Recruiter of the week: Missouri’s Cornell Ford
Ford, who is Missouri’s cornerback coach, got four-star wide receiver Jimmie Hunt of Cahokia (Ill.) High to commit to the Tigers over the weekend. Cahokia coach Antwyne Golliday said Ford is a big reason Hunt committed to the Tigers.

“Coach Ford did a tremendous job recruiting Jimmie,” Golliday said. “He made sure to put their academics on top, which was an important factor for Jimmie. Coach Ford made it clear that a really high percentage of football players get their degrees, and that was something that Jimmie really liked to hear about.

“It also doesn’t hurt that they’ve had some great receivers the past few years, and the way that Coach Ford and the offensive coaches showed Jimmie how he could be used in their system proved to be a great fit.”

Ford also has recruited another one of Missouri’s top commitments in the 2010 class in three-star athlete Marquise Hill of St. Louis Trinity Catholic. Ford is also heavily involved in the Tigers’ efforts to reel in blue-chip offensive linemen Nick Demien of Wentzville (Mo.) Timberland.

Who’s that guy?
At Saturday’s NIKE Training Camp in Champaign, Ill., a lot of the attention was focused on star prospects such as defensive end William Gholston of Detroit Southeastern. But after the one-on-ones started, the attention quickly turned to the guy who was dominating Gholston in those battles – offensive lineman Connor Kruse of Lowell (Mich.) High.

Not much was known about Kruse heading into the camp – he wasn’t even in the Rivals.com recruiting database until recently – but after handling Gholston in one-on-ones and looking solid in drill work, he’s a name to remember.

“I have one offer from Western Michigan,” said Kruse, who is 6-4 and 280 pounds. “I’m hoping a camp like this will help get me on the map even more. I wanted to test myself against the best, and [Gholston] was supposed to be the best. I think I handled him quite well. You saw he didn’t want anything to do with me when it was time again. He backed away from me.”

Etc.

• Three-star wide receiver Joshua Harper of Stockton (Calif.) St. Mary’s earned a California offer after a strong showing over the weekend at the Bears’ camp. “I felt like I did a pretty good job out there,” Harper said. “They have a great offense, and this is an offer I’ve been wanting for a while now. I’m definitely excited about it.”
• LSU has been busy the past few days, picking up commitments from Sam Gibson, Ronnie Vinson and Justin Maclin. Gibson is a three-star linebacker from Prattville (Ala.) High, Vinson is a four-star athlete from New Orleans Isidore Newman School and Maclin is a four-star linebacker from Memphis (Tenn.) Ridgeway. Vinson and Maclin are ranked in the Rivals250.
• Detroit Southeastern defensive tackle Johnathon Hankins added an offer from Ohio State recently. He said Ohio State has leapfrogged into the No. 1 spot on his list after the offer. “I have been waiting for Ohio State to offer me,” Hankins said. “Now that I have heard from them, I am really, really interested in them.”

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