R100 OT talks Vols offer, has leader

Offers have been piling up for Rivals100 offensive lineman Richie Petitbon. The stand out from Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga picked up an offer from Tennessee earlier this week.

"My family is very big Peyton Manning fans," said the 6-foot-4, 296-pound Petitbon. "My dad always says that Peyton Manning does not make mistakes so he chose Tennessee. It's a great town, great campus and they have really good football. It's a place that I've always thought about. They're a great school in the SEC and I'm excited about the offer.

"As of right now I have not taken a visit to Tennessee yet," he said. "It's a place I want to check out with my family so we can take a good look at it. They had a top five recruiting class last year. They had a lot of good football players. I'm looking forward to finding out how much I like it there. I've heard good things about it but I'm excited to see it."

Petitbon has slowed his recruitment down and is taking a look at a variety of different schools. A few teams remain in the thick of things but Petitbon has a clear leader.

"Alabama is my top school right now," Petitbon said. "I'm constantly in contact with coach Thompson, coach Cristobal and coach Saban the Facebook, on the phone. I'm very excited about Alabama and I'm excited to get my family down to Tuscaloosa have them see everything. My little brothers haven't seen it yet.

"My dad and my family have been around Maryland forever," he said. "It's a great school. There are a lot of other places out there that I want to see this summer. Some are in the ACC and all over the place so there is plenty of time to see them."

Petitbon is unsure of where or when his next visit will be.

"Right now we are trying to make a date for either an Alabama spring practice or the Alabama spring game," said Petitbon. "We aren't sure yet. I'm also going to visit Maryland for one of their spring practices or spring game. There are a lot of other places too like Boston College, Penn State and some others."

Petitbon is willing to push back his decision date if he isn't sure of his decision.

"Earlier I said I wanted to have my decision made by the summer of my senior year so I can focus on my team," he said. "I want to get it done but this does take a long time and if I don't know by then I will extend it. Right now I'm taking my time and I want to see all the schools I can."

Petitbon has close to 30 scholarship offers.