Stock soars for Virginia CB Beckford

Charlottesville (Va.) Albemarle cornerback Mike Beckford participated in the Rutgers Nike Camp last weekend. The 6-foot-0, 175-pounder got noticed by quite a few schools and holds four offers at this time.

"I showed the coaches there a lot," he said. "I think I could have done better, I wasn't 100%, but I did what I can do. I think I showed my strength and quickness. It was real comfortable for me to play up there, coming back since my brother William Beckford plays for Rutgers."

Who has offered Beckford so far?

"I've got offers from Maryland, Clemson, Virginia and Connecticut," he stated. "I'm getting a lot of interest too from Louisville, Boston College, Rutgers, Miami and others too.

"Actually a lot of schools thought I was a senior last year and most are just finding out I'm still a junior and are starting to recruit me."

With a handful of offers in-hand, Beckford claims a few schools are sticking out.

"Maryland is No. 1 right now," he said. "I went up to the North Carolina game there and met coach Friedgen and my recruiter coach Brattan. They showed me that they were recruiting 16 cornerbacks and I was No. 1 on their chart. That got my attention as did the fact that I got 32 mailings in one day from every coach on the staff.

"Besides Maryland, I'm looking at Miami, Southern Cal, Ohio State and Florida too. I'm from Florida and used to go to Glade Central, I'm up here in Virginia staying with my brother now."

Quite a few schools have taken notice of Beckford, what does he want in a college?

"Basically I want a good program not just for playing football, but to get my education," he said. "I want to manage a business of my own, so I need a good business program.

"Other than that, location doesn't really matter. I would like to go back home though to Florida and be around my mom and family. I know it's hard for her to get up here and watch the games and it would be nice to have her there."

Plenty of schools will get the chance to check out the Commonwealth prospect this summer as he is looking at quite a few camps to Maryland, Clemson, Miami, Southern Cal and possibly LSU.

Last season Beckford caught 41 receptions for 600 yards and six touchdowns. He added 60 tackles, 12 deflections and seven interceptions on defense on his way to all-region and all-area honors.