Eugene Monroe knows two official trips

Plainfield, N.J. star Eugene Monroe is arguably the best offensive tackle in the country, and nearly every school in the country is after his services. So what two lucky teams will get official visits for sure?

"I know of two places for sure that I'll take official visits to," said Monroe. "Virginia is one of them, I really liked it down there and I like the coaching staff. They seem to be sincere and honest and I've know coach D'Onofrio for a long time now. The other is Maryland. I've liked them since I camped there last summer. They also have great coaches. Both places are nice and are kind of close to home, although that's not a huge factor."

Monroe plans on narrowing his choice of schools down to around 10 by the end of June or July. Then he'll narrow it down further, to five, so he can begin to schedule his official visits.

"I wish I had a dream school, this would be much easier if I did," he said. "But right now I really feel like it could come down to UVA and Maryland in the end. I just feel really good about those programs after doing a lot of research."

Other schools will get a long look as well, so don't put Monroe in the ACC just yet.

"Oklahoma, Nebraska, Rutgers will also be schools I consider," he said. "I'm also looking at Florida State, Virginia Tech, Boston College and some others. I am currently in the process of eliminating teams one-by-one from the 40 or so offers I have. I don't need any other offers right now, I have more than enough, so it's pretty much too late for a school to get involved."

Monroe earned all-area, all-region and all-state honors as a junior. He's also an excellent student and wants to enroll somewhere in January of 2005.

"Pretty much all of the schools told me I could enroll early," he said. "I don't see how another semester in high school will help. I'd rather play srping football and get ready to play early."