Canns job: land more scholarship offers

At Bamberg-Ehrhardt (S.C.), Ivan Cann isn't one of the more well-known names on the roster, and there's a good reason for that.

He wasn't even a starter in 2010.

"I don't have much film from last season," Cann said. "I played behind Zepheniah Grimes. He's at Illinois now. He was our starter."

Even with Grimes on the team, Cann saw action in every game last season at linebacker. However, with Grimes gone, the 6-feet 3, 210-pound Cann now is at long last in a starting role. A long-and-lean outside backer, he played well in his team's 35-7 Week-1 win over Orangeburg (S.C.) Wilkinson last Friday, making several tackles and covering a lot of ground in the process.

"I think I played well," Cann said. "Real well. But I've got to get better every week."

Cann's coaches at Bamberg-Ehrhardt think he is D-I material. Thus far, his lone offer is from FCS program South Carolina State, but he is hearing from Clemson, Georgia Southern, Miami (Ohio), N.C. State and Vanderbilt , they said. According to Red Raiders head coach Kevin Crosby, North Carolina State seems most interested among that group.

Cann, though, thinks his best bet for offer No. 2 might be a certain in-state program - one that already has a commitment from his Bamberg-Ehrhardt teammate, defensive end Martin Aiken.

"I'm really hoping it's Clemson," Cann said. "I think it's going to be. We communicate a lot - me and [Tigers defensive coordinator Kevin Steele]. They're showing a lot of interest in me. I think there's a real good chance."

At least for now, most schools appear to be in wait-and-see mode.

"They all," Cann said, "want to see more film."

Keith Niebuhr can be reached at kneebs01@aol.com. You can follow him on Twitter @KeithRIVALS.