Miami Commitment Looming

Rumors had been flying around that the national champion Miami Hurricanes could be getting their first verbal from the Garden State for the recruiting class of 2003. Offensive guard John Rochford from Linwood (N.J.) Mainland had just returned from the Miami campus when we caught up with him last night.

"I loved it," said the 6-foot-3, 295-pounder. "The campus was awesome and the coaches were great."

So did John Verbal to Miami?

"No, I'm going to wait a bit. I still have interest in Penn State, Boston College, Syracuse and Iowa and I want to check them out this summer. I will decide before the end of the summer."

For now, Miami is John’s solid leader. He was very impressed with the Hurricanes while he visited this past weekend and feels very comfortable with the coaches. John is a big, strong player that is able to move very well on his feet. He runs a 5.1-second 40-yard dash and he squats 500 pounds. Last season he had 60 tackles with six sacks and on offense, although his team does not keep stats for pancake blocks, he averaged more than two per game.