New offer for Ward shakes up top three

The tight end position is one of the strengths of the West Coast class of 2006 with two players recently earning a spot in the Rivals 100. One of those tight ends to make the list was Oakland (Calif.) McClymonds' NaDerris Ward who just picked up a major offer earlier today from a school who immediately jumped in to his top three.

Ward, 6-5, 250 pounds is an incredible talent who combines great size, hands and athleticism. He attended the recent NorCal Nike camp but wasn't able to work out because of a sore knee. Ward still drew a crowd as he was physically one of the most impressive looking athletes in the camp.

Ward was already drawing early scholarship offers as a sophomore and is now past the 20 offer mark. A powerhouse from the ACC was the latest to jump on board earlier today.

"Florida State just offered him," McClymonds coach Alonzo Carter said. "Coach Lilly called me and then we had Naderris talk to him and he told him how much they like him and what a great fit he would be in their offense. Florida State is one of those schools that every kid at one time or another dreams about so Naderris was pretty excited about hearing from them.

"Right now, Georgia is still his leader, they're doing a great job of recruiting him but Florida State is up there too. I would say those two along with Oklahoma are his top three. The main seven schools he's looking at right now in addition to those three are Florida, Arizona, Mississippi State and Washington. He's also going to camp with Cal this weekend, although he can't work out because of his knee and is talking about taking unofficial visits to Oregon, Oregon State and Kansas State so there are a lot of schools on his list but those seven are the main ones right now."

According to Carter, Ward would like to take all five of his official visits and talked with Coach Long at Oklahoma earlier today about setting up that visit shortly.

"That's probably the only school that NaDarris and Josh (Tatum) will be able to take together," Carter said. "Oklahoma is high on both of their lists but they don't have many other schools in common. They're cousins and real close but I don't think they talk too much about being a package deal or anything. All my players will be deciding for themselves what the best option for them is."