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Wednesday, Feb. 06, 2008

QB Stoudt highlights UofL class

LOUISVILLE — Going into this recruiting season, quarterback wasn't a high priority for the University of Louisville football coaching staff, but that was before Zach Stoudt had a change of heart.

Stoudt, from Dublin-Coffman High School in Columbus, Ohio, had originally committed to UofL's Big East rival, Pittsburgh. But he had second thoughts when Pitt got commitments from two other QBs.

Enter Louisville, which, ironically, had lost committed QB Tino Sunseri to the Panthers earlier in the process.

"We said, let's look at different options, survey all our options before we make a commitment to take another quarterback," UofL coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "But when we heard Zach was available, we jumped right on it."

Stoudt visited UofL this past weekend, and Wednesday became one of the highest-ranked members of the Cardinals' 2008 recruiting class.

Last season Stoudt passed for more than 3,547 yards and led his team to a 13-1 record while completing 65.5 percent of his passes. He is the son of former NFL quarterback Cliff Stoudt.

"When you look at a quarterback you measure him on completions, does he move the sticks, does he convert third downs, does he win football games?" Kragthorpe said. "And he's done all those things. I really, really like him. He's a guy who can throw the football down the field and he's a big, tall pocket passer. Yet you see numerous clips of him making plays on the run. Zach is a tremendous leader and I like the fact he's played against top-quality competition."

In all, UofL signed 22 student-athletes to national letters of intent, with 14 joining eight junior college players who had already signed. Seven of the JUCOs enrolled in January and will participate in spring practice.

Kragthorpe, who is in his second year as UofL's head coach, said he likes the speed and athleticism of the new group, among other things. Rivals.com and Scout.com both rank UofL's recruiting class at No. 57.

"I like this group of guys in terms of the fit they will give us in our program," Kraghtorpe said. "I think they fit our needs in terms of guys who can come in here and have an immediate impact on our football team. I also think they fit in terms of character and quality of people.

"We want to bring not only good football players into our program but also guys who will stay here for four or five years and do things the right way. Be committed to being good citizens, good students and good football players."

The class is heavy in linebackers (four) and offensive and defensive linemen (seven). It includes three players from Cincinnati St. Xavier, the nation's top-ranked high school team last season — running back Darius Ashley, tight end Stephon Ball and defensive end Greg Scruggs.

UofL signed only one player from Kentucky — Louisville Male linebacker Dexter Heyman — and didn't rely on nearly as many Florida prospects as usual. Only tight end Nate Nord (Boca Raton) hails from the Sunshine State.

Nord is the nephew of Louisville assistant coach Greg Nord and the son of former UofL player and coach Gary Nord, who is now an assistant under Howard Schnellenberger at Florida Atlantic University.

Heyman also has UofL connections — he's the brother of current defensive lineman Earl Heyman.

Kragthorpe indicated he might sign two or three other players later.

"We actually have a couple of spots available," he said. "That's something we wanted to do — leave a couple of spots. The possibility of guys who are four-year transfers, possibility of guys who have gone to a junior college and maybe didn't have all the hours they needed to come out right now but could this summer.

"The other avenue we're going to explore is baseball. One of the things I've had success with ... I had a quarterback at Texas A&M and a safety at Tulsa that were baseball players. High-round draft choices who played for four or five years in the minor league system, don't quite make it to the majors, and decide it's time for a life change. That's something we'll explore also."