McGraw trims his list to eight

Since the end of the 2012 season River Ridge (La.) John Curtis defensive back Mattrell McGraw has seen the college offers build at a spectacular rate.

The three-star defender has seen many multiple offer days, with several of the nation's finest programs jumping on board to let him know he is wanted at their institution.

With the end of spring ball, McGraw, who is being recruited at both safety and cornerback, decided to narrow his list to a top eight of Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Florida State, Ohio State, Oregon, UCLA, and USC . It was quite the feat considering he has received around 40 offers in such a short time, but each of the schools in his top eight are there for similar reasons.

"The thing that I felt really put all these schools out was for one I had consistent contact with them all on almost a week-to-week basis and all these schools at least made it down to see me during the spring twice," McGraw said. "That's the maximum they can come, so I knew if they used two visits to come see me that means they're really interested because they only get two visits.

"Obviously I've already visited Alabama, Oregon, and UCLA. That's the reason those three schools are in there. I really liked my visits to all three places. I'll be back out to California for a B2G camp so I'll probably visit USC when I go back to California. And I look forward to visiting FSU, Arkansas, and Ohio State. I'm set to visit Ohio State June 21. I'll visit Arkansas, Ohio State, and FSU pretty soon too, and probably take an official to Arizona State.

"Those schools really just stood out to me. They were great schools with great coaches and great programs with rich traditions. Each school had its unique way of really catching my interest but all of them shared that particular reason of coming down twice during the spring and keeping in contact with me on a week-to-week basis whether I contacted them or they contacted me."

One team noticeable absent from his list of top schools is LSU, but the Tigers have crossed his mind and could find themselves in the mix.

"LSU never offered me so I didn't want to put a team in my top eight who never offered. If LSU offered me they would definitely be in my top, but they never offered me," McGraw said. "I have talked to Frank (Wilson) on different occasions, but I never got that offer. It's one of those things I'll have to see how it goes. LSU is a school I can see in my top five but as of now they haven't offered me. I've had a few recent conversations with Frank (Wilson) but it hasn't been that serious yet. On that situation I'm not sure."

With so many trips on the schedule, McGraw's summer is packed. He does not have many camps on the schedule but there are a few he may attend.

"To be honest I may camp at LSU, but I'm not 100-percent sure yet," McGraw said. "It's something that's up in the air. That's about it. I have Ohio State June 21 and I have the B2G camp coming up at the end of next month. As of now I'm just trying to plan out these visits and getting ready for the season."

At this time in the process he declares no leaders among his eight, but he is planning to trim a few more teams from his list as the summer progresses and football season gets closer.

"Actually I'm looking to narrow it down," McGraw said. "By July I'll have a top five and by the season I'll have a top three and then I'll go by that top three and see how things play out."