Tag: Karmelo Overton

4-star linebacker ‘felt real comfortable’ during recent Florida visit

This blue-chip 2023 linebacker came away from his Gainesville visit impressed.

Billy Napier and his staff made a huge impression on a plethora of top prep prospects over the weekend as Florida football hosted its annual Friday Night Lights and team cookout events to close out the month of July. In attendance was 2023 four-star linebacker [autotag]Karmelo Overton[/autotag] out of Ozark (Alabama) Carroll, who came away from his second-ever visit to the Swamp quite impressed with what he saw.

The biggest mark made on the 6-foot, 200-pound rising senior so far comes courtesy of inside linebackers coach Jay Bateman, who has led the way in the student-athlete’s recruitment. According to Swamp247’s Blake Alderman, a close connection has been forged between the two.

“I love the man,” he admitted. “I feel like the bond and the connection is all there. Personally, I am really excited to keep things going with him. He’s kind of like an uncle figure that you’ve never had. He’s always checking on me and making sure I am good. We have talked a lot since the first time I was there back in June. He thinks I could be a guy to play some MIKE and WILL. He said he thinks I can be an all-around player. They think I can fit whatever style they would want me to do.”

The linebacker’s overall opinion of the program put together by Napier and Co. also exudes positive vibes, as noted in his comments on his most recent visit.

“It felt real comfortable and real welcoming. They had a family reunion type vibe on campus with their cookout. I didn’t know a majority of the recruits there, but at the cookout, they split us into teams and we did little events. It was a way to make connections. We had a scavenger hunt, we made tik-toks, and then there was like trivia. I felt like we had the best group out there.”

However, despite all of the feel-good talk, the blue-chip prospect has yet to receive an offer from Florida. There appears to be some interest but a scholarship has yet to be extended.

“I know the interest from them is there,” he noted when queried about offer-talk. “I think I am a guy they are watching, but I think things will just work themselves out. I know they don’t have any linebackers, so maybe that is a chance for me. I really like everything about them. At camp and the cookout, they had some of the players there and I was talking to them. They were all real cool. There is just something about The Swamp. It’s just a different feeling.”

While he has yet to make any official visits, he is eyeing a stop-in for the season-opener against the Utah Utes. Otherwise, the Mississippi State Bulldogs and Arizona State Sun Devils are the only other programs he is reportedly in extensive contact with.

Overton is assigned a four-star rating and ranked No. 358 overall and No. 28 at his position in his class nationally according to the 247Sports composite, while the On3 consensus rates him as a three-star prospect and has him at Nos. 428 and 41, respectively. The South Alabama Jaguars are in the lead for his commitment according to On3’s Recruiting Prediction Machine with a 42.7% chance of landing him while the Arkansas Razorbacks are second at 37.4%.

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Clemson showing interest in playmaking Alabama LB

Clemson is showing interest in a versatile and athletic linebacker from the Yellowhammer State who describes himself as an all-around, “unpredictable” playmaker. Carroll High School (Ozark, Ala.) four-star Karmelo Overton – a 6-foot-3, 215-pound …

Clemson is showing interest in a versatile and athletic linebacker from the Yellowhammer State who describes himself as an all-around, “unpredictable” playmaker.

Carroll High School (Ozark, Ala.) four-star Karmelo Overton – a 6-foot-3, 215-pound junior in the 2023 class – has been in contact with Tigers’ assistant coach Lemanski Hall.

“He asked for my film,” Overton told The Clemson Insider.

“They want me to come up for a spring practice,” he added.

Overton was still working to arrange a Clemson visit at the time he spoke with TCI, but said he was looking to travel to Tiger Town in hopes of making a good impression on the coaching staff and adding the Tigers to his offer list which already includes Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi State, Missouri, South Carolina, Georgia Tech, Syracuse and Arizona State among others.

“I’m hoping I come up there, everybody loves me, I get the O (offer), and we just take stuff out from there,” he said.

Overton is ranked as high as the No. 198 overall prospect in the 2023 class by Rivals, which considers him the No. 8 inside linebacker in the country for his class.

Asked to sum up himself as a player, Overton simply responded, “Unpredictable on the field.”

“Any time I step on the field, I’m only out there for one reason, and that’s to make plays,” he added.

A multisport standout, Overton also competes in track and field, and has been doing so since he was in the seventh grade. He placed fourth as a sophomore last May at the Alabama 5A state meet in the 110-meter hurdles (15.73) and eighth in the 300-meter hurdles (42.82).

According to Overton, college coaches love the fact that he does hurdles, and he believes the skills he uses in track and field translates to his success in football as well.

“Being a person my size and playing the position I play, being able to jump over hurdles, that’s a big deal in everybody’s eyes,” he said.

“I feel like track in general helps everybody on the football field, no matter what position you play. Because it teaches you how to have a better get-off and everything else that comes with it – speed, all that.”

On the gridiron, Overton tries to emulate his game after Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons – a 2021 first-team All-Pro and the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year – and sees himself as a similar type of do-it-all linebacker.

“Just the fact that he’s big, he goes out and covers, and then he could rush the quarterback like he’s a D-lineman,” Overton said of why he looks up to Parsons. “At this day in time, you’ve got to be able to cover a running back, tight end, slot (receiver), just to even be considered as a good linebacker.”

As for where things stand with Overton in the recruiting process, he plans to release his list of top 10 schools sometime later this spring after he makes visits to check out various schools. The only visit he had locked in when he spoke with TCI was a trip to Mississippi State.

Several things will factor prominently into Overton’s eventual college decision.

“Coaching staff, team history, national championship worthy, location,” he said. “A little bit of everything will go into it.”

–Photo courtesy of Karmelo Overton on Twitter (@MeloOverton)

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