Alaeze talks recruiting

Parkville, Maryland linebacker Joshua Alaeze may have been in the shadow of his older brother Melvin for quite a while when he was growing up.

That was to be expected, as Melvin was a five-star prospect and widely considered to be the top defensive end in the nation.

Now Joshua is doing a fantastic job of making a name for himself in his own right. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound prospect currently holds offers from New Mexico and Towson. More should be on the way.

"I think Florida is going to offer soon," Alaeze said. "I've spoken to coach (Billy) Gonzales and coach (Charlie) Strong and I talk to them on a weekly basis. I call them and we just talk.

"I got their numbers from Mr. Haden, since I work out with him. I told them I'm working out with him and he put in a good word for me. I e-mailed them my film and they both liked it. I think they're looking at my transcripts now."

Alaeze said he has also contacted coach John Morton from Southern Cal. He has also recently been in touch with Alabama and South Carolina, in addition to schools like Pitt, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Illinois, UConn and others that had already contacted him.

"I was supposed to go to Pitt (Saturday) but I couldn't make it up there," Alaeze said. "I'll probably go to UNC's Junior Day that they're having next week or sometime around then.

"Maryland is the only school I've been to. I went there last week and that went pretty good. I talked to the person who I guess will be recruiting me -- coach (James) Franklin. He's cool and a family guy. He was close to my family from before so that's good."

While Alaeze is enjoying the attention from all of the schools recruiting him, he is already pretty convinced that he will commit if the right school offers.

"Mostly everybody already knows that if I get the offer from Florida there's a good chance I'll go down there," he said. "I plan on going down there during the spring. I know I'm going to their Friday Night Lights. Joe Haden went down there and he tells me about it. Working out with Mr. Haden, I've heard stuff, too. My brother liked Florida when he was a recruit and I liked the atmosphere."