Advertisement
football Edit

Whiteside already drawing attention

While still relatively new to the recruitment process Newport Harbor (Calif.) Newport Harbor athlete Cecil Whiteside is certainly a name to keep on the radar for next year's class.
Already garnering attention from USC and UCLA the class of 2010 athlete seems to be taking the new experience in stride.
Advertisement
"Everything is going fairly well," he said. "It's really all pretty new to me. I'm just going with the flow.
"I've been talking to coach (Nick) Holt (USC's defensive coordinator/defensive line coach) and coach (Todd) Howard (UCLA defensive line coach). They are both really good guys. They are real easy to talk to and definitely someone that I would enjoy playing for."
Whiteside, who broke onto the scene in Orange County after breaking county records for a sophomore in both the discus and shot put last spring in track and field, turned more heads this fall on the gridiron.
Playing on both sides of the ball during his junior campaign, Whiteside put up 26 catches for 322 yards and four touchdowns, while recording 50 tackles and seven sacks as a linebacker.
Despite playing both ways in high school Whiteside admits that he would lean towards playing on the defensive side of the ball when he moves onto college.
"Both USC and UCLA have talked to me about playing defense," he said. "Maybe kind of a stand-up end, someone that can rush the passer."
Even though only two names appear on his list as of right now expect that number to grow.
"I want to find out more information about Colorado and Arizona State," said Whiteside. "I have some friends that have been to both schools and would like to give them a look. I don't have any visits set-up right now but that's something I'm going to start thinking about, probably, around February."
Whiteside also added that while playing on the west coast and staying close to home isn't a huge factor it would be nice to be able to stay.
"It's somewhat important but not really to a big extent," said Whiteside.
Advertisement