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"Ive been visiting and researching every school that offered me a scholarship over the last six months, and these are my top five choices," Byrd said Monday afternoon. "I really feel that I cannot go wrong with any of the five I have selected. I am going check out a lot of games at these five schools this fall and that will play a large part in my final decision.

"Big Byrd" who's one of the nation's leaders in scholarship offers with 33, spent some time Monday to provide some insight into his top five choices.

Georgia "It's 100 miles from North Augusta, it's in a great conference,

and they compete for championships every year. I like the fact that Coach (Mark)

Richt really seems to care and take a personal interest in the lives of each and

every player. They will have some immediate openings at wide receiver next year to compete for."

Clemson "Without a doubt, they have been one of the biggest surprises. Coach (Tommy) Bowden is extremely personable, and the ACC is loaded now that Miami and Virginia Tech have joined. I am very close friends with (former North

Augusta standout and Clemson sophomore tailback) Reggie Merriweather. Now I

would never pick a school because of another player, because everyone has to do

what is best for himself, but having Reggie at Clemson is definitely a plus."

USC "If I decided to go far, far, far away from home to play for a

school, it would be only one school and that's Southern Cal. I really liked

the coaches from Southern Cal that I met or talked to on the phone, I like the

location of the school, and I think everyone knows they have had one of the top

two or three programs in the land over the last two or three years. And it doesn't look like that is going to change anytime in the immediate future."

Florida "Two words: Chris Leak. He may be the top quarterback in college football and I don't know of any wide receiver that wouldn't like to catch passes from an All-American."

Florida State "My family grew up in the same neighborhood as (former Florida State standout) Jamal Reynolds, so I've been hearing about them forever. FSU's record over the last two decades speaks for itself. If you go there, you

know you won't be coming home for Christmas because you will be at a top bowl

game every winter break."

Byrd said it was tough narrowing his list down to five schools.

When asked about leaving out South Carolina, which he followed during his childhood, later attending several games...

"South Carolina is a great school and Coach (Lou) Holtz is a living legend. They were great to me up there. They didn't do anything wrong. It was just that I had to narrow down to five schools, and there were other schools that I liked a little better. There is nothing more to it than that. I wish South Carolina all the best in the future."

The four-star rated blue-chipper began football practice last Friday and in the process it was discovered that he had now lowered his 40-time from 4.5 to 4.41, thanks to some tips on technique from former teammate Frayne Abernathy, who now plays at Northwestern.