Schaeffer shuffling his list a bit

Four-star Deerfield Beach (Fla.) quarterback Brent Schaeffer has been shuffling his list of prospective schools a bit as the national recruiting picture comes into focus.

In are Michigan State, Ole Miss and Purdue.

Out are Auburn, Michigan and Notre Dame.

“I was going to visit Auburn, but I’m not going there now,” he said. “I’ve dropped them from the list because they got commitments from a couple of quarterbacks (Blake Field and Calvin Booker), and I’m not real interested in that situation anymore."

Michigan, which has a commitment from five-star signal caller Chad Henne, and Notre Dame, which appears to be targetting some of the top pro-style quarterbacks for Ty Willingham's West Coast offense, have also slipped off the current list.

“I started doing some research on Ole Miss and I’ve been watching them play lately," Schaeffer said. "I’m really impressed by how they throw the ball with Eli Manning. They’ve done a great job of developing him, and the quarterback situation looks pretty good there. Same thing with Purdue. I like how they get quarterbacks ready for the next level.

“Michigan State is having a nice season, and I like the way their offense is run. It’s a lot like ours. I went up there my junior year for a camp and really liked it, so that may be one of my official visits now.”

The nation’s ninth-rated dual-threat quarterback, Schaeffer (6-3, 190, 4.5) has two official visits scheduled thus far. He’ll make the trip to Kansas State on Dec. 19 and is working on a finalized date for Tennessee.

“I'm pretty high on those two. I like the quarterback situations there,” he said. “Both of them need somebody to come in and play right away. They’re both great programs with real high-scoring offenses.”

He said N.C. State and South Florida are also in the running for visits. He noted the success of record-setting Wolfpack Philip Rivers as a big key to his interest in Chuck Amato’s program.

“I’ll probably wait until the season ends to schedule the rest of them,” he said.

Schaeffer has thrown for 2,141 yards and 22 touchdowns while rushing for 12 scores as a senior. He’s led Deerfield Beach to an 8-1 record and the No. 4 ranking in Class 6A, guiding an offense that is averaging 40 points and 450 total yards per game.

Academically, he maintains a 3.1 GPA and has scored a 900 on the SAT. He projects as a full-qualifier.