Panthers, Vols, Terps impress ATH

Athlete Aaron Smith added three more offers to his list pushing his total to 17. The Monroeville (Pa.) Gateway prospect received offers from the SEC, MAC and Big Ten, but three schools impressed him the most during the May evaluation period. Who were they and what's the latest with Smith?

"I picked up offers from Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan State," he said. "I wasn't really expecting the offer from Kentucky because they didn't send me many letters. I don't know too much about them yet."

What about the offer from Michigan State?

"I've been getting mail from them for awhile and the coach has just seen my tape," he said. "I was hoping they would offer because I like Michigan State and I always watched them and that's where Plaxico (Burress) came from."

Smith is still planning to make a decision before the season, so the evaluation period was a crucial time. Which coaches and schools helped themselves during the month of May?

"I'm still trying to narrow it down, but I was impressed with coach Ray (Rychleski) from Maryland, coach Wannstedt at Pittsburgh and coach Stephens from Tennessee," he said. "Those were the first ones to call during the month of May and Pittsburgh even brought the head coach in, I liked that a lot."

Previously it was listed that Maryland and Pittsburgh were Smith's favorites. Is that still the case?

"I don't really have a favorite, but they're high on my list," he said. "They are two really nice schools that I've been visiting for a while. I know what they are like and they are both recruiting me harder than most schools."

Other schools high on Smith's list include Virginia, Penn State, Tennessee, Florida, Notre Dame and Minnesota. What does he like about a few of these schools?

"I went down to Tennessee for a Junior Day and everything was really nice down there, I really liked it and they have a good football team with a couple of coaches I really like," he said. "I haven't been down to Florida yet, but I think I'm headed there pretty soon and I've heard it's a really good school."

One school that hasn't been listed with Smith previously was Minnesota.

"I've heard a lot about their program and it's supposed to be pretty good."

This summer Smith is planning unofficial visits to Minnesota, Tennessee and Virginia. He is also looking to take summer camps at Ohio State, Notre Dame, Florida and Tennessee.

Smith was named first team all-Quad Southwest conference as he ran for 510 yards and threw for 1,188 yards and 15 touchdowns.