LB Stewart talks recruiting

Connecticut linebacker Graham Stewart has been telling himself that he will make his decision before the start of his senior season at Middletown (Conn.) Xavier and he appears to be holding himself to that.

Though Stewart doesn't have a date in mind for when he would like to decide it's clear that he still wants to have his choice out of the way when his senior year begins.

The 6-foot-1, 216-pound linebacker is in striking range of a four-star ranking and is ranked the No. 2 prospect in Connecticut, according to Rivals.com. He holds offers from UConn, Boston College, Syracuse and Temple, and last week he visited one of those schools.

"I really didn't expect to like Syracuse as much as I did," Stewart explained. "I came out of Syracuse really loving it. Coach (Dan) Conley, the linebackers coach, is great. The staff is full of ex-NFL players and it's pretty fresh. You can look at the numbers and the numbers don't like. Their defense has dramatically improved

"Another thing with Syracuse is I could go there and compete. It might be easier to get playing time there than some others places."

Prior to the trip to Syracuse the most recent visit for Stewart was to Florida. He was in Gainesville on June 14 and worked out for the coaches. The Gators told him they had already extended a lot of offers to players at his position so they would have to wait to hear back from some of those other players before they offer him a scholarship.

Stewart is heading down to the Top Gun Camp in Florida today, and when he returns home he might be closer to a decision.

Though Boston College and UConn are high on Stewart's list he said he was "weighing all (his) options".