NCAA FB

Lobos Wooing Florida Prospects

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Updated Jul 6, 2009 11:30 AM ET
     
 
The University of New Mexico's new slogan under firstyear coach Mike Locksley is "New Era, New Energy." The Lobos are proving those words true, at least on the recruiting front. Two nationally ranked high school prospects from Florida in the class of 2010 visited the UNM campus last weekend. TheRedMenace.com was the first to report visits by Hialeah Senior High School players Corey Lemonier and Calvin Smith. Hialeah is located in the Miami area. Lemonier, a 6-foot-4 , 225-pound defensive end, is listed as a five-star recruit by Scout.com. The site lists him as the No. 3-ranked prospect at end in the country. Rivals. com "only" rates Lemonier as a four-star recruit and the No. 7-ranked weakside defensive end in the nation coming out of high school. Smith, a 6-4, 265-pound defensive tackle, also is a fourstar recruit on Rivals. The site lists him as the No. 20 defensive tackle in the country and the No. 71 prospect overall. Scout gives him a three-star rating and projects him as the No. 38 prospect at his position. Efforts to reach Lemonier and Smith through their high school coach, Hialeah's Marc Berman, have been unsuccessful. Locksley confirmed the Lobos are recruiting both but couldn't comment further because of NCAA regulations. That UNM is chasing the proverbial "blue-chip" athlete is a departure from the regime of former coach Rocky Long. That the two were in Albuquerque, checking out the campus, alone is a positive sign for the Lobos. Rivals.com recruiting analyst Barton Simmons wrote a story, talking to the duo while they were here. Smith told Rivals that he and Lemonier intend to play together in college , and the appeal of playing as true freshmen makes UNM appealing. "The D-Line coach, I was with him the whole day," Smith said in the article. "He said we would have a guaranteed starting position. I like him, coach Trotter." Hopefully it was Simmons and not Smith who didn't know the Lobo defensive line coach's name is former NFL standout Rubin Carter. Lest anyone think that the two don't have the same offer from other places, they do. According to Rivals, both have scholarship offers from Florida, Florida State, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi, Notre Dame, South Carolina and Tennessee. And New Mexico. Under Long, UNM rarely flirted with blue-chip athletes. That might've been due to the fact that in 1999, Long's second year, the Lobos spent an enormous amount of time and money recruiting quarterback Josh Heupel. Heupel verbally committed to UNM, only to back out when Oklahoma swooped in with an offer the week before signing day. Heupel went on to become the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2000, leading the Sooners to the national championship. No guarantees can be expected from the Lobos, if they do sign the Florida dynamic duo. But they figure to get closer to where they want to go if somehow Lemonier and Smith find New Mexico too enchanting to pass up. CLOSING IN ON '09: The Mountain West Conference Football Media Meetings will take place July 21-22 in Las Vegas, Nev., at which time the preseason media poll and all-conference teams will be released. Senior center Erik Cook and senior safety Ian Clark will be UNM's player representatives. The Lobos will report for fall camp Aug. 5, and the first fall practice is Aug. 6.
Tagged: New Mexico, Illinois, Florida

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