Pagano moves up decision date

Scott Pagano had planned to make his commitment on Aug. 10 but after considering his finalists one more time the four-star defensive tackle from Honolulu (Hawaii) Moanalua has decided to move it up.

Pagano said he could now announce as early as Tuesday which means fans from LSU, Florida, Alabama and Clemson should keep an even closer watch on his recruitment.

"I didn't really think I had to wait for my announcement date," Pagano said. "I wanted to move it up and announce it. I'm probably going to do it (Tuesday)."

LSU and Florida have long been considered the favorites for Pagano, a 6-foot-3, 280-pound prospect who's rated sixth at defensive tackle, No. 104 in the 2013 class and first in the Hawaii state rankings by Rivals.com.

"LSU was always one of my top schools with Florida," Pagano said. "When I went to go visit, the campus was great and I loved it. I talked to coach (Brick) Haley and coach (Les) Miles a lot there. They told me a lot of great things and I loved it.

"Coach (Will) Muschamp and I had a great conversation along with coach (Dan) Quinn at Florida. We talked about being a football player and a student. It was really, really good there."

Pagano, who has about 50 offers, also had positive things to say about Alabama and Clemson after taking trips to both places.

"Alabama was really impressive," Pagano said. "They have everything you could ever want there with the cleats and the gloves and the weight room is really impressive. They have a lot of great stuff. Coach (Nick) Saban and I had a great talk. We talked for about an hour and he told me how they do things there. They have great structure and philosophy there.

"Clemson is like family there. I was talking to the players and asking them how it was and they said it was like a big family there. The campus is very beautiful. The town is small and it's easy to get around. It was pretty cool."