Florida ATHs offer list growing

Hialeah (Fla.) athlete Anthony Campbell is a talented player to keep an eye on as the season rolls along.

Campbell (5-9, 175, 4.4) started generating a buzz at the Nike Miami camp when he turned in a 4.35 forty, and has carried that momentum into the September recruiting period.

“I’ve got a bunch of calls this month and some new scholarship offers,” he said. “I have offers from Auburn, N.C. State, East Carolina, Northern Illinois, Ole Miss, Pitt, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Rutgers, USF, UCF and Villanova.”

Campbell noted he’s also getting calls from Florida, Florida State and Miami, as well as a few other programs across the nation.

“My top five is Florida, Miami, Michigan State, Auburn and N.C. State,” he said. “But I’m still pretty much open right now. I’m not really sure about anything. I want to take some visits.”

During his career at Hialeah, Campbell has played almost every “skill” position on the field. He split time as a running back and dual-threat quarterback as a junior, rushing for more than 1,100 yards and 18 touchdowns, but is mainly playing wideout and corner this year. He had two touchdowns in his first game – one on a catch and another on a kickoff return.

“Anthony is a kid who really excels on special teams,” Hialeah coach Glenn Maiolini said. “That’s an added bonus with him because he’s very good no matter where you put him on offense of defense. He’s just an all-around athlete who makes things happen.

"I know he wants to play running back in college, but most seem to think he’d be better suited as a DB.”

East Carolina, Cincinnati, Villanova and Northern Illinois are some of the schools which have expressed an interest in letting him start his college career at running back, so they may have an edge in his recruitment. Michigan State and Pitt have indicated they liked him on both sides of the ball.

Some other heavy hitters may enter the picture as the season unfolds.

“We had Florida State, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, Ohio State – to name just a few – in here this spring,” Maiolini said. “So that shows you they type of schools he’s drawn interest from.”

Academically, Campbell maintains a 2.7 core GPA. Maiolini said that should be near 3.0 by the end of his senior year. He’s got some work to do on the SAT, but will take the test again in October.