Tar Heels, Trojans, Tigers make Leifheit's final cut

One of the biggest recruiting targets—literally and figuratively—in the Carolinas has narrowed his college choices down to three.

T.J. Leifheit, Wilmington Hoggard High’s 6-foot-7, 300-pound offensive tackle, has reduced the schools on his radar to LSU, North Carolina and Southern Cal, according to Hoggard coach Scott Braswell.

In cutting to his finalists, he dropped semifinalists N.C. State, South Carolina, Florida, Florida State and Tennessee.

Leifheit, who is ranked No.7 on our NC Top 25 Prospects list, originally had more than 30 offers. His commitment to North Carolina would be huge, considering that the Tar Heels have already landed one highly-rated lineman in James Hurst.

“I think most of the kids I've had in the past have really just looked local for their options, or regional for their options,'' Braswell told the Fayetteville Observer’s Sammy Batten. “He's traveled a little more than a lot of kids who grow up in our area and want to stay in the Carolinas. His parents are from different parts of the country, and he has family in California. So he has more of a national experience in his background that I think opens him up to looking beyond the Carolinas.''

"I think T.J. has a lot of potential. He's going to have to improve his ability to bend at the next level. He has to have the flexibility to bend and get his pads lower. Those things kind of all go together.''

--Stan Olson