I read that we are in his top five along with USC, UCLA, UW, and CAL. I think USC has to much depth at LB so cross them out. UW .... well they have willingham although he has surprised me a bit making into Taylor Mays final 4. I think that it will be between UCLA, CAL and ND. tell me what you guys think.

The only reason Mays cut out the Irish was because his dad hates ND after what they did to his current alma mater's coach (TW). He single-handedly eliminated ND. I think Allen Bradford is Irish because if he looks at it sensibly, he will start next year.

Unfortunately i do not believe Bradford will come all the way to ND, although he has said that if the PAC-10 schools do not have what he wants he will go as far away as needed........on a side note i believe he would be perfect for our Apache position on defense

Well when he was on ESPN chat with thee recruiting analyst he said that he really likes ND. Allen also said that you have to grow up someday and leave mommy and daddys' house at some point.

Man that sucks that Mays father cut out ND, He could have been a 4 year starter.

Man that sucks that Mays father cut out ND, He could have been a 4 year starter.

 

I think ignorant would be a better word. He obviously has no idea about the Ty firing. Ty was fired and should have been fired. He earned the firing.

Well maybe he will change his mind after we beat Washington by 50+ points.

Has the kid and his father ever watched a Ty Willingham coached game. The guy is a horrible coach. He's a wonderful person, I rooted for him because I respect him greatly as a person. but as a coach forgettaboutit.

I think last time I checked we had not offered Bradford. I assumed it was due to academic issues. Has this changed?

Yeah, you're right. I thought he had the offer but he has not. it must still be attempting to get through admissions. I am going to look into this further tonight.

Yeah, I think he is reporting something like a 2.3 GPA, but I might be remembering wrong. I know it was in the mid 2's. That would be my assumption as to why we haven't offered.

Yeah, I think he is reporting something like a 2.3 GPA, but I might be remembering wrong. I know it was in the mid 2's. That would be my assumption as to why we haven't offered.

 

Yeah, 2.3 ain't gonna get it done here.

Ok, I had to check because it was bugging the crap out of me. Per Scout.com:

 

"Bradford reports a 2.6 GPA/June 4 first-time SAT."

 

Sorry about the under-shot GPA Allen. There's still a chance, hit the books and come on down!

Wanted Man

 

All eyes are on Colton's Bradford

 

By Paul Oberjuerge, Staff Writer

 

COLTON - The weight room at Colton High School brings to mind the words "Black Hole of Calcutta."

 

It's jammed under the stands on the home side of the football stadium, perhaps to take advantage of the lack of light and ventilation.

 

The room smells like rotting sweat socks. The bang of clanging iron assaults the ears. In July, it's ninth-circle-of-hell hot.

 

And it is where Allen Bradford likes to spend his afternoons. Getting ready for the 2005 football season ... planning to live up to preseason expectations higher than for any San Bernardino County footballer since NFL Hall of Famer Ron Lott nearly three decades ago.

 

Bradford is the top-ranked college prospect in the state, according to CalHiSports.com.

 

He is the fifth-best prospect in the nation, according to Scout.com ... which places him just ahead of the No. 7-in-the-country ranking Bradford has received from Rivals.com.

 

Both online talent services proclaim him to be the nation's top outside linebacker.

 

But the startling acclaim hasn't yet turned the head of the physical and speedy senior-to-be.

 

"If anything, he's stepped it up a little in the weight room," Colton quarterback Brad Sorensen said. "It's like he wants to prove he deserves the recognition he's getting."

 

Recruiting is an inexact business. It certainly isn't a science - though recruiters attempt to make it one.

 

Prep gods can turn into college mediocrities. The gawky kid could be the next great college quarterback. The doughboy could morph into Anthony Munoz.

 

But every measurement available to recruiters and scouts seems to indicate Bradford is a cut above.

 

That 4.54-second electronic time in the scouting combine 40-yard dash. The 4.28-second time in the shuttle run. The 30-inch vertical jump, the 505-pound squat lift and the 315-pound bench press. The chiseled 6-foot, 222-pound frame.

 

And the mayhem he brings to taking down a ballcarrier.

 

"I'm afraid sometimes he's going to hurt people," Colton coach Harold Strauss said. "He's just so fast and so strong.

 

"At one of the combines he got one of the top running backs in the state and just picked him up and stuck him in the ground."

 

The people who believe they can extrapolate college talent from prep stardom seem united in this opinion: Allen Bradford is something special.

 

Bradford is a postman's worst nightmare: a college prospect nearly every school in the country is recruiting.

 

"My mom or dad always get the mail," he said before a recent practice. "But almost all of it is for me."

 

Pamphlets. Tracts. Updates. Personal notes from coaches.

 

It's only going to get worse - because Bradford isn't very far along in his decision.

 

He's got as many as 15 schools on his active list, including USC, UCLA, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Nebraska, LSU, Mississippi, Washington, Oregon, Cal and Georgia.

