Bain Has an Elite Top Four
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Maquedius Bain has discovered he is no fan of life on the sidelines as an injured player.
While his team went through its last physical practice of the week Wednesday in preparation for its next game the defensive tackle from University School participated mostly as a helper thanks to a shoulder problem that has been hanging around.
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Bain hopes to be back in pads sooner than later.
"Injured life sucks," Bain said. "You can't really do anything but watch. I'd rather just be out here playing with my team than watching them play."
Working through an injury isn't an ideal situation but it has given Bain a chance to think a little bit more about his recruitment, which features some of the top programs in the nation.
Offers are on the table from Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Louisville, LSU, Marshall, Miami, Michigan, Ole Miss, Oklahoma, South Florida, Syracuse, Texas A&M, USC and Wake Forest, among others. Bain is focused on a group smaller than that.
"It's going well," he said. "You've got (Miami), LSU, USC and Oklahoma. That's really the top four that's been hanging around for this while. I talk to Oklahoma, LSU and UM all the time. USC I talk to sometimes. I have a good relationship with coaches so I just take it slow."
Right now the only visit Bain has scheduled is to Marshall on Nov. 3 when it hosts Memphis.
Setting up trips to LSU, Oklahoma and USC is the next priority, Bain said. There is a list of things the 6-foot-3, 310-pound prospect wants to consider once he gets on more campuses.
"Coaching-wise I want to see how they treat their players on and off the field," Bain said. "See if it's a family like we teach out here. See how the education program is. Basically, just having fun in college."
Miami is the program with which Bain is most familiar as it is also the closest to home. Bain sees head coach Al Golden has having built a program similar to what he has been playing in under Roger Harriott at University School.
"Coach Golden has built that program a long way," Bain said. "I like what he's doing with the kids and I like that he cares about the kids just like coach Harriott does out here. All respect to him. I just love what he's doing."
Once Bain visits the other three programs to go along with what he knows about Miami he plans to sit down with his family and discuss all the options available.
For now his timetable to announce is sometime around the postseason all-star games.
"I'll talk to my mom because we're both in it together," Bain said. "We're both gonna make a decision. I've pushed my signing date back so I'm basically committing on signing day instead of the Under Armour game."