Ten Florida receivers who have shined this fall

We're just past the midway point of the high school season for Florida. Most teams now have six games in the books, and some players in the passing game have really started to break away from the pack. Here's eight ten receivers (well, actually, nine receivers and a tight end) who have emerged this fall. Some were already well-known coming into the season. Some of the others? Well, they weren't quite as well known before this fall.

Now, keep in mind, I'm not advocating that these are the eight best wide receiver prospects in Florida. There have been a number of top prospects (Ermon Lane, Ja'Von Harrison, Corey Holmes and Artavis Scott among them) whose numbers haven't matched those of the players in this post for one reason or another. However, the below-listed prospects have raised their level of play this fall, without a doubt.

Ryan Sousa (6-0, 177, Lake Nona) – The prolific senior out of the Orlando area continues to put up big numbers. Sousa had over 2,400 receiving yards and 30 touchdowns over the past two seasons, and his numbers continue to trend up for Lake Nona. Through six games this fall, Sousa has grabbed 59 receptions for 901 yards (15.3 ypc) and 10 scores. FSU commitment.



Natrelle Jamerson (6-0, 175, Ocala Vanguard) – Jamerson has been a part of a prolific offensive attack for the Knights this fall. Through six games, Jamerson has 39 receptions for 785 yards (20.1 ypc) and eight scores. Tight end Elkanah Dillon has also been very effective for the Vanguard passing game this season, as the Knights are 3-3 on the season.



Mike Boone (5-9, 175, Glen St. Mary Baker County) – Following a 46-7 victory against Paxon on Friday night, the FIU pledge had nabbed 48 receptions for 841 yards (17.5 ypc) and 11 scores through seven games for 5-2 Baker County.



Jordan Franks (6-4, 210, Crawfordville Wakulla) – The senior tight end has thrived with brother Feleipe throwing him passes this fall. Franks had notched 40 receptions for 742 yards (18.6 ypc) and seven scores for the 6-1 War Eagles, before a 28-7 victory over Starke Bradford on Friday night.



Anthony "Shug" Rhynes (5-11, 190, Tampa Middleton) – Rhynes' performance has been overshadowed by the fact he competes on a 1-5 team. Still, the senior receiver had 23 receptions for 811 yards and seven scores following into a 26-21 victory for Middleton on Friday night against Blake, the Tigers' first victory of the season. Rhynes had a 70-yard pass reception for a score in the game.

Travis Rudolph (6-1, 188, West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman) – The Under Armour All-American has put together good numbers on the ground and as a receiver over the past three seasons. But nothing like he's done so far this fall. Through seven games, Rudolph already has career highs of 36 receptions, 762 yards (21.2 ypc) and 11 touchdowns for the 4-2 Crusaders. Rudolph has certainly emerged as one of the top prospects in the state of Florida at the wide receiver position, if not the best.



J.C. Jackson (5-10, 185, Immokalee) – After another big game for the Florida commitment on Friday night in a win over Naples, Jackson now has 18 receptions for 615 yards (34.2 ypc) and 9 scores for Immokalee, despite the fact he's only played in five games for the Indians, who are now 5-2 on the season. Jackson now has two games of 200+ receiving yards in the last three weeks for Immokalee.



Stephen Denmark (6-3, 200, Tallahassee Rickards) – Denmark has been a standout on a surprising 6-0 Rickards squad. He has 23 receptions for 632 yards (27.5 ypc) and eight scores for the season. He also added an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against FAMU High on Thursday, demonstrating why his stock should continue to rise over the course of this season and heading into the weeks leading up to National Signing Day.

Garrett Johnson (5-10, 168, Winter Garden West Orange) – The explosive slot receiver has been incredibly productive once against for West Orange this fall, nabbing 38 receptions for 607 yards (16.0 ypc) and nine touchdowns for the 6-1 Warriors before a 56-7 win over Cypress Creek on Friday night. Johnson had a 63-yard reception for a touchdown and also returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown in that contest as well. Johnson is committed to Kentucky.



Ny'Qwan Murray (5-11, 170, Orlando Oak Ridge) – The central Florida speedster recently picked up his first FBS offer from Cincinnati. Murray had 41 receptions for 788 yards (19.2 ypc) and 10 scores before a 23-20 win over Ocoee to move their record to 4-3 on the year. Murray had a 99-yard TD reception against East Ridge earlier this season, which is linked below.

Why Luther Campbell is an idiot

Luther Campbell (a.k.a. Luke Skywalker) is still famous nearly 25 years after he burst onto the rap scene as a part of the group 2 Live Crew. He's not making music these days, but Campbell is still active in Miami as a businessman, football coach, one-time mayoral candidate and as a columnist for the Miami New-Times.

Luther Campbell with Miami's favorite son, Nevin Shapiro.

