Rivals250 LB to visit West Virginia
Dayton (Ohio) Chaminade-Julienne linebacker Darrien Howard has visited several schools for spring practices already this month. On Saturday he will head to West Virginia to check out the Mountaineer's spring game.
"I want to see a lot of hitting," Howard said. "They have a very aggressive defense."
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West Virginia is one of eight schools the four-star linebacker currently lists offers from. His most recent offer came from N.C. State last week.
"I was hearing from them more my freshman and sophomore years," Howard said. "They really had stopped talking to me for awhile, so this was kind of a surprise.
"I talked to the coach a little bit and they were basically saying they liked the type of player I am and how I am as a person."
N.C. State was also the first school to call Howard when the Spring Evaluation Period opened on Sunday. He has also started seeing college coaches come through his school, and expects more to stop by in the coming week.
"I seen Air Force came to our weight lifting," Howard said. "I think Boston College, UMass and I have may heard Alabama [are coming through]."
Earlier this month, Howard attended spring practices at Cincinnati and Ohio State. He spent time talking with the Buckeye's coaching staff about their plans for recruiting him during his visit to Columbus.
"They said they really like me, but they were having issues whether they would offer me at linebacker or fullback," Howard said. "They said after their senior advanced camp on June 10 is when they would make their final decision on whether they would offer me or not."
Howard called Cincinnati a legitimate contender, and noted that they were the first to offer and the team that has been recruiting him the longest. As for a top group of schools, however, Howard is still months away from declaring those.
"I took my visit to Pitt and I really liked it up there," he said. "But I haven't really gotten to visit all the schools yet. After a certain point I am going to narrow down my options. It will probably be more towards the end of summer, going into the season."
The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Howard is ranked as the No. 248 prospect nationally and the No. 12 inside linebacker in the country.