Tharp adds more offers

Mulvane, Kan., linebacker Huldon Tharp looked very good on junior film, then again at the U.S. Army All-America Combine in San Antonio and has emerged as one of the top handful of players in the Sunflower State.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder also has the attention from schools to back that claim up.

"I'm hearing from quite a few schools but I would have to say the main ones are Colorado State, Iowa State, Missouri, Clemson, Alabama, Florida, Illinois, OU and Miami," he said.

"I had offers from Miami, KU, Stanford, and Boise State, but I just picked up two new ones here in just the last couple of weeks in Colorado State and Illinois."

Tharp says two schools have kept tabs on him the most so far in the process.

"I hear from Stanford the most," he said. "I talk to them every other week or so. They talk to me about building a relationship. I also talk to Joe Bob Clements and Clint Bowen from KU. The coaches on these staffs are all cool impressive guys. I like them all."

Tharp said a few factors will be key in his ultimate decision.

"The biggest thing is seeing the campus," he said. "Stanford wants me to come see them and take an unofficial but I haven't been able to work it out. I'm considering all of my official visits, especially Stanford. I haven't made set dates yet but at some point I'm going to sit down and get all the dates down."

"Ideally I would like to wait until the season is over and after all my visits. I want to give all the schools a fair chance. I'm definitely looking at academics. I want to find coaches who are going to be personable. I want to feel like I am going to make an impact. I want to play for coaches that definitely want me there. I want to make an impact as soon as possible. I don't want to start playing my junior or senior year."

Tharp said he plans this summer to go with Brian Butler's Potential Players group to visit several Big Ten schools, along with fellow Sunflower State recruits Bryce Brown and Jaydan Bird. He also is thinking about attending Missouri's camp on June 2.

But between now and the start of his senior season, Tharp will continue to work hard to get even better.

"I play for a 4A a school and we're opening with a 5A powerhouse," he said. "I want to see where we stand up against bigger schools. I'm definitely excited for it. It's my last year to make a run for state. We have all our specialty guys back. I think we can do some amazing things this year.

"I'm going to work on everything because you can always get better in every area. I figure I'm going to end up playing linebacker on the next level, so I'm going to work on getting better there. Linebacker wise I need to work on keeping a low pad level, shedding blockers, and being able to go up against and shed 300-pound guys at the next level."