ESPN College Football Recruiting

Originally Published: May 19, 2009

Utah offers Mitchell; Burse impresses

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By Greg Biggins
ESPNRISE.com
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One of the most versatile players at the Nike camp at Stanford was Anthony Jefferson (Los Angeles/Cathedral). He is known more for his play at receiver, but worked out with the cornerbacks and looked very good.

"I have offers from Cal, USC, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arizona State and a few others. Just about everyone is recruiting me for receiver, but USC likes me at corner. I decided to work out at corner and had a good time out there.

"Right now, my top three are USC, UCLA and Cal and I've already visited all three, but I don't plan to make an early commitment. I want to take my time with it and go on my visits before making a decision."

Timpview duo checks out Stanford

Timpview (Provo, Utah) teammates Chris Badger and Bronson Kaufusi not only took part in the Nike camp at Stanford, but were in town a few days early for the Cardinal junior day festivities. This gave Badger, a Cardinal commit, a chance to try to persuade his teammate to switch from BYU to Stanford.

"This place is incredible," Kaufusi said. "I loved the campus and basically everything about the school. I'm still committed to BYU though, but Stanford did offer me, and this is a pretty attractive place."

New offer for Mitchell

Terrance Mitchell (Sacramento, Calif./Burbank) not only picked up DB MVP honors after his impressive performance; he also added another scholarship offer later in the day.

"Utah just offered," Mitchell said. "I had a great time at the camp, and getting MVP was incredible. I'm working hard and looking forward to the USC Rising Stars Camp. I know some have questioned my speed, but I plan to run a good 40 there and hopefully put that to rest. I'm also going to camp with Florida in two weeks, and Boise State as well."

Mitchell currently favors USC, Cal, Oregon, Washington State, Boise State and Utah. Washington State has also offered.

Pleasant Grove athlete puts name on the map

A few years ago, Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove, Calif.) defensive lineman Armond Armstead had his coming-out party at the Nike camp at Stanford and ended up signing with USC as a senior. This time, it was receiver Jalen Saunders, also from Pleasant Grove, who had an impressive performance and showed he's a legitimate Division I prospect.

"Fresno State, UNLV and Nevada have all offered me," Saunders said. "Fresno State is my top school, followed by Oregon State, UNLV, Nevada and San Jose State, and I'm hearing from all those schools right now."

Saunders is not the biggest receiver -- at 5-foot-8½, 141 pounds -- but he is very quick, catches the ball well and knows how to get open.

Burse is Mr. Versatility

There isn't much Isaiah Burse can't do on the football field, and he showed that this past weekend. On Friday, Burse worked out at quarterback at the Elite 11 regional camp at Cal. He then shifted over to receiver at the Nike camp and looked pretty solid on both days.

Burse is a dual-threat quarterback and is being recruited at multiple positions right now. Most schools like him as an athlete and feel he can play running back or receiver on offense as well as corner or safety on defense. A few schools like him at quarterback, as well.

"Right now my offers are from Kansas State, Arizona and Fresno State," Burse said. "I'll play anywhere on the field, it doesn't matter, but I do like offense a lot. My favorite schools are probably Kansas State, Fresno State, Arizona, Washington and Cal."

As a junior, Burse threw for 1,265 yards and 12 touchdowns, rushed for 643 yards and nine scores, and also caught 10 passes for 237 yards and two more scores, including a 90-yarder. He added 62 tackles, two interceptions and recovered four fumbles on the defensive side.

Martin the jokester

One of the most gregarious kids in the Class of 2010 is Chris Martin. He played at Bishop O'Dowd (Oakland, Calif.) his first three years in high school, but is currently finishing off his junior season in Arizona before he transfers to the The Hun School (Princeton, N.J.) next fall.

Martin has always played linebacker, but decided to work out with the defensive linemen at Stanford, and after measuring in at 6-4½, 240 pounds (16 pounds heavier than a year ago), looks the part as well.

At each of the Nike camps the athletes are given player cards to fill out with their personal information, including college favorites and scholarship offers. Under college favorites, Martin wrote "USC" with a big smiley face next to it.

"I was just having fun. I'm 100 percent committed to Notre Dame," Martin said. "I still have people asking me all the time about USC and how solid my commitment to Notre Dame is, and I'm rock-solid.

"I still may camp at USC in the summer because I know I'll learn from the coaches, and I know it will be fun to compete against some of the USC commitments because they're always so cocky, and it would be fun to shut them up a little."

Where will Young play?

This was our first chance to see John Young (Los Angeles/Loyola) and it will be interesting to see where the two-way standout ends up. He has played tight end and on the defensive line for the Cubs, and he worked out with the tight ends Sunday.

Young measured in at 6-3, 252 pounds, and will likely grow out of the tight end position, if he hasn't already. He caught the ball very well but doesn't have the athleticism to make plays down the field. He would be very athletic as a future offensive guard or defensive tackle; however, he doesn't appear to be done growing.

Young has offers from UCLA and UNLV, and said he favors UCLA, Stanford, Boston College, Arizona and Oregon.

Junior puts his name on the map

One of the best sophomore quarterbacks we've seen this year at any Nike camp is Cody Kessler (Bakersfield, Calif./Centennial). He looked good at the Elite 11 QB camp at Cal on Friday and was even more impressive at Stanford.

Kessler -- 6-1, 192 pounds -- had a solid season last year, throwing for 1,878 yards and 10 touchdowns. Kessler's coach at Centennial raved about his quarterback a few months ago, and it doesn't look like he was just blowing smoke.

"Cody has all the tools," Centennial coach Bryan Nixon said. "He's a truly a special player and should be a national recruit in two years. He's very savvy and makes good decisions with the ball. He's a great leader and has good feet and a very strong arm."

Although it's early, the signal-caller said he currently favors UCLA, USC, Notre Dame, Cal, Oklahoma and Georgia.

Worth the travel

Not many players made longer road trips to get to Stanford than Kahuku (Hawaii) defensive end Kona Schwenke. It's more than a five-hour flight from Hawaii to NorCal, but the trip was well worth it for Schwenke, who had a very good showing Sunday.

At 6-4, 217 pounds, Schwenke has a great frame and is very well put together. He has long arms, a quick first step and was close to unblockable in the one-on-one pass-rush drills.

Schwenke currently has offers from BYU, UNLV and Hawaii. He favors USC, UCLA, BYU, Michigan and Hawaii.