Five-star Walls has three on top

After accumulating 30 offers, cornerback Darrin Walls out of Pittsburgh (Pa.) Woodland Hills has narrowed his list of favorites to three. Who's at the top of the list for the nation's top cornerback and recent five-star selection and why?

"I don't have a top school yet, but a few of them are Michigan, Notre Dame and Florida," he said. "I've known the coaches up at Michigan for a while and some recruits from my school go there. I like the player atmosphere and the stadium.

"I like the coaching staff a lot at Notre Dame. I think coach Weis and Lewis will turn the program around. Coach Meyer at Florida is a really nice guy and the weather is nice down there."

The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder went on to note that four other schools are still in the mix for his services as well. They include Pittsburgh, Miami, West Virginia and Penn State.

Walls just received an offer from the Hurricanes in the last couple of weeks.

"When I went down there, they told me it was going to happen, but it was still a surprise," he said. "I'm happy to have it, but I'm not sure I'd like to go to Miami. They've got a good thing going, but it's not the best and I really haven't had a lot of interest in Miami. I'm more interested in Florida."

The evaluation period just concluded for the 2006 prospects. How did Walls fair and what are his feelings on it?

"It went well, the coaches have been to the school and I've talked to some of them on the phone too. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," he said. "I talked to most of the coaches and none of them stand out and really impressed me over the others. But I know I had visits from Tennessee, Florida, Notre Dame, Penn State, West Virginia, Ohio State and Pittsburgh."

Walls was set to visit Notre Dame and Michigan early this week.

"I'm just going to take a tour around campus, talk to the academic counselor and maybe get some time with the assistant coaches," he said. "This is more to look at the academics at each school."

This summer the prospect is also looking at taking in a few camps including a passing camp at Georgia Tech on July 15th as well as camps at West Virginia, Notre Dame and Youngstown State.

After posting 67 tackles, six interceptions and 16 pass breakups, what is the cornerback prospect looking to improve upon next year?

"I'm really working to improve on my tackling; I want to get better at that."

Walls also just finished up the track season where he didn't quite make the cut for finals.

"During the year, we were undefeated and I did good at the invitational," he said. "I qualified for the semifinals at state, but I didn't qualify for the finals. I was pretty happy with how I did and I think I could have made the finals in the 100 meter, but I slipped coming out of the blocks."

And what does he think of his new five-star status?

"It's an honor," he said. "It shows that my hard work is being rewarded."

Walls boasts an impressive 3.4 GPA and 1020 on the SAT.