Phoebus DE Wilson picks up offers

Offers are mounting for Hampton (Va.) Phoebus defensive end Mark Wilson. The 6-foot-4, 217-pounder has more than doubled his scholarship total in recent weeks. Who has pulled the trigger?

"I picked up some new offers from Old Dominion last week, Syracuse, Purdue, Northern Illinois and Western Kentucky," he said. "I'm happy. I haven't gone into details with the schools. I'm excited about every offer, but I'm waiting right now until camp season."

Regarding the new offers, do any of the schools stick out?

"I mean the Old Dominion offer sticks out a lot to me," he said. "They are right around the corner. Northern Illinois sticks out too. I liked the way I talked to their coach, he sold me on it and how they play big-time football and I have the opportunity with my major. I know a lot about Syracuse too. They play big-time ball and are moving to the ACC, so they are going to play more teams down in the East."

Visits are quickly approaching for Wilson.

"I'm going on a visit Tuesday to Old Dominion," he said. "I'm planning to go to camp at Virginia Tech on the 3rd coming up and Maryland on the 17th. I'm also planning to go to Texas A&M on the 7th and West Virginia."

With regards to these other schools, they continue to talk often with Wilson.

"I talked to Coach Newsome last week from Virginia Tech," he said. "He watched us lift and since I got my SAT up to 900 and with my report card, I'm going to qualify. He just wants me to go to camp to show the defensive line coach I can play, so they can see if I can put on the size to compete with their bigger linemen. If I show out, they plan to give me an offer.

"Maryland is saying the same thing, but are looking at me as an outside linebacker. They want to see if I can cover. West Virginia wants to see if I can cover too."