For some prospects, the recruiting process holds few surprises. Many prospects have had siblings who went through the recruiting process or have been receiving recruiting letters since they picked up a football. For others, the recruiting process can come as quite a shock.

Franklin (Penn.) tight end Nate Byham has been astonished with the constant flow of letters so far.

"Honestly, all this attention has been pretty surprising to me," Byham said of his influx of offers. So far, he claims offers from USC, Miami, Pittsburgh, Iowa, Virginia, Ohio State, and Florida State, among others.

There's no questioning that Byham has earned every one of his scholarship offers. It's not uncommon to see a highly touted tight end finish his prep career with only a handful of catches.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound third-team all state selection has proved himself on the gridiron, hauling in 45 catches for 883 yards and 9 touchdowns in his junior campaign. He also proved he can stretch the field, as he recorded four games in which he had over 100 yards receiving.

While Byham still has a long time before he has to make his college decision, he already has a good idea of a handful of schools he's most interested in.

"Right now, I like Pitt, Tennessee, USC, Miami, and Iowa," Byham said. "I'm not positive whether those are the ones I'll visit officially, but those are the ones I'm liking right now."

Byham has already noted a couple advantages of becoming a Trojan.

"Obviously, I think they're a really good program," Byham said of USC. "They've won two back-to-back championships and you can't pass that up, so they're pretty high up there."

While Byham was impressed with USC's head coach, a different Carroll may have a large impact on Byham's final decision.

"Brennan Carroll is recruiting me, and he's an awesome guy," Byham said. "I really like him because he's more of a younger guy than a lot of coaches, so I really connect with him."

With little left to prove, Byham doesn't plan to attend any camps.

"I'm just playing AAU basketball this summer, and maybe go to some schools if I'm nearby."

USCfootball.com will continue to update Byham's status, from the beginning of his senior season through signing day.