Recruiting battle gets hotter for Hannah

Few high school prospects have started setting up their official visits, but tight end/offensive tackle Jonathan Hannah has already decided on all five of his. He knows recruiting is about to get more intense than ever, but he's prepared and ready to get things started.

"Up until now things haven't been really that overwhelming, even though it's been exciting to get all the attention," said Hannah. "But with the officials coming up, I know that's when I might start to feel a little bit of pressure. Sometimes I can't believe than a year from now I'll be playing college football for some school, and these visits will go a long way towards determining where I'll be."

The 6-foot-4, 251-pound prospect from Hope Mills (N.C.) South View won't wait long to begin his official visit tour. On Sept. 2 he'll make his first trip to Clemson, then on Sept. 25 Hannah will travel to Virginia Tech. A week later on Oct. 1 he'll have Georgia on his mind before visiting Penn State on Oct. 22. He'll wrap things up Nov. 12 with an official visit to Oklahoma.

"Those schools are basically the ones I'm looking at now," he said. "I still like NC State and Carolina though. I don't feel like I need to visit those schools as much as the others though. I might see a couple of games or something, or take an unofficial visit there before making a decision. But I'm confident I've scheduled things the right way."

There seems to be a few similarities between the schools he's interested in.

"I want to play at a school that I think can win. They don't necessarily have to be winning big now, but I want to feel like I can go somewhere and help them be successful. I mean at a place like Oklahoma I know I'd compete for national titles, but that's not all I'm worried about. I just want to be able to get out on the field and be on a team that plays well against good competition."

Hannah is rated the No. 6 tight end in the nation and is the No. 7 overall prospect in North Carolina.