Pac 10 or Big 12 for Cali RB

Following the football season last December, Oakland (Calif.) McClymonds running back Willie Griffin was getting as much hype as just about any back in the state. A handful of offers flew in for the athlete but things have slowed down a bit in recent months.

Griffin, 5-8, 195 pounds had a very good junior season rushing for 850 yards and 15 touchdowns despite splitting time with two other senior ball carriers. Griffin could be described as short but definitely not small as he's a powerful runner who is great between the tackles.

"He has strong legs and is a downhill runner all the way," Warriors coach Alonzo Carter said. "He doesn't have great speed but has a nice burst and is very tough to bring down because of how powerful he is and how strong he is in the lower body."

Griffin was rated among the top five backs at the NIKE Camp at Stanford last May following an impressive showing the position and one on one drills. He also jumped 33 inches in the vertical and did 30 reps on the bench, highest among all running backs in the camp.

On the recruiting front, Washington was the first school to offer Griffin and Oregon State, Colorado, BYU and San Jose State have since followed suit.

"Washington and Colorado are Willie's top two," Carter said. "He likes Washington a lot and they were the first to offer him, that means a lot to him. At the same time, Colorado has recruited him well and has also offered Kyler O'Neal and they are cousins and very close. I'm not saying they're going to be a package deal or anything but they have talked about playing together in college and CU already has one player from here, Tyrone Henderson, who both Kyler and Willie are close with as well."