OG Piccirillo starts to receive mail

A handful of schools are beginning to show interest in Cleveland (Ohio) Mayfield offensive guard Nick Piccirillo. Who from the MAC and Big East is starting to contact the 6-foot-3, 265-pounder?

"He is getting a lot of the same interest as Sam (Fikaris) including from schools like Akron, Toledo, Miami (Ohio), Ohio, Ball State, Western Michigan as well as Cincinnati," Mayfield head coach Larry Pinto said. "He doesn't have any favorites at this time, but I could definitely see the possibility of him and Sam wanting to play together in college because they are close friends. They live on the same street and everything."

The lineman prospect is a two-way star for the Wildcats that could play either side of the line in college.

"He is very solid on both sides of the ball," he explained. "As a lineman, he is really athletic and physical. Of course he has good size, but he is also a weight room warrior that is aggressive. A lot of times you'll have these big guys that aren't very tough, but Nick is.

"Nick is a quiet kid that comes from a real nice family too and leads by example. He is also a very talented heavyweight wrestler that was a state qualifier this year, but he still prefers to play football in college."

Piccirillo earned all-conference, all-district and all-Ohio honors after registering 56 tackles, three for loss and three sacks as a junior.

Another player to keep an eye on in the 2007 class from Mayfield is quarterback Nick Alexander. The 6-foot-2, 180-pounder threw for nearly 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns as a junior.

"He is getting starting to get some looks mostly from Division II schools right now, but there is a chance he could move up if he does better next year," Pinto said. "He is a great leader on our team that knows the offense just as well as the coaches do.

"He watches a ton of film and breaks coverage down on the field. He is a very intelligent kid that you love to have on your team."

Last season Alexander earned second team all-conference honors.