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Ohio back staying patient

Cincinnati (Ohio) Withrow running back Jelani Alford has not gotten off to the start he wanted in his senior season on the football field, but he is still optimistic about the future of his recruitment.
The 5-9, 160-pound Alford holds five scholarship offers from Nebraska, Ball State, Kent State, Toledo and Eastern Michigan. He has interest in all the schools recruiting him, but is also being patient in order to let more offers filter in.
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"I'm not making any decisions until after the season. I'm sitting back and seeing what all I can rack up," Alford said. "I'm looking for the best fit, not the biggest school. It's all about competition."
Alford has been in touch with several of the coaching staffs from the schools that have offered and he is starting to formulate a plan for taking visits to those schools.
"I plan to visit Ball State and Nebraska sent me tickets to some game and I may plan to go out there. (Nebraska's) really far, but I'm definitely going to visit Ball State," Alford said. "I've been getting in touch with Ball State and Miami. Eastern Michigan hasn't really called."
Outside of the schools that have already offered, Alford has been receiving correspondence from several more programs. One he has a keen interest to hear more from is NC State.
"North Carolina State, they've been sending me a lot of mail," Alford said. "I got in touch with Coach (Don) Horton and he sent me a book and I've been reading up on North Carolina State. That's (the team) who I haven't been in touch with that I would like to be more in touch with."
While Alford contemplates his college future, he is also working to overcome an 0-3 start for his Withrow team. The season started off well with Alford returning the opening kickoff of his first game 88 yards for a score, but offensive production has been tough to come by.
"All-purpose yards, I probably have 350 to 400," Alford reported. "We're making something out of it. It's not a total crash."
While Alford is known best for his abilities as a running back, he feels one of his best selling points to college coaches is the talent he can bring in the return game.
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