DT favors Gators, Terps, Nittany Lions

Defensive tackle Tom McEowen out of Feasterville (Pa.) Neshaminy has picked up four new offers from the ACC, SEC and Big East.

The lineman received offers from Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and Connecticut. That puts the total offers for lineman at over 20.

The 6-foot-4, 279-pounder liked the southern states the best.

"Florida is awesome, I'm really happy about it and that opens things up for me even more. It's the Gators, they always have good teams and they play well and Urban Meyer is really cool. I really like coach Madison, the defensive line coach he's a really cool guy," he said. "Virginia's coach Price is a great guy, I've got to go down to a bunch of these schools though.

"North Carolina is awesome too, I don't know too much about them, but this summer I'm going to go to Florida and then back up the East Coast and hit a bunch of those schools. Their defensive coordinator is a really cool guy. I don't really like Connecticut all that much. I think the biggest reason why is that they were unsure of what position they want me for and I'm interested in playing on the defensive line. I like their coaches a lot though."

McEowen plans to cover the East Coast in visits this summer.

"We're planning on going to Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and probably Boston College this summer," he said. "This weekend I'm also headed to the Penn State senior prospect day on June 4th. I just want to talk to coach Johnson and see how things are going with him and what he has to say."

Even with several big-name schools peppering the lineman with offers, McEowen has kept his cool through the May evaluation period.

"It's been going alright, I've just taken it as it comes, I don't worry too much about it because if you do, it can weigh you down."

Penn State has stood out recently more than the other schools which are interested.

"Coach Johnson from Penn State has been sending me a lot of mail and then after the combines he said I'm definitely a defensive lineman and Paterno agreed," he said. "Before they wanted me for offense, but since they've switched, they've shot up my chart, but all the coaches have been really cool and really impressed me."

Even so, McEowen isn't ready to head to the Keystone state just yet. He still has a few other schools to look at.

"Florida, Maryland and Penn State are my top three," he said. "There are so many schools that could be in there though like Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and Boston College because they are all good schools, I just need to go visit them first."

McEowen plans to make a decision on where he'll be attending college by September.

"I'm looking to try to make a decision by the beginning or middle of September," he said. "I don't want to leave after games on Fridays; I want to be there with my team so we can get to where we want to be."

The lineman is focused on next year where he's looking to become even more dominant and better than last season where he posted 89 tackles, 15 for loss and five sacks as he was named AAAA second team all-state, all-league and all-area.

"The thing I want to improve on next year that's going to make me better than I am right now is my first step and my quickness off the ball. I think if someone is quick off the ball and you hit them before they hit you, you'll beat them every time," he said. "I'm definitely getting stronger and more explosive."