Poteat planning visits

Jameel Poteat is in high demand these days. Coaches from across the country are mailing in offers and fans of colleges recognize him when he visits their school.

The most recent trip the elite running back from Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt took was to Pitt for the Panthers' big basketball game against highly-ranked Villanova, so he didn't have to travel too far.

"I was at Pitt on Sunday and they showed me a lot of love," Poteat recalled. "Just the fans in general were great. They showed me so much love. The fans were saying, 'Don't go to USC. Come here.' It was nice. I had a good time.

"As soon as I walked in the gym it was, 'Poteat! Poteat! Come here!' I was thinking, 'Dang, I didn't know they knew me.'"

Of course, Poteat was high on the Panthers even before his most recent trip to the school. He's familiar with the college and expects they will be one of the schools that are in it for the long haul.

"I mean, I was high on Pitt but I'm really high on everybody," he said. "I don't have a favorite yet but Pitt's a good school. They're gonna be one of the schools I'll (choose from)."

Poteat's high school coach is sending his film out in batches to several schools at a time, and one by one colleges are responding with written offers as they watch the junior phenom.

USC, Florida and Washington are the three most recent schools to extend offers, so it's clear Poteat is doing pretty well for himself.

"I just talked to USC's coach today so I'll probably go out there sometime. I just got an offer from Washington, too ... the Huskies. I told them I'd probably go out there while I'm at USC and make that one whole visit.

"We were talking about going out there sometime around summertime or spring break."

When asked what other schools he would like to visit Poteat rattled off Syracuse, West Virginia, Florida and a host of others, before noting that he would like to visit all of the schools that have offered.

One school that he knows he will be visiting, perhaps sooner rather than later, is a school that has not offered -- Alabama. It's not that the Crimson Tide isn't impressed with Poteat. They're just waiting to get his film.

"I know I'm going to Alabama," he continued. "My grandma lives down there, I think in Montgomery. I've been down there but I've never been to the campus. I want to make it one big trip. I get letters from them all the time so it's gonna be okay. My coach e-mailed their coach and he e-mailed him back. He said they're real high on me, just waiting to get my film."