1. Remember Stephon Tuitt, who chose Notre Dame over Georgia Tech in a vigorous and well-documented recruiting battle earlier this year? Well, lost in all the hoopla over the five-star defensive end was the fact that Monroe Area High School had another excellent defensive end playing opposite of him.
That little tidbit of information has not been lost on college recruiters, however, as Kenderius Whitehead is drawing plenty of attention of his own this year. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound rising senior recently landed his ninth scholarship offer from Ole Miss. The Rebels joined Clemson, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Louisville, Notre Dame, South Carolina, UCF and Virginia Tech in the line to secure Whitehead’s services.
“He has the highest motor of any player I’ve ever coached,” Monroe Area coach Matt Fligg said. “He is 6-5 but only 220. But he plays like he’s 290. Very quick and fast.”
Fligg said Whitehead had 54 tackles, 13 sacks, five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries as a junior last season. Whitehead said in a recent article he grew up a Georgia fan but he doesn’t currently have an offer from the Bulldogs. Like Tuitt, he’s an accomplished academician and is thinking about majoring in computer science or similar technology in college.
“My mom stresses to me about academics,” Whitehead told HokieHaven.com. “She says, ‘Son, you can’t play football the rest of your life, it could be taken away from you, once you get an education, you get that degree nobody can take it away from you.’ I’m really looking at getting my degree and how it will help me later on in life. I know if I graduate from Notre Dame, that’s a prestigious college that everybody knows. I want a school with great academics. I’m thinking about a college with computer engineering or computer science. The fact Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech offered is big, especially since I’m trying to work in that field.”
