QB Gray to Ga; Aub, Bucks, PSU, NC, Duke, Minn, Bay, UTEP, Lou

By Bill Hodge - July 18, 2006

# Top 150 quarterback Logan Gray of Columbia-Rock Bridge, Mo., has chosen the Georgia Bulldogs over Missouri, Florida and Auburn. He passed for 2169 yards and 25 touchdowns as a junior.

# Linebacker Eltoro Freeman of Alexander City-Benjamin Russell, Ala., is headed to Auburn over Clemson, LSU, Louisville, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech and Tennessee, among others.

# Ohio State gained a pledge from offensive lineman Evan Blankenship of Monaca-Center Area, Pa., over Pittsburgh.

# Penn State gained a pledge from defensive back Stephfon Green of Bronx-Kennedy, NY.

# North Carolina has a commitment from defensive lineman Miguel Chavis of Fayetteville-Terry Sanford, NC.

# Duke gained pledges from linebacker Damian Thornton of Lenoir-Hibriten, NC; and offensive lineman Jonathan Needham of Melrose, Mass.

# Defensive lineman Oliver Haney of Clark-Johnson Regional, NJ., is the 12th commitment for the Minnesota Gophers.

# UTEP has pledged receiver Rishard Matthews of Clovis, NM.

# Baylor gained its 18th pledge in kicker Derek Epperson of Keller, Tex.

# Football/basketball standout Josh Chichester of of West Chester-Lakota West, Ohio, who signed with Louisville, did not qualify and will attend Cincinnati-Harmony Community School, Ohio, for a semester. He expects to join the Cardinals in January and still have four years of eligibility remaining. The 6-foot-8 receiver/forward initially committed to Ohio State, but the Buckeyes pulled their offer due to qualifying concerns.

# Ohio State running back Erik Haw of Columbus-Independence, Ohio, says he will transfer to Jackson State, a Division I-AA school. Haw, a 6-1, 212-pound sophomore who has three years of eligibility remaining, played in four games and rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown last season for the Buckeyes. Haw said he picked the Tigers over UCLA, Arizona State, Rutgers and West Virginia. By transferring to Jackson State, he is eligible to play immediately instead of having to redshirt if he went to another Division I-A school.