Golden Recruits: Austin Hinder Our 2nd Army All-American, Whiteside Talks About Colorado

via media.steamboatpilot.com (Photo from Steamboat Springs newspaper)

Austin Hinder, QB, Steamboat Springs, Steamboat Springs, CO

Hinder will join his future teammate Nick Forbes in San Antonio in January.

Austin Hinder would rather deflect the attention from himself.

But the quarterback many have touted as the top in the state and among the country’s elite will be recognized again at 3 p.m. today at the Kelly Meek Gymnasium in Steamboat Springs High School. There, representatives from the U.S. Army All-American Bowl will present Hinder a jersey and an invitation to play in the Jan. 9 game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The game features the top high school players in the nation and is broadcast live on NBC.

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"It means a lot," Hinder said. "It was one of the goals I was working toward. To do it was awesome. It was amazing to get invited. It all comes down to hard work and preparing for the next week."

Hinder, who burst onto the national scene after his sophomore year and performing well at national camps, has helped the Sailors to an 8-0 record. The senior has accumulated 1,761 yards rushing and passing to go along with 23 touchdowns, despite spending a good portion of second halves on the bench because of big Steamboat leads.

Hinder passed 13-22 for 129 yards and a touchdown, and rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries in a 42-14 rout of Steamboat Springs's rival, Moffat. Check out the video highlights here! This week he plays his final home regular season game against Buena Vista, 7 PM local kickoff.

More on our current recruits, plus possible prospects after the jump (including the three huge prospects Cal is in the running for visiting Eugene for USC-Oregon).

Cecil Whiteside, LB, Newport Harbor, Newport Beach, CA

Whiteside is doubtful with an injury he sustained last week in a defeat to Edison.

Whiteside, who also plays wide receiver and returns kicks, injured his elbow early in the second quarter of the Sailors’ 34-6 loss to Edison. He returned in the second half and played defense, never taking a snap on offense against the Chargers, the No. 1-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division poll.

He also enjoyed his trip to Boulder when the Buffaloes upset Kansas.

"I had a great trip to Colorado, I really loved it there," Whiteside said. "That's one of the most beautiful campuses I've ever seen and the overall atmosphere the whole weekend was great. The game environment was a lot of fun and I love how passionate the fans are. I could tell all the guys on the team were there for one reason and that's to win football games.

"That place really can get loud. The atmosphere at Cal is petty comparable as well, but the only difference was Colorado won and Cal lost the game I was at, so the crowd obviously had more opportunity to be loud in Boulder. Brian Lockridge, who is from southern Calif., was my host and I got along great with all the guys there. They have a lot of players from Cali there and everyone really made me feel welcome the entire visit."

Following the great visit to Boulder, Whiteside talked about how strong his commitment to the Bears still is.

"It's still pretty solid, I like Cal a lot," Whiteside said. "I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision and that's why I wanted to take some of these trips. This is a huge decision and I want to make sure I'm picking Cal for all the right reasons.

Other recruiting news

Chris Adcock, OL, Dallas Christian, Dallas, TX

Adcock had six tackles on defense in a 21-13 victory over First Baptist to clinch 1st place (first place in what exactly, I'm not sure). This week, his team is on a bye.

Tevin Carter, WR, Santee High, Los Angeles, CA

Carter apparently didn't play in a 47-14 knockout of Contreras, as he didn't appear on the statsheet. Will add details next week once we find out if anything happened.

Alex Crosthwaite, OL, Cathedral Catholic, San Diego, CA

Crosthwaite and his O-line helped unleash their tailback for almost 10 yards a carry (14 carries, 137 yards, TD) in a 48-7 beatdown of Mira Mesa. This week: vs 1-6 Patrick Henry, 7 PM local time.

Davon Dunn, WR, Lincoln High, San Diego, CA

Dunn did not play this week in an 18-7 loss to St. Augustine, due to injury.

Dunn, a two-position standout as a DB and running back, suffered a knee injury against Mission Bay and after being part of the upset of Cathedral Catholic last week, Hornets coach Ron Hamamoto decided to wait for the results of an MRI before playing him.

If Dunn were to play this week, he'd be playing Scripps Ranch, 6:30 PM local kickoff.

Nick Forbes, LB, Thomas Johnson High, Frederick, MD

The other Army All-American Forbes had a tough game against Class A state runner-up Fort Hill. No defensive stats are available on his performance as of yet. TJ plays Linganore this week at 7 PM local time.

Nick Forbes entered the game averaging 12.7 yards per carry on the season, however he was held to just 14 carries for 34 yards on the night. On defense, the Sentinels attacked Forbes and stayed away from Jeremy Grove consistently, picking up nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns on the night.

Geoffrey Gibson, OL, Bishop Gorman, Las Vegas, NV

Gibson and his O-line counterparts unleashed another 200 yards of rushing offense in a 56-6 drubbing of Spring Valley. Bishop Gorman has outscored their opponents 382-29 as they gear for the playoffs. Their final regular season game is tonight versus Clark, 7 PM local kickoff.

Joshua Harper, WR, St. Mary's, Stockton, CA

Harper had 3 rushes for 41 yards, 4 catches for 72 yards and a touchdown, 5 tackles, and 2 punt returns for 11 yards in an unbelievable 85-40 victory over Stagg. St. Mary's remains undefeated; they play at home against McNair, this Friday at 7:15 PM local time.

David Wilkerson, LB, Monte Vista, Danville, CA

Wilkerson rushed for 2 TDs in the red zone in a 41-37 nationally televised (ESPNU) loss to Foothill. He carried the ball 7 times for 32 yards. This week they play at Granada at 7 PM local time.

Golden Prospects

Big thanks to solarise for gathering these links.

Finally before everyone jumps on the Oregon bandwagon, take a look at the recruits showing up in Eugene this Saturday (again big ups to solarise).

Three high school seniors are taking their official visits to Eugene this weekend.

Lache Seastrunk, RB
Temple, TX

For those with ESPNU, this Thursday’s High School Showcase will be in Temple, TX, where Lache Seastrunk will be on display. He had high praises for Cal after his visit.

Check out Lache in action: 1 2. Excellent speed. Seems to have a fifth gear.

Owamagbe (Owa) Odighizuwa, DE
Portland, OR

Born in Columbus, OH & moved to Nigeria when he was 3, Owa didn’t start playing competitive football until eighth grade. Now the 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior spends Friday nights on the football field terrorizing his opponents.

In a recent game against Hood River Valley, Owa racked up nine tackles and two sacks while repeatedly fighting off double- and triple-teams. At one point, Hood River (Ore.) quarterback Sam Kopecky took an intentional grounding penalty by airmailing a pass last seen entering Seattle airspace rather than experiencing the alternate ending.

After visiting Cal on 10/2/2009, Owa will likely visit UCLA, Florida, USC, and Nebraska/Notre Dame, with unofficials to Oregon and Oregon State. He likely won’t make an announcement until January.

Gabe King, DE
Eugene, OR

No one debates the 6’ 6" 253-pound King has the physical tools to succeed at the next level. Rivals even compares him to a young Reggie White. Gabe is heavily recruited by Oregon, California and Alabama, among others. He is recovering from a recent knee injury but plans to play at the Army All-American Bowl come January.

Will have more updates this Friday. Note: Cassius Marsh has verbally committed to LSU.

Do you seriously want to exercise the possibility of two powerhouses in the Pac-10  to deal with the next decade? One's bad enough.