ATH Nixon begins to narrow his list

New Haven (Conn.) Hyde Leadership athlete Jamie Nixon doesn't exactly have a top five, but he is starting to focus on certain schools. Who does the 6-foot-1, 177-pounder with 4.4-second speed like?

"I know I'll be taking all my officials after the season and right now I'm looking mostly at Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Michigan State and Nebraska," he said. "I'm still very wide open and a lot could change, but those are the main schools I'm looking at right now. I have offers from all of them except Michigan State who is waiting on my tape, but they continue to say they like the way I play and appear to be close to offering."

A few weeks back Nixon took in the Syracuse-Connecticut game.

"That was a good one and they battled it out the whole time," he said. "Connecticut showed a lot of heart and courage to win that game. Previous games I went to they really dominated the opponents so it was good to see a slightly different type of game."

Many of the teams looking at the three-star prospect have changed their interest from primarily defensive back to athlete.

"Over the course of the season everyone is starting to look at me as either an athlete or a running back," he said. "I'd prefer to play offense, but whatever gets me on the field. Right now, Michigan State, Rutgers and North Carolina want me as a running back."

Meanwhile, Hyde Leadership's season is going well as they are 7-0.

"I've been playing alright up to this point. I'm just below 1,000 yards rushing and have 112 touchdowns," he said. "My statistics don't show everything though because I've had a lot of plays called back this year. It's pretty upsetting, but that happens. I have seen a big improvement in my game as I'm more on point and just a lot more dangerous player."