Fresh off of an MVP performance at the Champion Gridiron Kings event that was a part of the recent ESPN RISE Games at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., Latwan Anderson of Glenville High School was back on the practice field this week with his fellow Tarblooders, preparing for the start of his senior campaign.

Both Anderson and teammate Christian Bryant, along with Alex Smith from Lakota West, were all members of the Midwest team from the state of Ohio at the inaugural event.

“The whole thing was a 7-on-7 tournament with the best 64 players in the country,” Anderson said.  “I think it was the 16 best from each region.”

Anderson, ranked as the state's No. 14 prospect by Ohio High magazine, went there looking to earn some respect from the outset.

“Going into it there was this thing on the Internet where they put me against some kid from Florida and asked who would win.  I guess a lot of people said he would,” Anderson said.  “But I hadn’t paid any attention to it.  I haven’t even seen it.  But going into it, I just felt like I was the best one there so I had to show them.  And doing what I did down there, before I left I made sure I told them ‘I’m the best until proven wrong.’ ”

His overall performance was indicative of that claim.

“On the first day I had four picks and I took all four of them back (for scores),” Anderson said.  “And on the second day, the televised version of it, I had five and took two back.  And I won the MVP.”

It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for Anderson and he was determined to make the most of it.

“It was a fun experience but I wasn’t really that excited because I knew, going into it, what I was going to do and what I was planning to do,” said Anderson of his four-day venture.  “They had it set up where it was like being in college already.  We had to be up by 6:30, we had breakfast and we had to be on the practice field at a certain time.  But it was real fun.”

And when it was all over, Anderson felt validated by some of the encouraging words he was on the receiving end of.

“At the end of the event and everything, a lot of former NFL players and some of the coaches there came up to me and they were like ‘yeah you are the best I’ve seen,’ ” Anderson said.  “So I feel like I’m getting the respect that I deserve.”

But not a whole lot has changed on the recruiting front for Anderson yet.

“I got an offer from Clemson and I’m kind of getting to talk with Florida right now too,” he said.  “Everything else is pretty much the same. Everything else is still pretty normal.”

And nothing has really changed with Anderson on the Ohio State front.

“No I haven’t really talked to them.  I haven’t really worried about it though,” he said.  “I don’t really think about it any more.  If they want me, they want me.  If not, oh well.”

He’s not about to let the fact that they haven’t offered him a scholarship bother him any longer.

“At first it did.  But now I feel like I have options so I don’t have to sit there and try to think of reasons why they haven’t offered me and all this other stuff,” Anderson said.  “I have to much to think about now.”

Like some of the other top recruits in the country, Anderson still has some academic issues to tend to.  He has scored 850 on the SAT, a 16 on the ACT and had a 2.7 GPA when he left St. Edward.  But he’s not certain of the reason why he hasn’t been offered although he might have an idea.

“It could be the St. Ed’s situation.  I know a lot of people started rumors of how I got in a fight with a teacher and all of this other stuff, which never happened,” Anderson said.  “But I don’t know.”

But admittedly Anderson said an OSU offer now wouldn’t have quite the same effect as it might have once had.

“Right now, if they were to offer me now that would be good but I really wouldn’t be as excited as I would have been maybe earlier in the process,” said Anderson, who is well aware and respectful of the Glenville pipeline to Ohio State.  “But I don’t feel (the pipeline) really matters in my situation.”

He’s just excited to be involved in the recruiting process in general.

“It’s real exciting.  I feel like I’m making my parents proud and all the little kids that run around here.  I feel like I’m doing something for them also,” Anderson said.  “So it’s real exciting to be doing something for me and for them.”

With offers from the likes of West Virginia, Georgia, Michigan State, Michigan, North Carolina, Cincinnati and Miami (Fla.), his list is impressive enough already.  The Mountaineers seem to have an early advantage over the other schools.

“I’ve been there at least two or three times and I really like it more and more every time I go,” Anderson said.  “I have friends that were at St. Ed’s my freshman year who go there.”

So after winning a state championship as a member of Glenville’s 4x200 meter relay team in June and being named MVP at an elite 7-on-7 passing camp in July, the St. Edward transfer is more than happy to be back practicing with his new Tarblooder teammates on the gridiron.

“It’s real fun right now because we’ve been in practice and we’ve seen everything come together and we saw that we have a good chance to maybe get that ring,” Anderson said.  “So this is an exciting time for us right now.”

And Anderson himself is excited to be on the same team with Bryant now. The two got to spend some quality time together, on and off the football field, down in Florida.

“We actually roomed together and, being on the same team down at the 7-on-7, we had a chance to get to play together and a lot of people said we look like we’ve been playing together forever because we could like mix up the coverage while, at the same time, still doing what our coaches were teaching us to do,” Anderson said.  “And make plays.”

At least early on in practice, it looks like Bryant might play corner and Anderson could man the safety position on the same side of the field as Bryant in the Tarblooder secondary.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll be at corner and I’ll be at safety on his side,” Anderson said.  “We’ll take half the field out of the game at least.”

He’s definitely excited to see what the future has in store for him now.

“I’m excited for my last high school season, my last high school year really, but I really want to pick the right college and everything and not rush it, but figure out everything to see where I really want to go to school,” Anderson said.  “I’m still not sure (where he wants to go).  I’m still just trying to figure it out with my parents and stuff.”

One thing for certain is that Anderson doesn’t seem to be as pro-OSU as he once was.

“My dad still loves the school but he, just basically, told me I can’t worry about it,” Anderson said.  “I have too much to worry about.”

Anderson, however, would indeed love to play with Bryant at the next level if it worked that way.  Bryant is expected by many to be a member of Ohio State’s recruiting class next February.

“Yeah we thought about it.  We talked about it,” Anderson said.  “But we both still say that whatever place fits us best (respectively) is where we’ll end up.”

Anderson, after all, is an Ohio kid and he’s a Glenville Tarblooder now.

“I would love for them to offer me and have a chance to go there but, at the same time, I don’t feel the need to stress myself out over why they haven’t offered me and try to do extra stuff to get them to offer me,” Anderson said.  “If it comes, it comes.  If not, oh well.”

But before he commits to any school, Anderson wants to take all of his official visits to see what’s all out there.

“I want to take my official visits first,” he said.  “I don’t have a list of what these schools will be yet, but it will be after I take those visits.”

And at least for right now, it doesn’t look like Ohio State will be one of those visits.

“As of right now, probably not.  I don’t think I’ll probably take one there,” Anderson said.  “I’ll probably just drive down there and stay with some family (for unofficial visit).”

Click here for video of Anderson in action from his junior year at Lakewood St. Edward (courtesy of ScoutingOhio.com).