LINCOLNTON, N.C. The list of teams pursuing Darian Roseboro has continued to grow over the past few weeks, and its still showing no signs of slowing down.
Top247 junior defensive end Darian Roseboro of Lincolnton (N.C.) High School says he has received 27 scholarship offers, with eight of them coming over the past month.
That hasnt made it easy for him to identify any early favorites.
The Top247 junior defensive end from Lincolnton High School said Friday that Tennessee, N.C. State, North Carolina, Duke and Texas currently are high on his list among the 27 scholarship offers he has received, and hes hoping to visit at least a couple of those schools soon.
The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Roseboro made it clear, though, that he hasnt settled on any early leaders because I havent been out to see these schools.
I think a couple schools Im going to get to for spring visits will be N.C. State, Tennessee, South Carolina, said Roseboro, whos ranked the nations No. 144 overall prospect in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite for the 2015 class.
Ill be up at Michigan at the end of March, and then Im going to get down to Ohio State. This summer, were going down to Indiana hopefully Ill stop by down there and I think were going to make a stop at LSU.
Roseboro has added offers from Georgia, Alabama, West Virginia, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Missouri and Syracuse over the past month.
He most recently added offers from Alabama on Tuesday and Georgia on Thursday.
I talked to (Alabama linebackers) coach (Kevin) Steele, and I asked him, What do I have to do to get the Alabama offer? He said, All I want you to do is come down, but you have an offer from Alabama. We just want to get you on campus as many times as we can, Roseboro said.
The 6-foot-4, 265-pound Roseboro added offers this week from Alabama and Georgia.
It kind of caught me off guard. I was like, OK. I had to sit there and ask him to repeat it again just to make sure I heard everything right. I was pretty excited about it. Theyre a powerhouse. They always produce great players that go in the (NFL) draft, and (I like) the tradition Alabama has and the Auburn-Alabama tradition.
I talked to (Georgia) tight ends coach (John Lilly), and he told me, We love you on film. We loved everything youve done. ... He said, You have a full ride to the University of Georgia.
Roseboro said N.C. State, Duke, North Carolina, Tennessee and Michigan are among the teams recruiting him hardest, but every school has picked up its interest in recent weeks.
He discussed what he likes about several of those teams:
Duke: I really like Coach (David) Cutcliffe. Theres something special they have that theyre building up there, and thats something I really look into. They treat every player (well). You go to some of these schools, and they treat you just as another number. But they treat you as one of their own, and you can really tell that and sense that the players care for the coaches just as much as the coaches care about the players.
Tennessee: Theres just something about Tennessee. Its that tradition they have down there and how theyd put me in the defensive scheme where theyre saying I can come in and help the defense. They broke everything down to me and my parents: Ill play this and I can make bigger plays playing this position.
Michigan: Some coaches say that they care about the (players). I want to see more how the coaches coach their players if they just straight put them down. Of course, theyre going to get onto the players, but how they go about their coaching. Is it going to be a way I can be coached? I can be coached, but I dont have to be coached a certain way.
N.C. State: N.C. State, their coaching staff, theyve obviously gotten some of the top players in our state to go there and commit. I believe, if you keep your best in-state players, then you can contend for a national championship because, just going by the past, if you look at all the players thats come out of the Carolinas, just imagine if those players stayed in the Carolinas and were on one team. I really like what theyre building down there. Theyre getting some of the top players. Coach (Ryan) Nielsen, hes a great D-line coach. Hes a fun guy. But when it comes to taking care of business, hes all about it and hes serious about it.
North Carolina: I like what theyre doing down there in Chapel Hill. Id have to say theyre getting top players as well. Actually, one of my friends, (North Carolina freshman running back) Elijah Hood, were really close. I talk to him every so often. Actually, I got to see him when I was down there for about an hour. Chapel Hill, they have tradition. Julius Peppers came out of there, and Ive always been a big fan of Julius Peppers. And (defensive line) coach (Keith) Gilmore, he breaks everything down to the fundamentals. He tries to teach you how to be a better man, how to grow into being a man and the other important things besides football.
Texas: Actually, Im starting to like a little Texas just what Im building with their defensive line coach (Chris Rumph). Hes a fireball. You can just sit there and tell that he loves the game of football, and he can sit there and just tell you about it, tell you about it.
Roseboro said hes still several months away from deciding on a college.
Im early enrolling, he said. I only have one class to take my senior year. Im going to do it before the season. Right before my first game is when Im going to do my commitment.
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