Tamburello charts own course

The son of an Auburn legend, Hoover, Ala., Spain Park junior offensive lineman Ben Tamburello III is trying to make his own mark on the football field.

So far, he's doing quite well at that.

Arkansas State, South Alabama, Southern Miss and UAB have offered the 6-foot-3, 278-pounder, who is likely to play center in college, and both Auburn and Mississippi State are showing interest.

Tamburello, whose father Ben Tamburello II was an All-American lineman at Auburn in the mid-1980s, is hopeful this is just the start.

"I think it's pretty early," he said. "I think the spring is going to help me out a lot. I'm going to get a lot more recognition. I didn't play a lot my sophomore year. We had kind of a loaded class. My junior year was my first year starting every down. That was really the first year I came on the scene. I just got my highlight tape made and started sending it out to people."

The feedback "has been pretty good," he added.

South Alabama was the first to offer. According to Tamburello, Southern Miss is recruiting him the hardest. His most recent offer came a few weeks ago from nearly UAB. Tamburello attended camp at Auburn last summer and made an unofficial visit to Mississippi State last month. As of today, no team or teams have emerged as frontrunners yet.

"Mississippi State was my first [visit]," Tamburello said. "Southern Miss will be the next one, but I'm not sure when. [At Mississippi State] I talked to coach [Dan] Mullen for a long time and that was really great. I liked it a lot. He seemed interested, but they hadn't watched my tape yet."

What is Auburn's interest level? Tamburello isn't sure but he suspects the picture will become clearer in the coming months. Whether the Tigers offer or not, he said he will be okay with it.

"It's not the end all, be all to be at where my dad played," Tamburello said.