Hines favoring three early

Port Arthur Memorial linebacker Earl Hines is one of many prospects in the Houston and East Texas region that were forced out of their homes last weekend due to Hurricane Ike.

Hines and his family traveled into Louisiana to escape the storm, and he has yet to return home. Through the ordeal, the highly-sought after player in the 2010 class has kept his head held high.

"I haven't made it home yet but we'll be going home sometime this week," Hines said. "Everything's been all right. We're going to make it. It'll be cool."

While out of state, Hines has kept in touch with the Memorial coaching staff, but he has not been informed when the team would resume playing. There's been some talk that Memorial could be forced out of action for several weeks.

Although recruiting has been put on the back burner for the 6-foot-2, 205-pounder, Hines has been hearing from a lot of programs and he has three schools that are standing out on his early list.

"A lot of colleges have been looking at me. I think Kansas State just offered me," Hines said. "I'm really looking forward to Oklahoma, Florida or USC. They're dominant schools. They always have powerhouse teams, offensively and defensively. And they always make it to the top."

One school that's on the radar but behind the out of state programs is the Texas Longhorns. Major Applewhite stopped by Memorial in the spring to get a look and Hines said if Texas officially throws its name into the mix, they'd move into the top five. But proximity is actually hurting the Longhorns chances, according to Hines.

"Texas is pretty good. But it's in state and I'm looking to go somewhere out of state," he said.

When it does come time to decide, Hines is undecided on if he'll make an early commitment or wait things out. He plans to weigh his options as they come in and he said if something feels too good to pass up, he'll go ahead and act.

As a sophomore, Hines registered 126 tackles and five sacks.