Every recruiting analyst and college coach knew how good Marcus Ball was. The Stone Mountain, Georgia native made it on just about on everyone's prep All-American list. Early on in the recruiting process, Rivals.com even ranked the speedy defender as the nation's top linebacker and the No. 1 recruit in the state of Georgia. However, once word got out that he was unlikely to qualify, Ball dipped slightly in the rankings but still finished as a Rivals100 member and the No. 3 rated outside linebacker in the country.

Despite the odds being stacked against him making the grade, the Seminole coaching staff took a chance and signed the blue chip linebacker to a scholarship. Now it looks like that gamble will pay off in a big way.

Over the past few months, the Parade All-American buckled down in the classroom, improved his ACT score and as a result is on track to enroll at FSU this summer. Ball's grades improved steadily over his senior year but it was a test score that held the key to him getting qualified. Last month, he took the ACT and recently got the good news that he scored a 19.

"Man O man it just feels so good," Ball said. "I was so happy when I got that test score back. I took the test like four or five times and it was increasing two or three points every time. It was really the last test I had to take so it was all or nothing. I pulled it out... It took me a couple years to see that so I buckled down and got that taken care of. Now I should be in Tallahassee right away. I just have to graduate."

Ball, who is up to 210 pounds, heard it from everybody since he recruitment began. Despite his lofty ranking and rare ability on the football field, many colleges shied away from the Stephenson High School star because of his academic shortcomings. He doesn't blame the schools and coaches that gave up on him but does want to reward those that believed in him.

"I expected all of that and had no choice but to accept it because of the mistakes I made in 9th and 10th grade," he said. "They wrote me off but it's all good and I would write off somebody too. Now that I made the score it's just motivation. I'm not trying to make those people happy, the ones that wrote me off. What drives me is I'm trying to get on Mel Kiper's list (laugh)."

One school that wrote him off late in the recruiting process was Miami. The Hurricanes were involved for a while but after the late coaching shakeup in Coral Gables, Ball dropped off UM's radar. That has him very much looking forward to that annual clash between the instate rivals.

"I just can't wait for Miami," Ball said. "That what everybody says, 'you are a 'Cane in your heart' and I'll tell you I'm a 'Cane really. They've always been my first love but if I can't play with them I'll beat the hell out of them.

Ironically, Ball's situation is similar to Neefy Moffett's last year. Late in the recruiting process, Miami decided they didn't have a scholarship for the four-star defensive end and as a result he signed with the Seminoles. All he did last season was record the huge sack on UM's final offensive drive which was a big reason why FSU pulled out the 10-7 win. Ball would love to make a similar impact against his childhood favorite because he knows the road to the the national championship goes through South Florida.

"I'm always about the national championships," Ball said. "Everything you do you motivate yourself to beat Miami. You can't win a national championship if you can't beat Miami. You just take those steps to get to that game. That's what it's all about. I kept telling myself, 'I just want to play in front of Keith Jackson' but it's too late now."

Ball will graduate on May 26th and plans to be in Tallahassee next month to take part in the summer workouts. He hasn't been assigned a jersey number yet but says he would like to wear No. 6.