Blades Part IV: Not average sequal

Junior to Watch: H.B. Blades

School: Plantation, Fla.

Position: Inside linebacker

Size and speed: Blades is 6-foot-1 ½ and 225 pounds. He has been timed in the 40-yard dash at 4.5 seconds. He also has a 365-pound bench press and should have no problem qualifying with a 3.1 grade-point average.

Honors: Blades was a second-team all-state selection in Class 6A as a junior.

Statistics: Blades wasn’t sure of his tackle total, but did lead his team in solo stops and assists. He averaged at least 16 tackles a game as a junior.

Favorite Schools: Michigan and USC are his top two teams at this point with Michigan holding an edge at the moment. The Wolverines have offered him a scholarship, plus he also lists N.C. State, Virginia and Auburn in his top five.

Skinny: A member of the famous Blades family not listing Miami as one of his top schools. That can’t be right, right?

Wrong.

Meet, Plantation, Fla., inside linebacker H.B. Blades – the son of former Miami star Bennie Blades and the nephew of Al and Brian Blades. Hurricane blood does pump vigorously in the family tree, but Blades said at this point he has no plans in following in his family’s footsteps.

“I want to do my own thing,” Blades said. “I really have no plans on going to Miami. I want to do what’s best for me.”

And there will be plenty suitors lining up to try and find Blades that right fit.

“I’m already planning things out,” Blades said. “Some kids don’t know what they’re going to do and scramble around unplanned and make an uneducated decision. That’s not my plan or how I want to do things.”

In fact, Blades said he’s already sure on two schools that he wants to take official visits to – Michigan and USC. Blades said at this point Michigan is his top choice, especially after a great meeting last Friday afternoon with Wolverine coach Lloyd Carr.

“I went up there on my spring break,” Blades said. “I lived in Detroit for two years when my dad was in the NFL, so I know the area really well. The facilities are great, and that’s the kind of place where I’d want to be. Coach showed me around and we talked in his office and he offered me a scholarship. He’s a great guy. He’s real humble and quite. You better listen to him speak because he always has something important to say.”

So why are coaches like Lloyd Carr after Blades? Easy, he’s one of the top linebackers in the state of Florida and in the Southeast.

One college coach called Blades a heat-seeking missile, and that’s stuff that Blades likes to hear.

“It’s really cool,” he said. “It feels great when you hear stuff like that. Just to be put in the same category as some of the best players in the country makes me feel good. But I’ve worked hard to get where I’m at. I’m a student of the game and really dedicated. I go to every practice and I stay after school four hours running and lifting.”

So what type of linebacker is Blades, other than a heat-seeking missle?

“I’m a sideline-to-sideline guy,” he said. “I compare myself to Dick Butkus. I’m a dirty player on the field, and I’m not afraid to talk smack. All of the running backs that we go up against are some of the best in the state. And to be the best you have to beat the best. And not a single one of them has disagreed when asked if I’m the best. Just ask Markus Facyson (Rutgers). He’ll tell you about the 24-tackle game I had against him.”