Parker: Search for high school QBs tumultuous

Once again, the choice was not Tennessee.

Jevan Snead broke down his path to Ole Miss during SEC Media Days. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Jesse Scroggins of Lakewood (Calif.) High School tabbed Southern California over the Volunteers and Florida, meaning he'll play roughly 20 minutes from his current home.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound right-hander had been the focus of Internet message boards for some time and created a buzz as the last remaining high-ranking QB uncommitted.

UT has been passed over by several other signal callers as well.

Blake Bell from Wichita, Kan., committed to Oklahoma. Jake Heaps from Sammamish, Wash., chose BYU. Andrew Hendrix from Cincinnati selected Notre Dame. Memphis' Barry Brunetti opted for West Virginia. Chase Rettig from Sierra Madre, Calif., pledged to Boston College.

Scroggins' decision brings to mind the recruitment of several players and the dilemma of whether to stay home, find the place where immediate playing time is imminent or base it solely on education.

Things hardly go as planned. Quarterback Jevan Snead can vouch for that. He originally committed to Florida, signed with Texas and transferred to Ole Miss.

Snead ended his prep career with a combined record of 23-2 as a starter with 7,955 total yards and 100 TDs over two seasons. In 2006, he was where Scroggins and Co. are now.

He opened his recruiting back up after deciding Gainesville was too far from home. So, Texas became the logical choice.

"Originally, I didn't know I was going to come in and have a chance to play that first year," Snead said at SEC Media Days. "I was kind of hoping for Vince (Young) to stay, be able to redshirt and learn the offense better."

After realizing that Texas coach Mack Brown was in love with Colt McCoy, Snead saw the writing on the wall and wanted to get out of Austin, but transferring from his home state didn't come easy.

Snead admitted he'd heard of former Ole Miss star Archie Manning but thought little of actually attending school there before high school coaches helped him find Oxford on the map.

"I don't even know how I got here, honestly," Snead said. "When I decided I needed to start looking around they started looking at different depth charts and different players. They said, 'What about Ole Miss?' I said, 'Who?' And, they informed me on them. My mind was wrapped up in Big 12 football and in Texas at the time. The more I learned about (Ole Miss), the more intrigued I was."

So, Snead took a visit to Oxford, fell in love with the coaches, players, campus and city.

"I just got that feeling that this is going to be my place, my home."

Now look at him. He's a Heisman Trophy candidate who's following the straight-and-narrow and keeping his eyes on team goals.

"I try not to put too much into it," Snead said of his candidacy. "When you're a kid you dream of stuff like that. I've had a rocky road getting to where I am. Just to be mentioned with all the great players and for the Heisman is a great honor for me. At the same time, I'm not focused on that. That's not my main goal. My main goal is to do everything I can to improve so I can help my team get some wins."

Snead offered some advice for highly-recruited quarterbacks trying to find a home for the next 3-5 years: "Just listen to your parents and trust your heart. You always get that gut feeling on where is good and where is not. I may not be the best person to actually answer that question because I've been to two schools.

"You've got to look at where you'd have the best shot at playing. I honestly thought I was going to be able to play there at Texas but of course they have another great quarterback (Colt McCoy) there."

Danny Parker is sports editor of the Times-Gazette. He can be reached at dparker@t-g.com.