Three stand out for Gerhart

One of the nation's top two sport athletes is Norco's (Calif.) Toby Gerhart. Gerhart is not just one of the top running backs in the country but a very talented baseball player and is currently participating in the prestigious Area Code Baseball game in Long Beach. We caught up Gerhart following the SPARQ testing portion of the games and the dual sport athlete told us three schools stand out right now.

Gerhart missed all the spring and summer football camps and combines because of baseball in the spring. After seeing Gerhart complete the baseball SPARQ testing, it's safe to say the athlete would have lit up any of the Nike camps. The athlete measured in at a rock solid 6-1, 228 pounds, clocked a 6.59-60 (baseball test 60 yards rather than 40), 3.62-30, a 4.12 in the shuttle, jumped 38 inches in the vertical, tops in the camp and threw the med ball 61 feet, also tops in the camp by over 10 feet.

Gerhart's overall SPARQ rating of 89.10 was not only the best among all the players tested (200 players at Area Code), the next best rating was a 74.88, over 14 points behind his. Gerhart plays centerfield and has drawn raves all week from the pro scouts in attendance and could be a high round draft pick in baseball next spring.

On the football field, the athlete is a two time all-state underclass selection and had a big junior season rushing for 2,210 yards and 27 touchdowns. He has the size of a fullback but has tailback skills and definitely wants to be a primary ball carrier in college. Gerhart runs with power and is as physical a back as any in the West this year. He can also make you miss and has better than average speed. We're not sure where Gerhart projects best in college but he's one of those players we would take in a heartbeat and worry about where he fits in best later.

"My favorite schools right now are Stanford, UCLA and Mississippi," Gerhart said. "I've visited UCLA and Stanford already on unofficial visits and I'm planning to go check out Mississippi later in the summer. All of those schools have offered me. Right now, I have offers from every school in the Pac 10 except USC and Cal plus schools like Duke, Utah, Colorado, BYU and a few others.

"I'm not close to making my decision right now. I'm going to take my time and wait things out. I know I want to play both sports in college and that will be a big factor for me. Once I take my trips and see where I'll fit in the best, that's when I'll make my decision."

Academically, Gerhart is carrying a 4.6 GPA and scored an 1810 on the new SAT score.