Turenne tops final juco rankings
When it comes to talented classes overall, this year's crop of junior college prospects nationwide will go down as one of the deepest in recent history.
At the top of the final Rivals.com Junior College Top 100 for the class of 2007 remains lockdown cover corner Woodny Turenne, but the rest of the top 20 are also quite impressive.
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In fact the entire list is one of the strongest that Rivals.com has seen with high quality kids littered all throughout the ranking.
But Turenne remains at No. 1 in the ranking, and the Louisville bound cornerback is one of the better cornerback prospects to come from the loaded California junior college ranks in some time.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Turenne is the new wave cornerback. He's got the size, speed and built of a lockdown corner. And college coaches from all over the nation have paid attention.
"Woodney is a tremendous cover corner that has great size, blistering speed and impeccable character," College of the Sequoias assistant Andy Siegal. "There are too few kids in college football that have his athletic ability mixed with his character. Woodney is what an A plus American is supposed to be."
At No. 2 in the rankings is Marysville (Calif.) Yuba C.C. five-star linebacker Mike Reed. The 6-foot-4, 245-pounder is already on campus at Oklahoma and is expected to compete for early playing time for the Sooners. He's followed by Tennessee-bound receiver Kenny O'Neal of City College of San Francisco. Booneville (Miss.) Northeast C.C. defensive back Michael Ricks is the No. 4 player and Kansas State signee Gary Chandler of Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College is at No. 5.
Making the biggest leap up the rankings – and for good reason – was Athens (Texas) Trinity Valley safety Nevin McKenzie.
Few players were as heavily recruited as McKenzie, who is 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds. He recently committed to Tennessee, turning down scholarship offers from Arkansas, Florida, Louisville, Oklahoma, TCU, UTEP and others.
McKenzie, who committed to the Vols on Jan. 28, is ranked now as the No. 12 player in the nation.
"I do expect to come in and start," McKenzie said. "But I have to go earn it. But the door is open for me to come in and start if I do my job."
LSU-bound receiver Demetrius Byrd of Poplarville (Miss.) Pearl River C.C. also moved up the rankings to the No. 25 spot, also earning a fourth star. He had a very successful sophomore season, backing up a freshman year that saw him rack up 42 receptions for 703 yards and seven scores.
Scranton (Pa.) Lackawanna College defensive end Antoine Holmes is also a fast mover in the rankings, moving up to No. 35. The four-star prospect recently committed to N.C. State.