Recruiting watch: Middleburg's Mike Mitchell, Columbia's Jaden Robinson commit

Mike Mitchell is headed to the Pac-12.

The Middleburg rising senior running back committed Thursday to play college football at Utah, the latest step in his rapid launch in the recruiting chart.

Recruiting services 247Sports, On3 and Rivals all list Mitchell as a three-star prospect.

Mitchell delivered an instant impact in his first season with the Broncos, rushing for 1,378 yards and 18 touchdowns while leading Middleburg's turnaround from a winless 2020 to a .500 record.

He's already the school's most high-profile prospect since tight end Gary Barnidge, who signed with Louisville and went on to play eight seasons in the NFL.

Mitchell is among a growing list of Jacksonville-area players to look to the western states in the recruiting world. Last year's signings from the area included Mandarin linebacker Tony Carter (Washington State) and White safety Christian Ellis (New Mexico).

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Columbia's Robinson selects Gamecocks

For South Carolina football, adding two star linebackers from Northeast Florida is even better than getting just one.

Columbia linebacker Jaden Robinson committed Monday to play college football with the Gamecocks, the latest major pickup for South Carolina coach Shane Beamer and his staff.

Robinson, listed as a four-star prospect by 247Sports and Rivals, stands 6-0 and 215 pounds and ranks among the top 40 linebacker prospects in the Class of 2023. He selected South Carolina ahead of Kentucky, Maryland and Michigan.

Just one week earlier, South Carolina had added another commitment at the position in Jackson four-star Grayson Howard, a tackling machine for the past two seasons at the position. The Gamecocks also received a commitment June 12 from Bolles tight end Connor Cox.

Wolverines' Hall selects top 10

Among the most heavily-recruited players in Northeast Florida, Westside four-star defensive lineman Jordan Hall named his top 10 candidate schools.

Making the cut were Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Miami, Ohio State, Oregon, South Carolina and USC.

Listed at 6-5 and 300 pounds, Hall is ranked among the nation's top 25 players at the position. He's the school's highest-ranked prospect since four-star linebacker Brandon Hicks signed with Florida in the 2006 class, when the high school was still known as Forrest.

Bolles adds FHSAA All-Sports trophy

Bolles earned the Florida High School Athletic Association's annual Floyd E. Lay Sunshine Cup All-Sports Award for Class 4A, given each year to the schools in each classification with the strongest performance across the entire athletic calendar.

Bolles recorded 118.70 points in the Class 4A boys scores, nearly twice the total of runner-up Satellite, and 86 points in Class 4A girls. The school won FHSAA championships in boys swimming, girls swimming, boys cross country, girls cross country and girls track.

Bishop Kenny finished second in the overall Class 4A list.

Ponte Vedra also placed first in Class 6A girls standings, finishing second in the Class 6A boys and overall standings to St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale.

Northeast Florida schools near the top of boys standings for their respective classes were Bartram Trail (third in 7A), Suwannee (fourth in 4A), Keystone Heights (fifth in 4A) and Bradford (fifth in 1A).

Finishing high in girls standings were Bartram Trail (third in 7A), Clay (second in 5A), Bishop Kenny (fourth in 4A), University Christian (third in 2A), St. Johns Country Day (fourth in 2A) and Fort White (third in 1A).

Hodges earns MaxPreps national honor

MaxPreps named St. Johns Country Day's Bradley Hodges to its annual All-America team for high school baseball.

Hodges, who played pitcher and infield roles this season, received a second-team selection in the utility category.

He batted .516 with 11 doubles, nine home runs and 32 RBI this season, together with a 10-0 record, 1.28 ERA and 114 strikeouts as a pitcher while winning the Times-Union's All-First Coast player of the year award.

Around the area

Bolles junior midfielder Spencer Surface committed to Washington & Lee men's lacrosse. ... Christ's Church offensive lineman Ernesto Caballero signed with Madonna University football. ... Bishop Kenny's Jeb Brownell, Andrew Davis and Alison Miller were selected to the  All-America team of the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association of America. ... Beachside named Adrian Wilson as its inaugural track and field head coach and Chris Haffly as its first boys golf coach. ... Oakleaf is remembering former head football coach Chrys Bullock, who died last week at age 42. Bullock was the Knights' first coach when the program launched in 2010, and he previously played college football at Tulane.

Clayton Freeman covers high school sports and more for the Florida Times-Union. Follow him on Twitter at @CFreemanJAX.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Football recruiting watch: Middleburg's Mike Mitchell, Columbia's Jaden Robinson