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MARSHALL SPORTS
Herd sights set on athletic linebackers
HUNTINGTON -- Linebacker increasingly is becoming a marquee position within Marshall University's football scheme.
Speed obviously is sought, along with versatility in a playbook that morphs three- and four-linebackers looks. Those attributes are at the fore of each high school prospect who have received scholarship offers from the Thundering Herd.
Keeping with a trend, Marshall is targeting a handful of the nation's top 100 prospects at their respective positions. Continuing another common thread, the Herd is competing with numerous BCS programs for student-athletes.
A.J. Fenton is an intriguing prospect in part because of his range of talents. He's primarily played running back during his sophomore and junior seasons at Erie McDowell High School (Pa.), but is ranked as the nation's No. 83 "athlete" by the recruiting Website www.rivals.com.
The 6-foot-1, 208-pound standout topped 1,000 rushing yards the past two seasons, but projects as a college football linebacker. He's been offered by Wisconsin, Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
Nigel Mitchell-Thornton has received across-the-board offers following a breakout junior season at Stephenson H.S. (Ga.). After totaling 102 tackles, including 12 behind the line of scrimmage, and six sacks as a junior, Oklahoma State, N.C. State, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State and Duke have offered the 6-2, 210-pound linebacker. Fellow Stephenson standouts Corey McCutcheon and Ahmed Shakoor are members of Marshall's 2008 signing class.
Alvin Hines also has been offered by Auburn, Kentucky, Stanford and Central Florida. He's rated the nation's No. 88 outside linebacker by www.scout.com and the No. 44 safety by Rivals. The 6-0, 195-pound Pelham H.S. (Ala.) standout totaled 80 tackles last season and has been timed at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
Maalik Bomar, similar in size to Hines, also has timed 4.5 seconds in the much-scrutinized sprint. The 6-1, 194-pound senior-to-be at Winton Woods H.S. (Ohio) is rated as the nation's No. 45 outside linebacker prospect by Rivals. Not long ago considered under the radar, Bomar also has been offered by Wisconsin, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Nebraska, Miami (Ohio) and Toledo.
