Whitley starts to think official visits
Three-star running back Norman Whitley out of Rockingham (N.C.) Richmond County wasn't able to attend the North Carolina-North Carolina State rivalry, but he did take in the North Carolina-Wisconsin game just over a week ago. What did the 5-foot-8, 177-pounder think of his trip to Raleigh?
"I went up there and had a great time. Carolina did a lot of things, but Wisconsin killed them with zone plays," he said. "UNC couldn't get on track the entire day and they didn't play well in the third and fourth quarter. I did like the way they dished the ball out to different players and it's pretty hard to defend the pass when you move it around like that."
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Whitley knows North Carolina has landed a handful of running backs already this recruiting season.
"I know they have four running backs and I think they are slowly backing off since they have them to look for needs at other positions," he said. "That doesn't bother me at all about them because I can compete against other people and the best man wins the job."
The No. 23 running back in the country did watch the Boston College-Clemson game on television last weekend.
"I know Clemson lost in overtime and it was a pretty good game. Clemson played well and it came down to the wire and it was good to see that," he said. "Boston College really contained Reggie Merriweather and they really played the ball well. You can't ask for much more than that and the running back didn't have much to work with."
Currently, Whitley still holds two offers from North Carolina and East Carolina, but is getting a visit by Ohio State this week.
"Ohio State said they'll be coming down to check out my game and hopefully I can get an offer from them. You never know, I just have to go out and play my game," he said. "Hopefully I can also get an offer soon from Virginia too. They've been recruiting me a lot lately. I like that they are one of the top programs in the ACC and they don't have a lot of depth at my position. I also like that you can get a great education and they have a good coaching staff with NFL experience. You can't replace that."
The No. 10 player in North Carolina has six schools he's considering for official visits.
"I'm looking at hopefully going to Ohio State, South Carolina, Clemson, Virginia, potentially Tennessee and maybe Georgia too," he said. "I'll take them whenever. I'd like to take some during and some after the season. It's hard to say what I'll do now since I haven't talked about it yet."
Whitley has helped Richmond County to a 5-0 record.
"I've run for over 700 yards and seven touchdowns this season so far," he said. "My performance on the field is going good. Teams are putting eight and nine guys in the box and that opens up the pass a lot more for us, so I don't get to run as much. It doesn't really matter to me though as long as we keep winning."