Lloyd could be close to first offer

Ricky Lloyd had a fantastic junior season and his recruitment is taking off - that's no surprise to those close to the Concord, Calif., pro-style quarterback - but what is unique is the location of the school showing the most interest.

Usually, Southern Miss doesn't go all the way to northern California for a quarterback but after watching game film and seeing Lloyd's numbers last season - he threw for 2,852 yards and 39 touchdowns - the Golden Eagles might be close to offering.

"They don't have to come out to California to get a quarterback," Concord assistant coach Manny Chavez said. "A school like Ole Miss and Southern Miss there's a Texas, Louisiana, Florida pipeline.

"You don't need to call a guy back in California. When schools tell me they're going to take one quarterback and your boy is on a short list to me that's exciting. It's really starting to get fun."

Southern Miss has not offered yet, Chavez said, because the coaching staff would like to see Lloyd throw in person at summer camp. That shouldn't be a problem since Lloyd plans to go to Hattiesburg in the next couple months to show off his skills - and it could be one of many stops at schools that are showing interest.

It's clear, though, that Southern Miss is the most involved at this point.

"Their quarterbacks coach called and they said they're as close to an offer without formally doing it because coach (Larry) Fedora and (quarterbacks) coach (Blake) Anderson want to see him in person," Chavez said.

"Right now, Southern Miss is very interested in Ricky. They've talked about wanting to offer immediately. They just want him to come out and throw at camp for the coaches in person.

"Ricky said we're going to figure this out and his father said the same thing. Right now, if Southern Miss offers … the first school that offers is going to hold a lot of weight in this deal."

Ole Miss has recently gotten involved with Lloyd and a double dip could happen this summer where the Concord standout camps at both Mississippi schools. California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Fresno State and Wyoming are some other programs that have recently increased interest.

It could be a big summer for Lloyd, who recently attended the Rivals.com Five-Star Academy at Cal. The schools showing the most interest will be on his summer camp list and Lloyd plans to work out at the Elite 11 at Cal and the Palo Alto Nike Camp in the next month or so.

"Now he's not a local WAC and Pac-10 guy, now he's becoming a national recruit and people know about him," Chavez said. "It's really starting to heat up and get exciting. Now the floodgates are starting to open."