Pahokee standout has early favorite

Pahokee, Fla. annually produces a huge crop of Division I talent. In the class of 2010, the Blue Devils had eight players sign with FBS programs. That number could be a little down in the class of 2011, but there are still some talented prospects at the school.

One of the top players on the team is athlete Joe Eason. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound senior impressed at several NIKE Football Training Camps this spring and has already picked up a quartet of scholarship offers.

"I have some offers," Eason said. "I've been offered by Buffalo, Towson, Western Michigan and FIU. They all offered me this spring. Schools like South Florida and a few others have been writing me a lot. I think they could be close to offering me too."

Though Eason primarily lines up on offense for Pahokee, his future appears to be on the defensive side of the ball.

"They're all looking at me as a cornerback," he said of college coaches. "I play most of the time at quarterback but, when coach needs me, he puts me at cornerback. I feel comfortable there. That's what I go to most camps for."

Eason impressed at two of those camps this spring, holding his own against some of the state's top receiver prospects.

"I went up to the Gainesville NIKE Camp and I played cornerback," he said. "I was one of the top five corners out there. I went against (Florida wide receiver commit) Ja'Juan Story and I did well against him. There were a couple of other guys as well that were good.

"Down at the Miami NIKE Camp, I went against people like A.J. Sebastiano, (Miami commit) Eli Rogers and (Oregon commit) Tacoi Sumler. I did pretty well. I got talked about a lot at that camp."

Though he made it to a couple of camps, Eason has not been able to make many unofficial visits yet. He has seen one in-state program but it could be awhile before he uses his official visits as well.

"I've been to South Florida once," he said. "That's pretty much it. I went out and watched them practice. It was a good deal. I like their defense a lot. I got to meet their defensive backs coach and the rest of their coaches on defense and they were good guys.

"I'm probably going to take my visits towards the end of the season. I haven't really thought about where I want to go. I'll think more about that at the end of our season."

Though he has not been to the campus yet, the speedy defender does admit to having a current favorite.

"There's one school that is standing out right now," Eason said. "I'm liking Buffalo really heavy right now. I talk to them a lot. I've got a good bond with the coach and one of our players, Carlos Lammons, already goes there. He told me it's a good place to be. I talk to coach Ernest Jones up there and he lets me really know they want me to play for them."