McClymonds duo sets first visit

Oakland (Calif.) McClymonds is loaded with talent this year and has three players that could be considered among the nation's top 100 prospects. Two of those players, tight end Naderris Ward and defensive lineman Derrick Hill have set their first official visit together.

Ward, 6-5, 250 pounds is among the nation's top five tight end prospects. He has great size, runs well and has very good hands.

"Naderris will be visiting Arizona Oct. 21)," McClymonds head coach Alonzo Carter said. "I just finalized that with Arizona today for both Naderris and Derrick (Hill). Those are the only visits the two have right now but we'll be setting a few more in the next week or so."

In addition to the official visit to Arizona, Carter said Ward will be taking an unofficial visit in the next week to Washington and one to Georgia in August.

"Georgia leads pretty good for Naderris," Carter said. "He just really likes the school a lot and they have done a great job recruiting him. The next official visit we set will probably be to Georgia and Oklahoma."

Hill, 6-1, 280 pounds has had great showings at both the NorCal Nike camp and the USC elite camp.

"I've been telling everyone for months now that he's my top player and I guess people are finally starting to see why," Carter said. "Derrick likes Arizona a lot but I think he'll likely come down to USC and Cal.

"He really hit it off at USC with their defensive line coach, Jethro Franklin and has a great relationship with Ken Delgado at Cal who he has known for years. They'll both take all their trips and I would like to see them make their decisions before January. If you wait much longer than that, there is always the fear that your ride might not be there, someone else can take your spot so I always encourage my players to commit before things get too wild."

In addition to Ward and Hill, linebacker Joshua Tatum, another top 100 player, has his choice of just about any school in the country.

"I think it will come down to Miami and USC for Josh but USC could be tough to beat," Carter said. "He really likes it there but he's going to take his trips first before he makes any decision."