2009 QB up to 10 offers, has top two

We had a chance to check out several of the state's top prospects this past weekend at the Edison, Huntington Beach passing tournament. Although just a junior, we didn't see a better prospect on Saturday than Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei signal caller Matt Barkley.

Barkley, 6-2.5, 220 pounds is already being called the top quarterback in the junior class and he has the offer list to back it up. UCLA was the most recent school to offer Barkley joining nine other schools that had previously offered.

"Colorado and Florida State were the first two," Barkley said. "I also have offers from Cal, Stanford, Washington, USC, Tennessee, Nebraska, Hawaii and now UCLA.

"At this point, I just feel really blessed to have all these options. I'm not planning to make an early commitment right now. I just want to play out my junior season and then I could do something either after the season or sometime next summer.

"Right now USC is on top and I really like them a lot. Cal is my number two choice and after that, I don't really have a pecking order or anything. I was excited to get the UCLA offer and it meant a lot because Coach Dorrell came down personally to watch me at practice and then made the offer.

The thing with UCLA though is they already have a commitment from Nick Crissman and he'll have a full year in the system there before I get there. At this point, it doesn't look like USC will bring in a quarterback in the 2008 class and that is a pretty big deal to me.

"I know there is going to be competition wherever I go, especially at a school like USC or Cal but I just like the way the quarterback situation plays out at both schools. At Cal, Longshore has two years left and then it will be an open race so that is something that appeals to me.

"I was at USC a few weeks ago watching my younger brother at one of their camps and I'm really comfortable there. All the coaches are friendly and with my dad going there, USC is a school I've liked for awhile though. I'm not a lock anywhere though and I'm going to try and visit some schools in August when we have some down time.

"I'm not exactly sure where I'll visit right now but I know I'll be visiting Notre Dame. They haven't offered me but they are recruiting me. Other than that, I'm not sure where I'll visit but I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of my summer and then hopefully we can go out and have a great season and try and play for a state championship."