L.C. Bird (Chesterfield, VA) head coach David Bedwell has known Deon Clarke since Clarke’s days as a ball-boy for the Skyhawks. Clarke, who arrived at Bird almost three years ago as a “baby fat kid that played aggressive,” has developed into one of the state’s best linebacker prospects in the 2012 class.

“Physically, Deon has really changed over the years,” Bedwell said. “He has slimmed down, gotten stronger, and he sees things really well. He can dissect plays. He makes a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage, which is what a lot of college coaches like to see.”

Clarke, who stands at 6-3 and weighs around 215 pounds, could play any of the three linebacker positions in a 4-3 defensive set, his coach says. Louisville, Virginia and Virginia Tech have offered, but Bedwell believes more could be on the way soon.

“North Carolina is pretty close [to offering],” Bedwell said. “Tennessee is interested. Kentucky, Rutgers, Temple, Penn State…a lot of schools are showing interest. Some of the schools showing interest were worried that he didn’t have a SAT score, so they wanted to find out. He just got the score back and did really well. For him, I think it’s big, because now college coaches know he’s going to be a qualifier.”

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