Top Cali QB has five out front

There are several quarterbacks vying for the honor of 'top signal caller in the West' right now and we don't expect to figure that one out until later in the summer. However, our early choice as the top guy in the region is Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame's Dayne Crist.

Crist, 6-5, 225 pounds has a rare combination of great size and plus athleticism as well. Crist missed four games due to an injury last season but still earned all-league and all-state underclass honors after throwing for 1,270 yards and 17 touchdowns to go with 230 yards and four more scores on the ground.

LSU, Notre Dame, Minnesota and Duke offered early in the process and in the last week, Oregon and Arizona have jumped in with offers as well.

"I'm wide open right now and don't have a leader," Crist said. "If I had to name a top five though, in no order, it would be LSU, Notre Dame, USC, Cal and Stanford. Like I said though, I'm open to everyone recruiting me and I'm going to take some unofficial visits starting later this month to help me sort everything out.

"I'm going to LSU March 24 and I'm going to Notre Dame April 11th. I also plan to be at Notre Dame April 14th for their Spring game. Those are the only ones I have set in stone right now, but I'm sure I'll squeeze in a few more. I would like to make an early decision but I'm not close to doing anything right now.

"There are still a few more schools that have said they're on the verge of offering me so I just want to wait and see what all my options are. I'm also going to the NIKE Camp at USC in April and would love to make the Elite 11 QB camp as well, that would be a great honor."