Starnes looks to jump start his recruiting

Earlier this summer, three-star linebacker Jordan Starnes got notice that BCS offers he had were filled. Since then, Starnes has been waiting patiently to see what colleges make a move. However, the 6-foot-3, 224-pounder is going to get a chance to impress schools again soon.

"The season is going great," he said. "We had a tough loss on Friday for the conference championship. I've had a pretty big season so far though at both tight end and linebacker.

"I know I'm averaging around eight or nine tackles a game and have five or six sacks."

The strong season has resulted in a Shrine Bowl invitation for Starnes, nomination that he isn't taking lightly.

"I think I have a chance to maybe even get ACC schools to look at me again," he said. "I made the team and I feel like I have a lot to prove there.

"I see other linebackers around the state and feel I'm just as good as them and they are all committed to SEC and ACC schools. I feel like I just want to prove I'm as good as those guys whether I go Division I or I-AA. I want to prove something when I go down there."

The Shrine Bowl is on December 15th.

In the meantime, Starnes is seeing his recruitment start to pick back up.

"Word has started to get out that the offer from Georgia Tech slipped through," he said. "There's been a lot of teams contacting me lately. I visited Elon over the weekend and I'm going to The Citadel on Saturday. I've visited Appalachian State about three or four times and Western Carolina as well. Charlotte is another school that has stayed in touch with me."

None of the schools has extended a scholarship to date though.

"They haven't offered me yet and I really don't know why."

A couple of the schools moving in have caught the linebacker's eye.

"I like Appalachian State a lot," he said. "I'm also thinking about Citadel. My cousin went to Citadel and he really liked it. I know it's a military based school, but I'm interested and they have a good football program too.

"For Appalachian State, I love Appy State. Coach Moore is just such a great coach and he's done so many things for the football program. I've spent a good bit of time with him and he's a good person as well as a good coach."