Odrick preparing to name top five
Defensive tackle Jared Odrick announced his top seven a little while back. Next up for the 6-foot-5, 303-pounder is another cut to a top five around the beginning of the season.
"That's probably when I'll decide on my officials," he said. "Florida is definitely going to be one of the schools I take an official to. They are one of the top teams on my list that is far away.
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"I like the fact that they have an open position on the defensive line and it's a good program and a great place to play. They produce great players and Urban Meyer and his staff seem like a good situation that could be the right place for me."
One school that surprisingly made the No. 37 prospect in the country's list is Minnesota.
"I have great relationships with the coaches. I speak with them regularly using text messaging. They also have availability at the positions which is something I'm looking at and that's why they're still up there."
The Lebanon, Pa. prospect has no idea exactly when he'll do his official visits. His current top seven are Florida, Georgia, Penn State, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Virginia and Virginia Tech, but he'll obviously only be able to take five official visits.
"I might do it during the season, but then again I might do it after too so that I can experience more of the campus, instead of just the game setting," he said. "I'll probably then decide after my officials after the season, hopefully at the Army All-American Bowl game."
One important factor for any team to land the four-star prospect is the potential for early playing time.
"Florida, Georgia, Minnesota and some others have mentioned it," he said. "Usually their rule is that they don't start freshman, but they say I have a great chance of playing early. It's very important to me and one of the big things I'm looking at as far as a football aspect in recruiting."
With the potential to play early, what is he looking to work on to prepare himself for college?
"Mainly I want to work on my strength and speed," he said. "The game is the same in college just everyone is bigger, faster and stronger. I just got to get myself ready to compete on the next level and always improve myself mentally so that I know the game better."
Over the last couple weeks, Odrick has been busy traveling. He most recently was in Las Vegas for a basketball tournament.
"We did pretty well, we won our pool and then lost to the No. 2 prospect Kevin Durant and his team," he said. "We didn't play so great in our last game. We gave up too big of a lead and couldn't come back from it. I did pretty well averaging about 12-points per game, but it seems like out here the referees call the game differently. They like the run-and-gun more than banging which is my style of play."
Odrick now heads off to a football camp before going to two-a-day practice with his team on August 17th.
"This year I'm looking forward to being a team captain and leader," he said. "I want to do as good as I can to contribute to the team and help them in any possible way to have a better year. I'm also looking forward to just dominating, I'm working hard in the weight room and training. I'm the strongest I've ever been."
The No. 3 prospect in Pennsylvania recorded 72 tackles, nine for loss, five sacks and two broken passes as he was named first team all-conference, all-county and second team AAA all-state.