Rose keeping things balanced at CaliFlorida

ANAHEIM, California - When you're one of the more heavily sought after recruits in the country, things can get hectic in a hurry. The holidays couldn't have come sooner for Tampa (Fla.) Jefferson Rivals100 offensive tackle Daron Rose. The four-star prospect enjoyed the down time from the phone calls, but taking part in the Air 7 CaliFlorida Bowl he knows that it will change again.

So far only two official visits have been taken to South Florida and Michigan. After those, he understands that the month of January will be huge in making his decision with visits scheduled to South Carolina (Jan. 13), Florida (Jan. 20), and Florida State (Jan. 27).

"It was getting out of control for a while," Rose said. "You know, recruiting always slows down over the holidays so that was nice for me. I know January will be really crazy with all of these trips. My top three is pretty much set right now with Michigan, Florida, and Florida State."

Though his top three is out in the open, Rose says one team has been pushing their way up the list.

"South Carolina is right there with them," Rose said about his fourth team on his short list. "They give me a tremendous offense to play with coach Steve Spurrier there. They were talking about me coming in and being at left tackle from day one and really competing for a spot."

Rose says that even though he is excited for this Saturday's CaliFlorida game, recruiting is on his mind. However, he's being presented with several challenges this week to keep himself concentrated on the task at hand – beating California.

"I'm still trying to get everything down because it's a no-huddle offense," Rose said. "That makes it tough to learn, but I think we have a lot of size on the offensive line and we should be able to wear them down. By the time that fourth quarter comes, we should have them down."

The confidence is definitely there, but that doesn't mean Rose is still beaming with excitement about his selection for the game.

"I'm really pumped up about this game," he said. "I've been waiting for this CaliFlorida Bowl since the first time I heard about it. I'll be ready when Saturday comes."

Rose is rated as the No. 4 overall prospect in Florida and the No. 4 rated offensive tackle in the nation. He comes in as the No. 36 rated player in the country.