Sheppard forming opinions

Dominic Sheppard's three spring visits are in the books. The Miami (Fla.) Gulliver Preparatory High School linebacker took a look at three in-state programs during his tour of Florida State, Florida and USF. He lists offers from none of the three for the time being and is short on words about all of each.

According to him, nothing he saw during his three-stop trip stood out from the rest. There's no raving about facilities and he's shy about providing details.

His opinions are muffled, sure, but that's likely more about maintaining some aura mystery while he explores other options than it is about not having a take. Instead, Sheppard would rather talk about the future. More specifically, he'd like to talk about this summer, when he plans to hit the road with an aggressive travel schedule that may allow him to add offers through participating in camps.

"I'm planning to visit South Carolina, LSU, Texas A&M, Ohio State … we're going on kind of a tour this summer this summer."

Sheppard holds 15 scholaship offers as things stand now. So it's not as though his pickings are slim. Still, he'd like to see his offer list grow in the coming weeks and a big name may be next in line to join the fray.

"I think Stanford might offer me because they are set to come by my school this week," Sheppard said. "They are actually supposed to be here on Wednesday."

Sheppard's lone in-state offer is from UCF. And while Florida, Florida State and Miami are involved in his recruitment the draw of the Florida-based power programs is by no means unbreakable. In the end, Sheppard's intended major may steer his commitment.

"It's all about academics," Sheppard said. "That's the first thing that comes. I'm going to major in engineering. So not only does the school have to have an engineering program, but it has to have a good one."

As of now, Sheppard names no favorites and remains coy about naming coaches with whom he has the closest relationships. He intends to make a verbal commitment either during or after his senior season at Gulliver Prep.

"I'm just letting it all come in right now," Sheppard said. "I haven't thought about official visits or narrowing it down. I don't have any sort of list of top schools yet."