Irish are winning the recruits
COMMENTARY -
• Notre Dame's 3-9 football season hasn't hurt the Fighting Irish's recruiting efforts. A month before the Feb. 6 national signing day, Notre Dame is first in the Rivals.com recruiting rankings.
Charlie Weis has verbal commitments from 22 players, including two five-star and 15 four-star prospects, according to Rivals.com, one of the top Internet recruiting services. The five-star recruits are quarterback Dayne Crist, from Sherman Oaks, Calif., and tight end Kyle Rudolph, from Cincinnati.
Next in Rivals.com's rankings are Georgia, Alabama, Florida State and Miami. Among other notables, LSU is seventh, Ohio State eighth and USC 10th. Michigan is 13th and Illinois 16th.
Pitt is ranked 20nd, with 16 verbal commitments, including one five-star and four four-star prospects.
Pitt's five-star recruit is Lucas Nix (6-6, 295), an offensive lineman from Thomas Jefferson High in Western Pennsylvania.
The Panthers' latest four-star commitment is from defensive end/linebacker Shayne Hale (6-3, 234), who committed Saturday at the U.S. All American Bowl in San Antonio. Hale is ranked as the second-best prospect in Pennsylvania.
The Panthers have commitments from three quarterbacks: Greg Cross, a junior-college transfer; Tino Sunseri, who quarterbacked Pittsburgh Central Catholic to the PIAA Class AAAA championship; and Zack Stoudt, from Dublin, Ohio, whose commitment is described as "soft."
Pitt already has three quarterbacks with collegiate playing experience. Manheim Township grad Pat Bostick, a freshman, was the starter for most of last season. Bill Stull, a junior, started the opening game before suffering a season-ending injury. Kevan Smith, a redshirt freshman, started the next three games before being replaced by Bostick.
Penn State, ranked 35th, has 12 verbal commitments, including no five-star and four four-star recruits.
The Lions are still in the running for quarterback Terrelle Pryor, Rivals.com's top-rated player. Pryor, who led Jeannette to the PIAA Class AA title, is also considering Florida, Michigan, Ohio State and Oregon.
• John Salmons, not exactly a prolific scorer in his days with the 76ers, had career-high 32 points in the Sacramento Kings' 107-97 victory over the New York Knicks last Wednesday.
It was the Knicks' 11th loss in 13 games, and it came just hours after coach Isiah Thomas vowed that his team would win an NBA title before he was through in New York. The Knicks were 8-23 before Saturday's game in Houston.
Salmons, a first-round pick by the 76ers in 2002, is averaging 16.9 points, about 10 over his career average, and 36 minutes per game this season. In four seasons for the 76ers, from 2002-06, his highest average was 7.5 points, in 2005-06.
• Gio Gonzalez, once one of the Phillies' top pitching prospects, is now with the Oakland Athletics.
Gonzalez, 22, a left-hander, was traded by the Chicago White Sox, along with right-hander Fautino De Los Santos and outfielder Ryan Sweeney. In exchange, the White Sox acquired outfielder Nick Swisher.
Gonzalez, a 2004 draft pick by the White Sox, was traded to the Phils for Jim Thome after the 2005 season. He went back to the Chisox for Freddy Garcia after the 2006 season.
Gonzalez was 9-7 with a 3.18 ERA last season at Class AA Birmingham. He led all minor leaguers with 185 strikeouts.
• Bald Eagle's Quentin Wright, last year's PIAA Class AAA champion at 160 pounds, has signed a letter-of-intent to wrestle for Penn State. He's projected to wrestle at 184 for Penn State.
[More at http://local.lancasteronline.com]
