I was having a friendly debate with recruiting expert Larry Blustein last week regarding who the top overall football prospect in South Florida could be when our discussion was interrupted by a college assistant from one of the state's Bowl Championship Series schools.

''I'll tell you who the best young football player in South Florida is,'' the assistant said. ``It's that kid from Southwest High -- the 10th-grader. Best kid I've seen anywhere all spring.''

That kid, that sophomore, that 2010 recruit, is 5-9, 170-pound do-it-all athlete LaMarcus Joyner. And after touring South Florida high schools for nearly a month this spring, I'm close to agreeing.

Joyner, who boasts 4.3-speed in the 40-yard dash according to his coach, was the most impressive player I saw on the field in the Eagles' 17-8 spring game victory against Hialeah on a hot afternoon May 22.

Joyner played nearly every down, intercepting a pass at safety on defense, catching passes at receiver and zig-zagging his way around defenders while toting the rock at running back. By the end of the scrimmage, he was cramping up and being treated with a fan and spraying water by team trainers. It was the only sign of weakness in Joyner's game.

''Coaching LaMarcus is like training a monster,'' said 30-year-old Southwest coach Patrick Burrows, who played at Killian and at Florida A&M.

``He'll do anything you tell him to do at 100 miles per hour. He's chiseled like a rock, less than 2 percent body fat. But he's got to hydrate. And when he doesn't start hydrating at least four days before a game, he starts to run out of steam. But I'm pretty sure that's only because he's young. I can't wait to see him when he's a man.''

Joyner is already the man at Southwest. Last season, he registered more than 100 tackles, blocked four punts, recorded seven sacks and rolled up more than 300 yards on offense to go with five touchdowns. Burrows said he plans to use Joyner even more this fall -- like he did this spring.

By December, Joyner could be the most coveted junior in South Florida. Although colleges are not allowed to offer underclassmen scholarships, the staff at Southwest say Florida, Miami, Georgia and West Virginia have already given the impression they'll have a scholarship offer waiting for Joyner next spring.

If it sounds surprising the Eagles (a perennial football doormat in Dade once home to a 28-game losing streak in the late 1990s) could even have a player such as Joyner on its roster, there is an explanation. Joyner, who lives within the boundaries to attend two-time defending Class 6A state champion Northwestern, attends Southwest through its Business and Finance Magnet Program.

The Eagles have a few more players from outside their neighborhood on the team and have certainly benefited from it. Last season, Southwest finished 6-4, 3-1 in District 15-6A and missed the playoffs when it lost a district tiebreaker to Sunset and Braddock. But with six returning starters on each side of the ball, Burrows is optimistic the Eagles can reach the state playoffs for the first time since 1995.

For that to happen, though, Burrows will need a handful of other college prospects to lead the team. That list starts with 5-9, 170-pound senior running back Hosey Williams, who ran for 1,180 yards and 20 touchdowns and averaged 8.4 yards a carry last season as a junior.

Williams missed an opportunity to excel this spring in front of scouts when Burrows was forced to sit him out for piling up too many tardies in school. But if he sticks around -- as Burrows hopes -- for his senior season, he'll have plenty of opportunities to shine.

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