 

He has yet to settle on the five schools he wants to visit this winter. That sort of open mind/indecision only heightens the competition for his favor, because so many schools believe they have a shot.

 

New Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis already has been to Colton to meet him. Bradford also has chatted with USC's Pete Carroll, UCLA's Karl Dorrell, Washington's Ty Willingham and more assistants than he can number.

 

"Sometimes a school will call you, and they'll just hand the phone around the coaching staff," Bradford said. "All the assistants. They'll say, `Keep up the good work, and we hope you become a Tiger,' or whatever."

 

The recruiting process already is something of a bore.

 

"Everybody pretty much says the same thing," Bradford conceded.

 

But it will intensify even more, in September, when the current verbal blackout period ends.

 

Bradford knows his phone will begin ringing on Sept. 1. And won't stop until he has signed a national letter of intent binding him to a college.

 

"I plan to answer the phone," he said. "See what they have to say.

 

"I figure this is only going to happen once in my life. I might as well appreciate it."

 

The Yellowjackets' equipment manager won't need to find Bradford a bigger helmet to accommodate a swollen head.

 

"He's the same guy he was a year ago," Sorensen said. "The guy we all look up to."

 

Bradford plans to keep his ego in check. He figures he hasn't accomplished much of anything yet.

 

"I've got my senior year here, and that comes first," he said. "I want to win a championship."

 

And he's talking CIF Division I, not just Citrus Belt League.

 

"Then I've got college and the NFL, I hope. I've got a lot ahead of me."

 

Bradford is young and not particularly worldly. He doesn't turn 17 until August. He loves video games and talking on the phone.

 

His universe pretty much centers on Colton High School and his home in south San Bernardino, where he lives with his father, stepmom (his birth mother died when he was 7) and three younger siblings.

 

He never has left the state.

 

Like, never across the border? "Not even to Vegas," he said. "Never."

 

He has only the haziest of ideas what Georgia or LSU might look like. South Bend winters, Baton Rouge summers ... only a rumor to him.

 

He plans to make unofficial visits to Washington and Oregon next month with his father, Keith.

 

They also considered a trip to the South, to see LSU, Mississippi, Georgia. But with summer school, the start of fall practice, and family finances being limited ... that doesn't appear likely now.

 

No recruit is flawless. Not even the No. 1 recruit in the state of California.

 

Bradford is an average student who is taking English III again this summer in hopes of getting a higher grade - part of his drive to push up his core grade-point average so he can qualify academically with a lower score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

 

In his plans, he figures an 860 SAT score will do. He got a 700 in his first try, but he can re-take the test monthly beginning in September.

 

Then there is his height. Some suggest he's more like 5-11, which is short for a major college outside linebacker - the position Bradford wants to play.

 

Notre Dame's Weis has suggested Bradford could move to inside linebacker, where 5-11, 6-0 is not uncommon. USC's Carroll hinted Bradford could be a running back, which didn't thrill the wanna-play-defense Bradford.

 

Bradford hopes to keep his options open with the help of Mother Nature.

 

"I'm still growing," he said. "My dad is 6-foot. I think I can make 6-1, 6-1“."

 

When he decides on a college, Bradford said the decision will be his. With maybe "5 percent" input from his father and uncle, Greg (who likes UCLA for Allen).

 

"It has to be my decision, because I'm the one who has to go live there and play there," he said.

 

He will be examining depth charts; he wants to play early in his career, perhaps as a freshman.

 

"Everybody tells you you can play right away," he said, "but then you look at their depth chart and see a bunch of linebackers who are freshmen or sophomores. That will be something I look at."

 

For now, the county's hottest prep commodity is keeping an open mind, or at least not tipping his hand, which figures to auger a feeding frenzy of recruiting in and around Colton High School. Perhaps right up to national signing day, in early February.

 

"He's got the whole package," Strauss said. And don't the college guys know it.

 

Top recruit in the state? "It's cool," Bradford said. "That's an accomplishment. They ranked me. But I still have to play the games."

 

Paul Oberjuerge's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at paul.oberjuerge@sbsun.com.

Preseason California Top 100 recruits

 

http://www.CalHiSports.com

 

Area players

 

No. Name*Hgt/Wgt*Pos.*School

 

# 1. Allen Bradford*6-0/222*LB*Colton

# 9. Devin Ross*5-11/185*DB*Rancho Cucamonga

# 26. Shareece Wright*5-11/180*DB*Colton

# 38. Devin Johnson*6-1/205*DE*Rancho Cucamonga

# 58. Toby Gerhart*6-1/217*RB*Norco

# 70. John Reese*6-4/220*TE*Upland

# 79. Zach Niusulu*6-4/290*DT*Barstow

 

 

http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~28777~2973106,00.html

where do you guys think we stand currently with Allen, in the lastet B&G it said that we were in his top 5 but when I go and check out scout it says he has no interest what do you guys think?

I think he is close to becoming a lost cause. I feel we are slipping as I speak. Just my opinion. I honestly think that the only two LB's we have a decent chance at getting are Hunter and Smith.