Predictably, the notorious Miami fan (yes, he reportedly threw down "bounties" for big plays and injuring opposing players, an NCAA violation I might add) offered his commentary heading into a noon showdown between Florida and Miami at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens on Saturday. Campbell decided to focus the majority of his vitriol towards UF in regards to its history as a "bastion of southern racism." Interestingly enough, Campbell forgot to check the records for "his school's" role in denying equal opportunity to African-Americans.

– In 1940, Miami cancelled a scheduled contest with UCLA because of the presence of four African-Americans on the Bruins' roster. In a twist of fate, one of the UCLA players that caused Miami to rescind their offer to play was Jackie Robinson, the man who would later break baseball's color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

– In 1946, Penn State elected to eliminate a scheduled contest at Miami due to the same policy that forced UCLA to withdraw from the 'Canes 1940 slate of games. Halfback Wally Tripplett was one of two African-American players on the 1946 roster for the Nittany Lions. Selected 182nd overall by the Detroit Lions in 1949, he would go on to be the first African-American player to be drafted by and play in the NFL.

– Campbell points out that the University of Florida did not admit African-American students until 1962. Well, he's wrong. George Starke was the first African-American admitted to the College of Law on Sept. 15, 1958. Despite receiving police protection, Starke withdrew from the school shortly after beginning classes. W. George Allen became the first person of African-American descent to graduate from the College of Law in 1962. At the same time, the first seven UF undergraduates are admitted to UF. Campbell also conventionally forgets to leave out that the University of Miami only began the process of admitting African-American students a year earlier than that, with the Board of Trustees voting to de-segregate on January 31, 1961. This after the school was able to avoid compliance with the Brown v. Board of Education ruling for several years, due to the University of Miami being a private institution.

– Another allegation made by Campbell points out that former UF quarterback Derrick Crudup, Sr., was denied the opportunity to play quarterback at Florida because of his race. Crudup, who enrolled at UF in 1983, later transferred to Oklahoma (where he also didn't play quarterback.) Years later, his son, also a highly-touted signal-caller out of South Florida (Senior starred at Boca Raton, Derrick Crudup, Jr. played at Deerfield Beach). The younger Crudup wound up at Miami where he would himself MAKE CLAIMS OF RACISM after losing a battle for the starting job in 2003 to Brock Berlin. Shocking, right? The elder Crudup was to be passed over for the position by Wayne Peace and Kerwin Bell, two of the best quarterbacks in Florida history. Junior lost out to Brock Berlin. At least the son had a legitimate argument.

– Then of course, there was the Ryan Clement-Ryan Collins racism imbroglio that Campbell HIMSELF started in 1995. Collins, an African-American quarterback who shared the starting job with Frank Costa in 1993, was demoted to second-string in 1994 and lost the job to Clement in 1995 after getting hurt in an early-season loss to Virginia Tech, never made claims of racism against the Miami staff. But after Campbell's comments, he did seem to give off a sense of having never gotten a fair shake at the job during spring practice in 1995.

"He's one of my biggest fans, I guess," Collins said of Campbell in the above-linked article by Randall Mell of what was at the time, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. "For once, somebody's supporting me. That's unusual."

– Finally, there's the assertion that Charlie Strong was passed over for the Florida head coaching job because of his race. This one is a little trickier to navigate. Florida had two opportunities to hire Strong as the head coach. The first in 2001, when Steve Spurrier stepped down. The second, in 2004, after Ron Zook was fired. Strong served as interim coach for Florida in the Peach Bowl, where they were trounced by Miami. At neither point was Strong considered a "hot" head coaching candidate.

That would come later, when his defenses under Urban Meyer were among the best in the country and helped lead the Gators to two national championships. Timing is everything. Had Strong remained on Meyer's staff in 2010, it's entirely possible he would be the head coach at Florida right now. There are lots of theories about that abortion of a season. Some believed it was an audition of sorts for Steve Addazio. But that obviously didn't work out, and he's now at Boston College. I doubt ol' Charlie has too many regrets with the way things turned out for him at Louisville. And, yes, that does include the good old-fashioned butt-whipping he handed the Gators back in January at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

In any case, Strong's career is forever entwined with Florida. He served four stints as a coach at UF, as a graduate assistant from 1983-84 under Charley Pell (the same racist who didn't allow Derrick Crudup, Sr. to take the QB job, mind you), 1988-89 as an outside linebackers coach for Galen Hall, 1991-94 as a defensive line coach for Steve Spurrier, and finally as the defensive coordinator from 2002-09 under Ron Zook and Urban Meyer. UF fans will always have a soft spot for the guy.

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It should be noted that Miami was one of the first programs in the South to integrate their football program, when wide receiver Ray Bellamy joined the varsity football side in 1968 as a sophomore (freshmen weren't allowed to play in those days.) Nat Northington at Kentucky, who began his varsity career for the Wildcats a year earlier, was the only player in the so-called "Deep South" to help integrate a squad before Bellamy.

The University of Miami does have a great track record of helping to advance race relations since the mid-60's in many aspects. But the University of Florida has made considerable progress in those areas as well. To try and argue otherwise is foolish, and Campbell's commentary proves to be nothing more than that. Foolish.