Six offers and counting for Padmore

Junior cornerback Noel Padmore of Flowery Branch (Ga.) may not have any leaders at the moment, but he knows which program is recruiting him the hardest.

"It's Ole Miss," Padmore told Rivals.com. "They're always checking in on me, writing letters and stuff."

The Rebels are one of six schools to have offered the 5-feet-10, 160-pounder, doing so when he visited Oxford earlier this year.

Troy became the most recent to offer last week, joining the Rebels, Cincinnati, Purdue, Wake Forest and Western Kentucky. Additionally, Missouri and Pittsburgh are showing interest.

"I haven't been to Ole Miss yet, but I plan on going there soon," Padmore said. "I try to call them at least once or twice a week. When Coach [Wesley] McGriff and I talk, it's not always about football. That's the thing about him. He just talks about the academic part of the school and how beautiful the campus is. Stuff like that."

Thus far in 2012, Padmore has visited Georgia Tech, Oklahoma State and Vanderbilt. None of the three are among his offers, but he thinks that could change.

"Vandy and Georgia Tech are close to offering," Padmore said. "They said they love my tape and want to see me during the spring. That's when they'll hopefully pull the trigger. I would say either Georgia Tech or Vanderbilt will be next to offer."

When might a list of leaders come?

"I want to trim it down by the end of the summer," Padmore said. "Then I want to do my official visits. After that, I'll make my decision."

Keith Niebuhr can be reached at Keithrivals@yahoo.com. You can follow him on Twitter @KeithRIVALS.