasn't well equipped with talent (which it was) it would have been tough to overcome the chemistry and team bond they have developed during the past five months.

-- It's hard to get an idea of how good five-star prospect Vernon Hargreaves III (Tampa, Fla./Wharton) is until you really see him up close. He was challenged often and only beaten once, on a post pattern by ESPN 150 wide receiver Jordan Cunningham (Davie, Fla./University), who was representing South Florida Express Elite. Cunningham, always the competitor, said he was open most of the time he went up against Hargreaves but that was a bit of a mirage as Hargreaves was trying to bait South Florida Express quarterback Troy Cook (Miami/Southridge) into a mistake.

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