Maddox names top 12

Athlete John Maddox out of Philadelphia (Pa.) West Catholic recently took tours to a handful of schools over the last month. Where did he go and who was he impressed with?

"My first trip was to Syracuse and then I went to North Carolina, Duke and Tennessee. I just got back from a Midwest trip also to Purdue, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Akron and Michigan State," he said. "I would say UNC, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Michigan State, Purdue and Notre Dame stuck out from the trips I took. The coaches, campuses and stadiums were all nice at those schools. I felt really comfortable at them too."

Maddox's summer trips aren't over yet, he's still going to West Virginia and then to Florida, Florida State and Miami in the next couple of weeks.

"I'm going to be looking at the campuses, surroundings, the environment and see if I'm comfortable with the coaches at those schools," he said. "Probably by the end of the Florida trip, I should have my top five schools for official visits."

Does he have any idea who may be in that list right now?

"Not really, I'm making a pros and cons chart of all the schools, but I haven't narrowed it down and no one stands out yet."

The No. 20 player in Pennsylvania plans to take all five official visits.

"I'm looking at taking three of them during the season because I have two Friday night games and a bye week," he said. "The other two will be right after the season probably in December."

The 6-foot-2, 164-pounder went on to announce that he's narrowed his list of 37 offers to 12 favorites. His favorites include Purdue, North Carolina, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Florida, Notre Dame, Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers, Oklahoma, Akron and Tennessee.

One school that surprisingly didn't make the cut was the national champion Trojans.

"I do have an interest in USC, it's just that I contacted one of the coaches and he didn't know they offered me a scholarship," he said. "He was asking me where I'm from and if I sent tape. That experience threw me off from them."

Since he's being recruited on both sides of the ball, where will Maddox play in college?

"Most of the schools are recruiting me at wide receiver or athlete, only about five are recruiting me at defensive back," he said. "It doesn't really matter to me, whatever gets me on the field the quickest, but I prefer wide receiver."

Maddox starts fall practice on August 13th. What is the star athlete looking forward to this year?

"I'm looking forward to a championship ring and breaking some records," he said. "I'm particularly looking for the school record of 726 yards receiving in a season and the city record of 935 yards receiving. This year I really want to work on my footwork, running better routes, better hands and blocking a little bit."

Maddox hauled in 504 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. He added nine interceptions on defense as he was named first team all-Catholic Blue Division and first team all-city.

The prospect has a solid 880 SAT and 2.7 GPA.