Class of 2011 standout takes in unoffiicials

There is no doubt that defensive lineman Jalen Grimble (6-3, 250, 4.89) from Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman will be one of the most sought after players in the Western Region for the class of 2011. He already has high powered offers from schools coast-to-coast.

LSU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Miami, Michigan, Nebraska, Texas Tech, Stanford, UCLA, USC, UNLV and Utah are a sampling of the schools that have already offered the talented defensive lineman a scholie.

The amazing thing is Grimble has the rest of his junior season and his senior season to go and he still has that impressive roster of colleges that want his signature in February of 2011.

As junior, Grimble has helped Bishop to a perfect 10-0 record and though he is seeing a lot of attention from the opposition, he has racked up 47 tackles and six sacks.

"A lot of teams have run on the weak side, away from me this season," Grimble said. "I play both weak side and strong side depending on the team so we don't really have strong side or weak side, but mostly I have been lining up on the weak side."

Though Grimble has over a year before he signs on the dotted line, he is trying to get ahead of the game and is checking out schools while taking unofficial visits. He has already been to games at UCLA and LSU.

"I enjoyed going to UCLA's game a lot," Grimble said. "Even though they took a loss, I still liked everything they did, as far as like the coaching and their intensity even though they were down most of the game UCLA never gave up. They still fought.

"I've been to UCLA a couple of times over the summer, so the campus was nothing really new to me, But UCLA's campus is always nice and the facilities are always nice," Grimble said. "As far as UCLA's players go they were incredible, too."

"LSU was nice, too, the campus was amazing," Grimble said. "It was a big campus, but it was still in one secured area and it was beautiful. It was green everywhere and the stadium was big and crazy. It was almost scary when you looked up and saw how high the stadium went. It almost looked like they would stop breathing because of the altitude. It was crazy."

Grimble met five-star defensive lineman J.R. Ferguson (6-3, 272, 4.9) from Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy.

"It was crazy hanging out with J.R.," Grimble said. "I knew he was going to be there, but I really didn't think we would talk or have a connection, but he's a really cool person. It was enjoyable talking to him.

"We talked about everything," Grimble said. "We talked about how he goes to a Military school and how tough that is.

"We also talked about a few schools that he was considering and stuff like that," Grimble said. "We have some schools in common, but he doesn't want me to release those names.

"I'm still planning on taking some more unofficial visits," Grimble said. "But I won't take any other ones until after my season is over. Most of them will be after the New Year.

"I'm as open as can be right now regarding colleges," Grimble said. "My dad and I project that I will make my college announcement at the beginning of December next year.

"I want to take the opportunity to take all of my official visits," Grimble said. "I want the full experience before I make my decision so I will take all five visits before I even come close to making a decision."

Grimble and his Bishop Gorman teammates will take on usual Nevada powerhouse North Las Vegas (Nev.) Cheyenne, but they are a little down this season, still you can never take this team lightly as there is usually a lot of playmakers on Cheyenne's squad. Cheyenne is sitting at 5-5.