Battle brewing for Riggs

Notre Dame leads for Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas cornerback Cody Riggs but after his recent bump in the Rivals.com rankings there is a good chance even more schools will get involved and battle the Irish for his services.

No matter what, though, Notre Dame has already done a lot to impress Riggs, a 5-foot-9, 156-pound recruit who's rated as the third-best cornerback in the 2010 class. A recent visit to South Bend for the spring game reinforced his stance that Notre Dame is the leader.

"They are my No. 1 school," Riggs said. "They're definitely my No. 1 but I'm always open to other schools. You don't want to settle on a school so early. They are my No. 1, they are my favorite school, but I wouldn't say it's a wrap. I'm definitely interested in other schools.

"I get along with the coaches extremely well, coach (Corwin) Brown is a people person, the campus, the players they're all laid back, and then you see the alumni, they're all doing very well, and that definitely caught my attention. For them not to make it to the NFL and for them to make money, making far more money than some players in the NFL that caught my attention."

Riggs caught people's attention at recent camps and on videotape and that's why he moved so far up in the rankings. The four-star recruit is also rated No. 43 regardless of position. That move up the charts was even a surprise to Riggs, who thought he'd go up in the rankings but not that high.

"When I first saw the rankings I was kind of surprised, I thought I would be somewhere in them but then after the next ones came out I was surprised I went up that high," Riggs said.

"It was the camps probably and the film. A lot of people didn't see my film and then I noticed I had a lot more views. There are always other schools that might catch my attention if they offer me. It would help. For coaches, it's just a matter of who gets talked about the most."

Notre Dame is the leader for Riggs, who had 25 tackles, eight interceptions and 25 pass deflections last season, but don't count out Georgia, Tennessee, Wake Forest or Florida State just yet. He said he's still open to other schools and those four have stood out the most.

Purdue, Rutgers, South Carolina, Wisconsin, Miami, Boston College and Ole Miss have also offered and other big-time programs might join his list now that he's rated as one of the best cornerbacks in the class.

St. Thomas Aquinas should be once again loaded next season. Riggs and Joyner form the best cornerback duo in the nation. Running backs Giovanni Bernard and James C. White have many offers. Brandon Linder is a four-star center and Brian Robinson is a four-star safety. Others are also getting looked at by top programs, too.