OU out in front

When it comes to knowing what he wants in a college and what is really important, Princeton (N.J) The Hun School defensive back Myron Rolle is way ahead of the game. In a day and age where most of the recruits we talk with talk more about partying or how much food they ate following a visit, Rolle took a much different approach following his unofficial visit to Oklahoma last weekend, the first of five unofficial visits he'll take over the next few months.

Rolle, 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds is the one of the nation's top juniors and an early pick for the top safety prospect in the nation. He said he wants to play cornerback in college, and many teams are starting to give him a lot stronger look at the position.

"I feel that's my best college position," Rolle said. "I think with my size and athleticism, my future is definitely at corner and that's where I'm going to be working out at the Nike Camp."

A year ago, Rolle was the top cover man of the day at the Nike Camp at Penn State, so we don't need much convincing about his ability to play the position.

As for his time at Oklahoma?

"Man, I had a great time," Rolle said.

"I flew in Friday and had a chance to meet with coach (Bob) Stoops for just a few minutes before going out to watch the team practice. They are a very impressive group, and I was impressed with just how strong and lean the players are. They're not all bulked up and slow, all the players are lean and can really run.

"I spent a lot of time watching the corners and was impressed with how they use them. I always thought OU mostly played their guys off the line and did a lot zone coverage and cover two, but they mix it up and let their guys play some man as well. The corners are very aggressive and great in run support and that's a strength of mine as well, so I think it would be a good fit for me.

Saturday was full of other activities on campus, too.

"Saturday I did a little of everything," Rolle said. "I met with Theresa Turner, who is the academic adviser and also met for an hour with the President of the University, David Boren. I could have spent all day with him, he was very impressive, and he knew all about me. He talked about the University and how well I would fit in there. Not just from a football standpoint but academically, socially, everything.

"The cool thing was coach Stoops was with me everywhere I went. From meeting with Ms. Turner and Mr. Boren, he was always with me and that showed me a lot. Here's the head coach taking time of his schedule to show me around, that meant a lot to me. After that, I went to the team scrimmage and talked to some of the recruits there like Curtis Lofton and Reggie Smith. I already knew Reggie from seeing him at some camps and we talked about the recruiting process and things like that. Then I spent about an hour with Barry Switzer and that was great."

The visit with the King left a lasting impression, he said.

"Coach Switzer is a legend and still follows OU football passionately." Rolle said.

"The cool thing was, we barely talked about football, we mostly just talked about life. We talked about how much different football is from high school to college and then college to the pros. He's a great guy and lives just a few blocks away from campus and is there a lot, I really enjoyed talking with him."

Rolle then went and looked even deeper at how he would fit in at Norman on the field.

"After the scrimmage, I met with the strength coach, Jerry Schmidt and the DB coach, Bobby Jack Wright. I watched some film with coach Wright and then talked a little about the depth chart and how I would fit in. They have two senior corners and are pretty thin there, so I would have a good chance to play early. Playing early is important to me. I mean, I'm not going to base my whole decision on a depth chart and I'm confident in my ability but I do look at things like that.

"Following those meetings, I met with the team doctor, Dr. McInnis, who was a microbiology major in college, just like I'm planning to be. We talked about the major and how it's tough to balance everything but if you work hard, you can definitely do it. Overall, it was the best visit I've taken so far. I don't want to name a leader until I'm done with all my visits but if you pressed me, I would say Oklahoma is on top right now but again, I just came from there and know so much more about them than any other school."

This next weekend, Rolle will head to Miami for a Friday-Sunday unofficial visit and then head to Michigan the following week for the same duration.

"After those two visits, I'll be going to the Nike Camp at Penn State," Rolle said. "Then in May, I'm going to visit Florida and Florida State. If after I'm done with my trips, I'm ready to commit, I'll go ahead and do it. I'm not going to rush anything but at the same time, since I'm graduating early, I'll need to make my decision fairly early in the process."