Here are some recruiting headlines as you begin your Wednesday morning.

1. Here’s a look at Stephenson High School and its 11 commitments to BCS schools.

2. This Pittsburgh offensive lineman is taking a long look at Florida.

3. Florida has offered a scholarship to St. Thomas Aquinas defensive end Bryan Cox Jr.

4. Defensive tackle Carlos Watkins has three SEC schools high on his list.

5. Kentucky has extended a scholarship offer to a 2012 basketball prospect.

6. SEC schools can’t seem to get in on Georgia basketball standout Tony Parker.

Mississippi State has received a commitment from athlete Brandon Holloway from Alonso High School in Tampa, Fla.

Holloway, who plans to also run track in Starkville, committed to the Bulldogs after a recent trip to Mississippi State.

“I’ve been talking to the coaches a lot since I started to get recruited,” Holloway told the Tampa Tribune. “I just think the program is going in the right direction and they have great academics there.”

Holloway is the 13th prospect to commit to Mississippi State’s class of 2012.

So much for sources saying Joe Alleva would become Tennessee’s new athletic director tomorrow.  LSU has put out a press release debunking that story and Tennessee officials say their search is moving forward.

Alleva said in LSU’s release: “This is not an opportunity that I pursued and Tennessee is a wonderful place.  But in the end I felt that Chancellor Martin has a great vision for LSU.”

He also said, “There is more work to be done and my heart bleeds purple and gold.”

Meanwhile, Tennessee spokesman Jimmy Stanton told Knoxville media outlets that his school’s search “remains in program.” 

As it turns out, Twitter reports from Knoxville spawned Twitter reports from Louisiana this afternoon.  Sadly, while Twitter may be fast, the folks using it are not always accurate.

For Alleva, it will be interesting to see if he gets a nice, fat raise in the not-so-distant future.  LSU’s chancellor cut short a trip to New Mexico to return to Baton Rouge and deal with Alleva face to face.

For Tennessee, the Vols’ AD search is beginning to take on the feel of the school’s post-Lane Kiffin football search.

Come to think of it, Derek Dooley was Louisiana Tech’s AD, too.  Maybe he’d be happy to be UT’s fallback once more.

Reports from Louisiana suggest that Tennessee officials searching for a new athletic director have focused in on LSU AD Joe Alleva… and chancellor Michael Martin wants to keep him.

“I do not know for sure that Tennessee has talked to Joe, but I understand they are interested in him,” Martin told The Shreveport Times.  “I know Joe has done a remarkable job at LSU under some difficult circumstances with the economy.  I think we’re always concerned about any of our people being scouted by another institution.  I’m hoping we don’t have to confront this one.  On the positive side, it’s always a good sign when another institution looks at our folks.”

Glenn Guilbeau of Gannett Louisiana says via Twitter that “Two Tennessee sources are saying Joe Alleva has shaken hands on it and will be announced as new Tenn. AD on Wednesday.”

Tennessee chancellor Jimmy Cheek has been looking for a proven, seated athletic director to replace Mike Hamilton.  Alleva — who came to LSU from Duke in 2008 — certainly has experience.  But if he’s leaving Baton Rouge from Knoxville, he’ll also be taking some NCAA baggage with him.  LSU was just placed on probation in football and the NCAA recently returned to the Tigers’ campus to ask questions about street agent Willie Lyles.

“This is more than a beginning.  It is more than an end.  It is the quintessential profile of what a modern conference can be.”

That’s part of the script from a video the Pac-12 conference used as a kickoff to its 2011 Media Days event.  You can see the clip right here:




When all sports are taken into account, the “Conference of Champions” moniker the league bestows upon itself is fitting.  But at the end of a football video? 

I think it’s a safe bet that many media members watching that video thought, “SEC,” quietly to themselves.

Still, there’s no denying that commissioner Larry Scott’s marketing push aids his league’s reputation and clout.  If the folks in the SEC offices in Birmingham are keeping their eyes peeled for up-and-coming threats, they’ve likely trained a few sets of binoculars on the West Coast.

Sources confirmed to The New Orleans Times-Picayune yesterday that LSU receiver Russell Shepard is dealing with a compliance issue involving the player’s living arrangements.  He resides with his girlfriend who happens to work in the Tiger football office… as she did prior to his arrival on campus in 2009.

Contrary to previous reports from other sites claiming that Shepard’s issues could trace back two years, Jim Kleinpeter of The Times-Picayune reports that Shepard lived on campus until this spring.  In other words, there’s no need to sweat any kind of retroactive ineligibility that might endanger past Tiger victories.

Still, Shepard could be made to serve a suspension this season.  In case you’ve forgotten — LSU opens with Oregon on September 3rd.

1.  Now there’s a photo of Trent Richardson having dinner with Tuscaloosa clothier Tom Albetar. 

2.  Crimson Tide play-by-play man Eli Gold has signed a four-year contract extension.

3.  Auburn’s got some holes to fill at linebacker.

4.  LSU freshman receiver Jarvis Landry will miss two to three weeks of practice after breaking his foot in offseason 7-on-7 drills.

5.  Houston Nutt is breaking in transfer quarterbacks yet again.

6.  MSU’s cowbell tradition means a lot to Dan Mullen.

7.  Who’s the best quarterback in the SEC West?

8.  The SEC’s 25th best player is Tennessee safety Janzen Jackson.

South Carolina quarterback coach GA Mangus has been placed on indefinite suspension by Steve Spurrier after his arrest last night for “nuisance conduct.”  Allegedly, Mangus was inebriated, was urinating in the street, and was uncooperative with police after being spotted.

“GA has been suspended from all coaching activities until this matter is resolved,” Spurrier said via statement today.  “We are disappointed in his actions and will handle it accordingly.”

Practice begins next week in Columbia.  When Mangus will return is anyone’s guess.  But it’s doubtful he’ll be dismissed for “stupidity” as Spurrier put it with regards to quarterback Stephen Garcia last week.

Mangus — who was ranked by a number of services as one of the top recruiters in the nation in February — might have a few questions to answer the next time he steps into a prospect’s living room.

Tennessee linebacker Austin Johnson — arrested early Sunday morning for disorderly conduct and public intoxication – was trying to start a fight and was seen hitting parked cars according to police.

The Knoxville Police Department’s report states that the senior starter “shoved a white male and attempted to fight the male” outside a bar just off the UT campus.

He also matched the description of a “male who was hitting vehicles int eh parking lot” and was identified as a “danger to himself and others.”

Derek Dooley has not commented on Johnson’s arrest yet.

Last night, Mark Richt spoke to a Georgia booster club in the Atlanta area.  His message was upbeat and positive.  And the fans on hand liked what their coach was saying:


“We’re Georgia.  We’ve got good players.  We stumbled last year, but we weren’t far off.  Greg (McGarity) has done a good job supporting us.  The fans have done a great job supporting us. …

No one’s pushing the panic button.  We believe in what we’re doing. …

I plan on having a hell of a year.”


Richt even pointed out that an 0-2 start (with losses to Boise State and South Carolina) would sound the death knell for his club.  “… On paper, those might be the two best teams we play all year,” he said.

But let the Dawgs actually start 0-2 and you won’t be hearing a lot of positivity from the Peach State media or fans.