2016 ATH has top 4

Class of 2016 athlete Trey Sneed of Fleming Island (Fla.) names his top four as Duke, North Carolina, Georgia Tech and Louisville. He has a total of 11 offers.

"All the colleges (that have offered) are great but those are the ones that stick out in my mind when I think of my favorites," said the 5-foot-10 Sneed, who will take over as Fleming Island's starting quarterback after playing running back as a sophomore. In addition, he'll retain his role at defensive back.

Three of his four favorites came to be during his spring break, when he visited the Carolina schools and stopped in Atlanta on the way.

Duke made the biggest impression on Sneed during the tour.

"Duke was kind of a last-minute visit," Sneed said. "I had a long conversation with coach (David Cutcliffe) and it was a breath of fresh air to listen to him talk. He told me a lot of kids who get thrown into the recruiting process really early can get swept up into it and you kind of lose your childhood a little bit. So he said enjoy it, enjoy your high school season and then he made me an offer.

"And the rest of the coaching staff, they really bring a family-type atmosphere, which is something I'm definitely looking for in college. I stay in real close contact with (running backs coach Re'quan Boyette)."

The Tar Heels made a similar impression on Sneed the day before.

"(Defensive coordinator Dan Disch) is the one who offered me," Sneed said. "He used to coach (at Jacksonville [Fla.] Edward White), so he knows the Jacksonville area and everybody loves him. He's just a crazy guy, a funny guy, and (head coach Larry Fedora) is doing a great job with the program. That's something I could definitely see myself getting into."

As for the Jackets, it's their recruiting pitch outside of football that caught his attention.

"When they showed me videos and were talking about the football program they were also talking about the academic program," he said. "And they had a statistic that one in six people who (graduate) from Georgia Tech are millionaires right now. So that's something that definitely intrigues you. They hit you early with (that statistic) too in case you fall asleep. You'll wake right back up and then you hear everything they say."

He's yet to visit Louisville, but plans to attend at least one game during the upcoming season. The Cardinals are on his list because of the relationship he has with cornerbacks coach Terrell Buckley.

"He offered me at Akron and switched over to Louisville and I had no idea," Sneed said. "We had an hour-long conversation not just about football, but life as well. They have a very similar feel to Duke in that you know they're bringing you there to win football games and for your talents but they definitely care more about what you do off the field and I can definitely appreciate that."

Though he would say which school, Sneed has admitted at times he has come close to committing but has decided to commit sometime in the summer of 2015. He plans to graduate early in December of that year.

"I definitely sometimes have had the urge to say, this is where I want to go," he said. "But I don't want to make a decision before I know everything. I just kind of started visiting schools so I don't want to base something off of emotion. I've got two more years to go, so there's more offers on the table that will come."

Sneed missed all but four games last season due to injury, rushing for 500 yards and five touchdowns.