RCS Orlando Notebook: Cowart shines
OVEIDO, Fla.- Many of Florida's top targets in the central Florida area showed up on Saturday to compete in the RCS stop in Orlando. Before and after the event Inside the Gators was able to touch base with several of them.
Cowart Wins MVP Honors Again
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To say the least Saturday was a strong day for Seffner (Fla.) Armwood five star defensive end Byron Cowart. During one-on-one drills Cowart did not lose a rep and barely had some offensive lineman actually get their hands on him.
At last years Rivals Camp in Orlando Cowart was able to take home the defensive line MVP honors, and went back-to-back winning once again this year. He was also was invited to the Rivals Five-Star Challenge Presented by Under Armour this summer in Baltimore.
"I am glad to go back-to-back and win the MVP at both Rivals Camps that I went to," said Cowart. "I just came out here and got nasty."
On the recruiting front after taking recent visits to Florida State, Georgia and Florida, Cowart is now looking to get out West soon.
"I am just trying to get out to Oregon and USC," said Cowart of future visits. "I will probably go during our spring break. I just really want to see Oregon."
In between his hectic visit schedule the 6-foot-3, 248-pounder has spoken to many college coaches from coast to coast.
"Lately I have talked coaches from Oregon, Coach [Brad] Lawing from Florida, and then USC, Tennessee, UCLA because they just offered me, Georgia Southern also offered me, and then I have talked to LSU I haven't talked to them just yet though only on twitter."
Though Cowart has admitted in the past Alabama, Florida, USC, and Oregon are schools sticking out to him at this time, he is adamant on taking his time with the process and will not make his commitment known until next year.
"Everybody really is equal," said Cowart. "I am just going to wait it out and announce at the Under Armour Game next year. I am going to wait until after my season and then in January heading into the Under Armour game I will narrow it down before I announce."
Jefferson Earns An Invite to Baltimore
Though he wasn't able to take home the defensive lineman MVP on Saturday Glen St. Mary (Fla.) Baker County five-star defensive tackle CeCe Jefferson was able to earn an invite to the Rivals Five Star Challenge Presented by Under Amrour this summer.
Though he was ecstatic about receiving the invite Jefferson stated his main reason for coming out to the camp on Saturday was really only to test his skills against the nation's best.
"I haven't camped in a while, so I am just out here trying to get back in shape and get ready for my spring practices. I am just out here to see where I am at and maybe see some familiar faces that I will see this football season."
Earlier this spring Jefferson visited Georgia, Florida State and Florida and came away impressed with what the trio have to offer. It's those three schools the 6-foot-3, 260-pounder has been in talks with lately as well.
"I have been talking to the same coaches really," explained Jefferson. "Coach [Jeremy] Pruitt at Georgia, Coach [Will] Muschamp at Florida, and coach Odell [Haggins] at Florida State. Not really much has changed they are still after me hard and I am still their number one guy and they say they need me."
In the past many people have pegged Jefferson to the Florida Gators due to his growing up a fan of the Orange & Blue. The Rivals100 big man is well aware of the rumors and didn't exactly shut the door on his fandom being a factor.
"I like it actually," said Jefferson quickly with a smile. "I am not going to say anything because I may end up at Florida and I may not. I won't let anyone make my decision for me and I like the support, but at the end of the day the decision is up to me."
Going forward Jefferson doesn't have any visits set up but named Ohio State and North Carolina as places he would like to go see.
Four-Star James Keeping Two In Mind
Haines City (Fla.) Rivals100 Florida State commit Derwin James also had a strong day in Oviedo as he took home the MVP Award as the top defensive back. James has been noted as one of the top safeties in the state and was looking to prove that to everyone on Saturday.
"I just wanted to come out and compete against some of the best people in my state and show that I can guard anyone. I just am out here to get better and show everyone my talent."
James has been committed to the Seminoles since 2012 when he was a freshman in high school and said he is still solid as ever to FSU.
"I have been a Nole since day one even when they weren't National Champions," explained James. "It's still the same thing Florida State all day."
However earlier this spring James visited the Seminoles biggest rival the Florida Gators and came away impressed with the visit.
"It was actually a lot better than I expected," said James of the Gators. "They showed me a lot of stuff that I wasn't expecting their program to have. I like coach T-Rob [Travaris Robinson] he is a funny guy but at the same time he knows how to be serious."
James stated his reason for taking visits is because "recruiting only comes once in a lifetime" and is looking to continue taking visits to other schools.
"I am probably going to visit some west coast schools sometime this summer probably like USC or something."
So which two schools would have the biggest chance of flipping this longtime FSU commit down the road if anything were to happen?
"Ohio State and Florida," said James. "They got a lot of things to offer and they show me the most love."
Four-Star Cain Has A Strong Day
Tampa (Fla.) Tampa Bay Tech Rivals250 athlete Deon Cain came out on Saturday and worked out mainly at wide receiver. During one-on-one drills against the defensive backs Cain lost very few reps and was one of the top wide outs of the day.
Earlier this month Cain visited Gainesville with fellow Tampa native RayRay McCloud III . During the visit Cain got a chance to sit down and talk with the Florida coaches about where he fits into their new offensive scheme.
"They just told me they want to get the ball to their playmakers and stuff like that," said Cain of Florida. "They said I was a big time recruit and could make a lot of plays in their new offense they want to get the ball in everyone's hands."
Cain also admitted he would like the chance to continue his football career playing on the same team as McCloud and also shared the two have talked about joining forces in college.
"Most likely we are going to play college football together," explained Cain. "We grew up together and have talked about it for a few years now of us playing on the same team one day. We have talked about some of the schools we both have offers from. We are a package deal."
A few weeks ago Cain named FSU as his early leader, but has now become more open with new schools coming to the table.
"It's just more even now," said Cain of his top school. "I still like Florida State but I also like Miami, Florida, Clemson, Tennessee, and Ohio State. Schools like that. I got around and looked at other schools and it's just getting harder."
Going forward Cain plans to check out Miami this spring and then will go out of state on a bus tour. After those visits the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder plans to narrow his list of top schools down.
"Towards the end of the summer I am going to start chopping down my list because I will have taken some more visits and things like that. I don't really know what I will cut it down to though."
Check back over the weekend for extensive coverage of the RCS two stops in the Sunshine State