Carson offers his services in 2-for-1 deal

Package deals are commonplace in recruiting these days, with college programs routinely offering scholarships to high school teammates.

Sometimes both are worthy, but often college coaches are willing to gamble on a lesser player in an attempt to land his high-profile teammate.

A package deal will be the only way to land Lake City tailback Shon Carson. Yet, his situation is different. Instead of signing one of his teammates, the program he chooses must accept Carson’s alter ego — the top-flight baseball prospect.

Carson said this weekend he isn’t ready to focus on football or baseball exclusively and plans to play both in college. Of course, the status quo could change by June if he’s drafted as high in the MLB Draft as many observers expect, giving him the option of turning pro immediately and bypassing college.

Carson named South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida State, Alabama and Georgia as the schools he’s considering for football, with USC and UNC believed to have a slight edge. However, he hasn’t put much thought into recruiting recently.