Arik Gilbert is a freak athlete. He has been recruited for nearly three years now and he is one of the few that could truly name his school right now.
The 6-foot-6, 251-pound star out of Marietta (Ga.) is inching closer to making a decision, and on Monday night, he released his top 10 schools.
Could Gilbert commit to any of those 10 schools? Sure, each would welcome him with open arms, but not all 10 of those schools are true contenders.
Find out who is.
CONTENDERS
Who's truly in this race? Out of the 10 schools he named, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee are schools on another level than the others. There could even be a top two of Georgia and Tennessee, but an official visit to Alabama is coming up June 14 and you can never sleep on Clemson.
Tennessee had Gilbert on campus recently to play paint ball, and some feel the Vols could be the school trending right now. His teammate, good friend and quarterback Harrison Bailey, is committed to Tennessee, so he is in Gilbert's ear daily.
Georgia is the home-state school, it was first to offer and he has visited Athens more than any other campus. He knows he is a priority for the Bulldogs and Todd Hartley, Dell McGee and Kirby Smart all have made that clear.
Alabama has had him on campus a half-dozen times over the years and he will be back in a week and half. You do not hear as much about the Crimson Tide or Clemson, but based on our sources, those two are still very much in this.
PRETENDERS
Over spring break, Gilbert visited LSU, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. All three schools made strong impressions, and if there is one school that could make a move here, it would be the Sooners. The other two cannot be ruled out, but Lincoln Riley and the Sooner offense is very appealing to a player like Gilbert.
Rounding out the top 10 are Auburn, Penn State and USC. Gilbert visited Auburn earlier this year for a Junior Day, but the Tigers have faded some in this race. USC is a school he visited once last summer, but the Trojans may rank 10th on this list if we ranked the order from 1-10. Penn State had Gilbert on campus for the white-out last year vs. Ohio State, and that visit definitely made an impression, but it does not look like the Nittany Lions are a true player right now.
Things can change, and Oklahoma is a school in this group to keep an eye on, but these six are not where the contenders are right now.
DECISION TIMELINE
This is the tricky part. Gilbert is not one who likes to speak on this subject too much because it has changed some over the last few months. We are hearing though that Gilbert has not ruled out a summer decision. Speaking to a source close to him, there does appear to be a favorite at this time, and it seems commitment has crossed his mind at least once over the last couple of months.
The odds are probably higher that he waits until the season to make a decision, but he does have an official visit to Alabama coming up, he was just at Tennessee and he is likely back at Georgia in the coming weeks as well.
Gilbert has always said he is waiting for that "feeling" to tell him he is ready to commit. When will he have that? That is too tough to predict, but with him announcing a top 10, Gilbert is definitely moving in that direction.
