DB Byrum talks top six

Offers have been piling up for Christian Byrum and, in order to keep things from getting out of control, the defensive back from Virginia Beach (Va.) Tallwood is now only considering six schools.

"In no particular order, my top six is Old Dominion, Boston College, Duke, N.C. State, Syracuse, Wisconsin," said Byrum.

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Byrum went in depth as to why each school is still in contention.

Old Dominion - "I'm starting to build a better relationship with Old Dominion," he said. "It's only 15 minutes away from my house. Any of my friends and family can come see me play. If there's anything going on at home I can go straighten it out really quick and come back to school no problem. It wouldn't be a two or three hour drive. They have a good summer program for the players. I like that they are moving up a division also."

Boston College - "Coach Leonard has been telling me about how they need safeties and I could come up there and play pretty quickly," Byrum said. "It's a good academic school. My coach is from the Boston area and he's been telling about how good of an area it is. I plan on visiting there soon but I don't have a date yet."

Duke - "Duke is a great academic school and it's in the ACC," he said. "They're only two or three hours away from home."

N.C.State - "I wouldn't say they're completely out of it," said Byrum. "They were the first school to offer me and I'm sure I could play and compete with the other safeties they have committed. I still have a good relationship with all the coaches there. The last time I was there all the coach came to talk to me."

Syracuse - "I've been talking with the coaches there since they visited my school during the spring evaluation period," he said. "I like the fact that Shamarko Thomas from Virginia Beach went there."

Wisconsin - "Coach Beatty really wants us to start a Virginia Beach pipeline up to Wisconsin," Byrum said. "He keeps in contact a lot and is really trying to get Jamil and me to come up there."

Even though Byrum has named an official short list, he is still willing to listen to other schools.

"One of my really close friends is connected to Texas A&M and he says he has been sending my film to them because they wanted to see them," he said. "Tennessee has been sending me a bunch of mail. Georgia wants me to go to their one day camp. Virginia Tech is sending me a lot of letters also.

Byrum explained his plan going forward.

"Right now I'm trying to get to as many places as I can as quickly as I can because I know a lot of people are committing early and I don't want some of these offer to go away. I definitely want to get to Syracuse. My aunt and I might get up there. I'm also going to get down to Duke. I want to go down to the Georgia camp but I can't see myself going anywhere else."

N.C. State was considered the leader for Byrum for quite a while but it doesn't seem like that is the case anymore.