Always Fresh Rumors About LB

Hackensack, N.J. linebacker Jermaine Dias seems to be the focus of a commitment rumor at least once per month. In June he was rumored to be a Rutgers commitment and last week it was Virginia. So what's the real deal?

"Jermaine just wants to take his time and make sure he does things right," said Hackensack Head Coach Ralph Dass about his 6-foot-4, 215-pound star. "Jermaine has been all over the place this summer trying to see as many schools as possible. Part of me would like to see him get his commitment over with so he doesn't get more confused by more offers, but he's really doing his homework on each school. He'll need official visits before he decides."

Dias has visited North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland (twice), Virginia, Virginia Tech, Michigan and Michigan State this summer.

"He's also been to Boston College before and, of course, he's been to Rutgers," said Dass. "He's starting to narrow things down a bit and I've been telling some teams out a little further west that he doesn't want to go that far. He has so many offers that he just needs to get his list down to five or so and take visits."

So who will make the final cut?

"That's a good question," said Dass. "It's been tough because he likes all of the schools. For instance, he went down to Virginia for a visit and they really rolled out the red carpet for him and made him their focus. Then he went to Maryland and didn't get the same treatment and was turned off a bit. Not because of anything they did wrong, just compared to Virginia and how he was treated like royalty there. So the Maryland coaches called up and wanted to get him down for another visit. He went down and really liked it there this time. This is why it's so tough."

With Virginia, Boston College, Michigan and Rutgers as his top four for the last few months, Dias will plan his official visits in September.

"I think it will get harder once the coaches can call, but it will also allow him to speed things up a bit because he'll get tired of it," Dass said. "I can't really guess who he's going to visit. I would imagine it would be four of the teams he saw this summer and probably Boston College, but I don't know."

Dias had 86 tackles with 23 of them for losses as a junior. He also registered 12 sacks and forced five fumbles.