Armwood Safety Mekhi LaPointe Commits To USF

USF got its 13th commitment for the 2017 recruiting class (and 11th in just over a week) when Armwood safety Mekhi LaPointe announced Sunday night on Twitter that he had chosen the Bulls.

LaPointe, a three-star prospect on 247, currently stands 6’2” and weighs 180 pounds. He was named to the Class 6A all-state second team as a junior last season, when he made 53 tackles and led the state with 10 interceptions as the Hawks won their first 14 games of the year and reached the Class 6A state title game. Mekhi ran one of those interceptions back for a touchdown, blocked a field goal, and defensed three other passes.

Here is LaPointe’s junior year highlight reel from Hudl:

Mekhi chose USF over offers from Cincinnati, NC State, Iowa State, and UCF. With gaudy numbers and film like this, Willie Taggart and his staff may have to fight to hang onto LaPointe.

Not surprisingly, USF’s recruiting rankings have shot up in the last week or so. Before the Saturday Night Live camp, the Bulls were down in the 100s in FBS rankings. They’re now up to 57th nationally on the 247 composite rankings. They’re only 5th in the American, but that’s because the schools in front of them — Houston, Memphis, UCF, and Navy — have all signed many more players than the Bulls. (Navy already has 26 commits! Really!) Just like in 2015-16, USF doesn’t have a full complement of scholarships to give out this year, so their ranking might be artificially low. But their average recruit quality is second in the league, not far behind Houston.