DE Cumbie draws an audience

Morris (Ill.) junior defensive end prospect Jamie Cumbie (6-foot-7, 255 pounds) was an unsuspecting victim earlier this week when one recruiting writer saw him wandering through the parking lot of a local mall.

"I've gotta admit, you sort of freaked me out at first," Cumbie said. "I just wasn't expecting to see you in the parking lot at the mall. I know your not a stalker at all, but for a second there I was wondering. My family and I had a good laugh over that chance meeting earlier this week."

Assured that most Rivals.com recruiting writers don't stalk prospects in mall parking lots, Cumbie happily fills us in on his May evaluation period.

"I've have had several coaches in school so far. Last week Illinois and Clemson made in school visits and Coach (Dan) Darlington had good talks with those coaches. This week Notre Dame and head coach Charlie Weis was in school along with coaches from Purdue and Michigan. I've received calls so far from Illinois, Tennessee, Michigan and I've missed a few other calls. Notre Dame told my coach that they will call on a Sunday night so that my family can be a part of that call if we have questions. Tennessee also said that they will make an in school visit next week."

Cumbie, who is still calling Clemson and Notre Dame his two favorites, has also seen several school attempt to tie in baseball with his football recruiting this spring.

"It seems like several schools are now trying to tie in baseball with football, and they are telling me that I can play baseball as well as football in college. That's something that will be nearly impossible for me to do in college in my opinion, so that won't really be a recruiting factor for me at all. As far as baseball is concerned, I want to see how well I do in a few tryout camps this spring and summer from the professional scouts perspective. It's a road that I really feel I need to explore, and I want to see what they have to say about my abilities on the diamond. I'm still a football player and I'm expecting to play football in college without baseball. I just want to explore my options right now with baseball is all."