Memphis (Tenn.) Whitehaven High School juniors Mark Dodson and Gerald Perry both announced on Monday they’ll play in the SEC.

Dodson, a running back, committed to Ole Miss while Perry gave his pledge to play wide receiver at Vanderbilt. Many, including Dodson and Perry, wondered if they would choose the same school. In the end, the two players had different interests.

“Ever since we were little, we talked about going to the same school and playing together at the same college,” Perry told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I guess things don’t always work out like you want them to, but I know Mark’s gonna do well down at Ole Miss, and I know I’m gonna do good at Vanderbilt. Hopefully when we play against each other, it’ll be like nothing’s different.”

Both Dodson and Perry chose programs that are in the early stages of a new era. Vanderbilt coach James Franklin is coming off a successful first season in Nashville while Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze is preparing for his opening season in Oxford.

Dodson was intrigued by the idea of playing in Freeze’s new offense.

“I see the program is on the rise,” Dodson said. “It’s gonna take a year or two, but the recruiting class is shaping up very well. You just have to be patient.”

1. Do all SEC schools benefit in recruiting from the league’s six consecutive BCS titles?

2. Here’s a look at how Georgia will be able to bring in more than 25 players in 2013.

3. Defensive end David Bellamy put the work in to receive an offer from Georgia.

4. Running back Trey Rodriguez was wearing a Florida shirt when he met a rival school’s coach.

5. Florida has offered in-state defensive end prospect Joey Ivie.

6. Here are the top performers at this weekend’s Baltimore NFTC.

7. Wide receiver Ryan Jenkins of Marietta, Ga., will cut his list of schools soon.

8. 2014 running back Joseph Yearby has committed to Florida State.

Offensive lineman Jake Campos from Valley High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, has committed to Missouri.

Campos, who had scholarship offers from Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State, chose Missouri as much for the school as the football.

“I would really like to go on to the NFL,” Campos told the Des Moines Register, but I’m hoping to get my master’s degree in engineering. Hopefully I can do both.”

Campos, who’s the 12th prospect to commit to Missouri’s class of 2013, will be playing what’s regarded as the nation’s top conference in the SEC. Valley head coach Gary Swenson believes Campos will be able to adjust in college.

“He played his best games against the people we considered our best opponents,” Swenson said.

Tight end Deondre Skinner from Patterson (La.) High School needed very little time to consider his scholarship offer from Arkansas.

Skinner gave a quick commitment to Arkansas defensive line coach Steve Caldwell when he called on Thursday.

“My coach told me I was supposed to call Coach Caldwell when I got home and I did,” Skinner told 247Sports. “He asked me if I was ready to commit. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He told me coach (John L.) Smith wanted to offer me a scholarship and I committed on the spot.”

Skinner is the second prospect to commit to Arkansas’ class of 2013. The other is running back Kaleb Blanchard from Denham Springs (La.) High School.

Skinner chose Arkansas over offers from Mississippi State, Texas A&M and Louisiana-Lafayette.

Thirty-nine weeks from yesterday.

That’s how long it is until we’re tracking the faxes on National Signing Day 2013.  And since it’s already May — wasn’t it Christmas last week? — we think it’ll seem like a blink of the eye until that day arrives.

It’s been three weeks since our last check of the Big Board and several schools have picked up commitments in that time.  Below we’ll show you how your favorite team — and your hated rivals — are stacking up to date in terms of committed prospects.

As usual, we’ll use Rivals.com’s rankings.  For each star they assign, we’ll dole out a point.  But we’ll also award a point to 0-star recruits because sooner or later those commits will be graded, too (and if they wind up in the SEC, they’ll most likely receive no less than two or three stars).

First, we’ll show you the SEC’s 14 programs rank in terms of total talent points committed on this May 10th:

Next, let’s take a look at the average points per commitment for each program, in order to figure out what caliber athlete is interested in each program (as of now):

And finally, here’s a peek at which schools have picked up the most total points since our last comparator on April 17th:

1. Alabama needs defensive linemen in its class of 2013.

2. Arkansas assistant Paul Petrino is recruiting like he’s staying with the Razorbacks beyond 2012.

3. Add Ohio State to the list of schools offering athlete Jalen Reeves-Maybin.

4. Nick St. Germain will have an opportunity to kick at South Carolina this season.

5. South Carolina quarterback commit Connor Mitch promises to be loyal to the Gamecocks.

6. The month of May will be busy for Georgia coach Mark Richt.

7. Vanderbilt coach James Franklin knows it’s important to recruit Memphis.

8. Kevin Sumlin believes Texas A&M has separated itself from Texas in recruiting.

New LSU basketball coach Johnny Jones knows how to improve the Tigers’ recruiting.

He plans to use Les Miles’ football team as an example.

“We have to do what our football team has been to do and that’s put a fence up around the state of Louisiana,” Jones said Tuesday, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate.

A lot of Jones’ focus will likely be on in-state 2013 targets Jarrell Martin and Brian Bridgewater, two forwards who hold offers from the Tigers. Neither player has committed to a school.

Quarterback Connor Mitch from Wakefield High School in Raleigh, N.C., committed to South Carolina on Tuesday.

Alabama, Auburn and LSU were contenders to land Mitch.

“I don’t know if it was a difficult decision, but it was stressful,” Mitch told the Charlotte Observer. “There was a lot going on in my head. But with South Carolina, it was love at first site. I knew I wanted to go there after my first visit. It has everything that I want.”

Mitch, who’s ranked the nation’s No. 13 quarterback by ESPNU, has the qualities of a pro-style passer.

“Connor has the size and is a very accurate passer,” Wakefield coach Rod Sink told the Observer. “He also has the ability to read the defense and make the right pass.”

1. Four SEC schools are finalists for Salt Lake City quarterback Cooper Bateman.

2. Auburn signee Josh Holsey says he never considered switching to Alabama.

3. Texas A&M has 15 commitments for 2013. Here’s how the class could finish.

4. Arkansas is in good shape with safety George Baltimore.

5. Florida defensive tackle commit Caleb Brantley plans to visit other schools.

6. Here’s a profile of Georgia defensive back commit Shaq Wiggins.

7. Bryan Fischer of CBSSports.com has some freaks from the class of 2013.

8. Is Kentucky basketball done recruiting in the 2012 class? Not necessarily.

Here’s one of the freaks from Mr. Fischer’s list: Texas A&M wide receiver commit Laquvionte Gonzalez.

Defensive end Robert Nkemdiche from Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga., no longer plans to announce his college decision on May 18.

“I’m just not ready yet,” Nkemdiche told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is one of the biggest decisions of my life. I want to go see some new places, and go back to some other places to spend more time with the coaches and to check out the campuses. It’s a big decision, and I want to get it right.”

Nkemdiche, who’s ranked the nation’s No. 1 prospect by ESPNU, has maintained a top five list of Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ole Miss and Clemson. Many analysts have called Alabama the leader with Ole Miss in play because his brother (defensive back Denzel Nkemdiche) is a member of the Rebels.

Other schools, such as Florida, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Southern California, have remained in contact with Nkemdiche with the hopes of entering his recruitment.

The long list of suitors is a reason Nkemdiche has decided to delay his decision.

“I’m probably going to try to take all my official visits and then pick the best school,” Nkemdiche told the AJC. “I probably won’t take any visits during the season because I want to stay focused on my main goal – and that’s helping our team win another state championship. I’ll probably wait until after the season and then go visit schools and stuff.”