A look at the top 15 high school football players

the season, but I will see how things go,” said Thrift.

5. MIKE KATIC, PINERICHLAND, OL, 6-3, 280 — Katic went into his junior season not knowing if big colleges would recruit him. Now he has 15 scholarship offers, including ones from FBS schools. His top five are Syracuse, Virginia, Boston College, Cincinnati and Temple. He visited Syracuse a few weeks ago (”I loved that visit. It was great”) and Cincinnati last weekend. Will go to Virginia next weekend. Hopes to make a decision by the summer.

6. COURTNEY JACKSON, GATEWAY, WR, 5-11, 160 — Jackson also plays cornerback, but most schools are recruiting him as a receiver. And why not? He had 96 receptions for 1,916 yards and 27 touchdowns last season. He said his top schools are West Virginia, Toledo, Northwestern, Temple and Syracuse. “Right now I’m trying to visit as many schools as possible to try to narrow it down a little bit,” said Jackson, who hopes to make it to Toledo and Northwestern this weekend.

7. DAEQUAN HARDY, PENN HILLS, WR-DB, 5-10, 155 — He’s not big, but he has two big-time scholarship offers from Michigan and Michigan State. “I was hopeful schools like that would recruit me, but shocked at the same time that they came this early,” said Hardy. MAC schools along with Army and Navy have offered. Some schools like him as a receiver and others as a defensive back.

8. COREY THOMAS, PENN HILLS, DB-WR, 6-3, 195 — Thomas transferred from Central Catholic to Penn Hills a few weeks ago. He was a second-team all-conference DB at Central Catholic. Indiana, Temple, Toledo and Buffalo are among those that have offered.

9. DANIEL WALKER, WASHINGTON, S, 6-2, 205 — Louisville and Temple have offered Walker, who made a big impact in his first season at Washington after spending the previous two years at a high school in Georgia. Says he doesn’t have a favorite. Recently visited West Virginia and is planning to visit Temple on April 28.

10. DANTE CEPHAS, PENN HILLS, DB, 6-0, 180 — Plays cornerback for Penn Hills. Has offers from Kent State, Toledo and other MAC schools. Also plays receiver and caught 36 passes a year ago. When asked about expectations with all of the talent at Penn Hills this season, Cephas said, “to me, we should win states.”

11. JEREMIAH JOSEPHS, GATEWAY, DB, 5-10, 165 — Committed to Miami, Ohio, last Saturday. “Good campus, good coaches, and a program on the rise,” Josephs said. Also considered Toledo, Buffalo and Eastern Michigan. Josephs started at safety last season, and was Gateway’s second-leading receiver with 53 catches. Josephs said his goal next season is to “Get that state ring.” The Gators won the WPIAL Class 5A title and were the PIAA runner-up last season.

12. MIKE COLEMAN, WOODLAND HILLS, DB, 5-11, 155 — Toledo was the first school to offer Coleman, and he showed his loyalty by committing to the program last Saturday. Coleman chose the Rockets over an offer sheet that included Temple, Miami (Ohio), and Western Michigan.

13. RAHMON HART, IMANI CHRISTIAN, WR, 6-3, 205 — Has eight offers, among them FBS schools Temple, Toledo, Buffalo and Army. Has upcoming visits scheduled for Connecticut, Cincinnati and Stanford. Finished his junior season with 63 receptions for 978 yards and 11 touchdowns.

14. TYLER KING, PINERICHLAND, LB, 6-1, 220 —A standout inside linebacker who led Pine-Richland last year with 150 tackles, including 13.5 for loss. Committed to Navy last weekend. Also had a few offers from MAC schools.

15. TODD HILL, STEEL VALLEY, LB, 5-10, 215 — Hardhitting linebacker who has been a starter since his freshman season. If it wasn’t for his lack of height, he’d probably be getting flooded with offers. He still has offers from Cincinnati, Howard, Duquesne, Robert Morris and Slippery Rock. He plans on visiting Mississippi State soon and said he likely won’t make a decision until the fall.