Daniel Blitch is a big offensive lineman getting some early attention from major Division I colleges.

The rising North Hall junior, who stands 6-foot-5 and 325 pounds, has already received letters of interest from Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina, Notre Dame, Stanford and Virginia, among others. Even with two more years of high school remaining, he says Georgia is a clear front-runner. He has yet to receive any official scholarship offers yet.

Blitch has family ties to Georgia. His grandfather, Harvey Blitch, graduated from the school in 1928.

"I’ve always been a Georgia fan and they are my No. 1 pick at this point," Blitch said.

Rivals.com recruiting analyst Chad Simmons is projecting Blitch to be part of the Georgia Top 30 in the Class of 2010, which will be released later in the summer. Simmons watched Blitch work out in person during the Georgia camp in June, and saw the Trojans offensive lineman play last season in the state semifinals at the Georgia Dome.

"He’s a big kid, but what really sticks out is how quick he is off the ball," Simmons said. "I think if he has a good first half to his junior season he’ll get a couple offers, and that could really open the floodgates with schools offering him."

At the Georgia camp, Blitch worked with Bulldogs offensive line coach Stacy Searels and was almost immediately pegged as an interior offensive lineman at the college level, says Simmons. He spend his sophomore season in the middle of North Hall’s offensive line at center.

"Daniel has great size, hands, feet and leverage," Simmons added. "The only thing I would like to see is for him to turn on a nasty streak when he gets on the field."

During the spring of his sophomore year, Blitch took part in both a Scout.com recruiting camp at Competitive Edge Sports, in Duluth, and a Rivals.com camp at Auburn. Blitch says he was picked as a top performer at both combines against players who were, for the most part, a year older than him.

"I’ve really enjoyed getting recruited by all the schools," Blitch said. "It’s fun just to get to meet the coaches from all the different schools."

Blitch says most schools are recruiting him as an offensive lineman, but he is willing to play on either side of the line. He was used exclusively as an offensive lineman his sophomore year, but plans to get playing time on the interior part of the defensive line as a junior.

Blitch doesn’t want to put any added pressure on his performance, but he realizes that his junior season is the foundation of getting most scholarship offers.

His plans for the remainder of the summer are working out at North Hall to prepare for the upcoming season. Blitch plans on taking in more camps in the summer leading up to his senior season.

"I just want to thank coach Christmas for all he’s done for me," Blitch said. "Our entire coaching staff here has been great."