The success of former All-American running back Bobby Rainey continues to influence WKU football recruits.

Rainey’s accolades last season as a senior at WKU have caught the eye of several nationally ranked recruits, including North Marion High School (Fla.) product Jamie Gilmore.

Rivals.com rates Gilmore as the No. 7-ranked all-purpose running back in the country. His list of scholarship offers includes Cincinnati, Duke, Utah, Rutgers and others.

But as the Feb. 1 signing day approaches, Gilmore has trimmed his list of top schools to South Florida, Temple, and WKU.

Gilmore has already made his official visit to South Florida. He’ll be visiting WKU on Jan. 20, and Temple the weekend of Jan. 27-28.

He described his football skill set as that of a “playmaker.”

An ESPN.com analyst described the 5-foot-8 running back as “small, but extremely quick and explosive. Has great quickness and change of direction.”

Said Gilmore: “I can make a play at any end of the field.”

Gilmore’s high school rushing statistics confirm his home-run threat ability.

In one playoff game vs. Fivay High School (Fla.), Gilmore scored all four of his team’s touchdowns on just 13 carries, putting Fivay away 28-0. He finished with 162 yards, a 12.4 yards per carry average.

His brother, Eddie Rocker, plays at Florida A&M University.

Gilmore said the proximity to his family is one reason he enjoyed his USF visit, but that he wants to visit Temple and WKU before making a final decision.

“South Florida has a great program. It’s also an in-state school, close to my family.” he said. “Talking with the WKU coaches, it also seems like a great program.”

In fact, Gilmore said he spoke with WKU Head Coach Willie Taggart over the phone on Saturday.

“Coach Taggart told me today about how excited he was for me to be visiting soon,” he said. “He also told me about his (Rainey’s) invitation to the East/West All-Star game, which is cool. They used him as a major part of their offense, which I liked.”

Along with good relationships with the coach’s, Gilmore named playing time and feeling “at home” on his official visits as major factors that will affect his final decision.

He said he expects to announce his decision on National Signing Day.