2013 College Football: Weekly Recruiting Roundup

As the summer recruiting season approaches, we'll hit on big camps, big combines and other points of interest on the 2013 recruiting landscape. To kick things off, we'll take a quick whip-around the nation to see what's going on.

A few years ago, teams were using March exclusively to prepare their teams for spring ball. They would entertain a few recruits during scrimmages, but wait until April and the spring game to bring in high-profile recruits.

Now that is not the case as the recruiting landscape has grown increasingly ferocious. Teams are seeking out big commitments earlier and trying to load up for the next season's recruiting cycle.

In Dayton, Ohio, there's a player named Darrien Howard, a linebacker at Chaminade Julienne High School, who is drawing serious interest after posting a 102.99 SPARQ score. He already was on the radar with most folks, but his improvements from last year to this year have helped him land offers from Pitt, West Virginia and Illinois. This four-star is a kid that the bigger fish like Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State have yet to offer, but as he gets into the summer we could see more schools get on board if he has a strong camp season.

From a kid waiting on offers to one with a boatload of them, we look at the nation's top recruit, Robert Nkemdiche, a defensive end who people are putting in the same rarefied air as JaDaveon Clowney. Nkemdiche recently visited LSU and enjoyed himself, but the rising senior is waiting until May 18th to announce his commitment.

It's a smart move by the kid to take his time, but he should try to make his decision before he begins his long summer of training for his senior year.

Staying in the Peach State, we turn to a guy who the more I watch, the more I like. That would be Alvin Kamara, the running back most famous for the onslaught of letters he's received from Nick Saban. More recently, Kamara has shown some real interest in Georgia.

Up in the Midwest, there is another running back with a ton of offers; Ty Isaac of Joliet Catholic in Illinois. He has offers from schools coast to coast and is the only top-three running back not committed.

As far as commits go, Michigan picked up one from running back Deveon Smith this week. The three-star prospect is in the pro-style mold that Brady Hoke favors and keeps Hoke strong in Ohio.

Donnie Miles, a three-star defensive back, picked North Carolina over Tennessee this week. Add Miles to another commit, cornerback Brian Walker, and new coach Larry Fedora is off and running in Chapel Hill.

LSU pulled in John Diarse, an athlete who plays safety and wide receiver, to make it six commitments for the Bayou Bengals, a team that didn't wrap up 2012's recruiting cycle in normal Les Miles fashion. Miles also has Greg Gilmore, a defensive end from Hope Mills, N.C., listing LSU as the leader.

There's a lot going on and we'll continue to follow the big picture as coaches look to get more kids to commit heading into the spring game and then the summer-camp season.