RB Demetrius McCray verbals to USF

[smazza]

i was emailed a picture of him standing  next to  other teammates

he has the requisite speed

[Papa_Bull]

This will tell you more about him:

Hawks' Runaway Winner

By ROZEL A. LEE rlee@tampatrib.com

Published: Dec 25, 2004

 

SEFFNER - Someone approached Chris Taylor, Armwood's offensive coordinator, after the Hawks' state semifinal victory against Miami Washington.

The reporter asked Taylor if No. 22 ran an extraordinary 4.2-second 40.

``No,'' Taylor said. ``He runs a 4.4. Then the guy says to me, `I'm from Miami and we think we know what speed is, but that's the fastest kid I've ever seen.' ''

Demetrius McCray had just burned Washington for four touchdowns, including an 80- yard touchdown pass play to set up the winning 2-point conversion that sent Armwood to its second state final.

It was his 10th touchdown of the playoffs. He would add two more the next week in Gainesville, where Armwood won its second consecutive Class 4A state title. The difference in the playoffs was McCray, this year's Tampa Tribune Hillsborough County Football Player of the Year.

McCray's evolution as a tailback made him Armwood's greatest threat. He has the ability to turn what would otherwise be an 8-yard gain into a big play, often of 75 to 80 yards.

To see McCray run with the football, shake off a defensive player and make a move without stopping, is one reason onlookers think he's so fast.

``To be able to make his moves while he's going vertical is something very few can do,'' Taylor said.

``That's the biggest change he made from last year,'' Taylor said. ``Most have to stop to make a move one way or the other. They beat the defensive player in front of them, but others are coming in pursuit.''

The difference in McCray from 2003 to 2004 could be seen against the same opponent.

Last year in a game against Jefferson in which McCray rushed for 226 yards and a touchdown (three were called back), a school-record 93-yard run was halted at the 1-yard line by the Dragons defender.

This season, on a similar play, the same cornerback again had an angle on McCray, who didn't get caught this time. He scored three touchdowns and rushed for 187 yards against Jefferson.

Because of Armwood's option offense, defenses assumed McCray picked up most of his yards on the pitch, after which he would run untouched.

On the contrary, most of McCray's big runs were on plays in which the linebacker is isolated and the tailback runs through the hole. If there's a free safety behind the linebacker, McCray was able to take him out on his own to reach the end zone, which he did 29 times in 2004.

``It's not an every-play thing,'' Taylor said. ``But it's real special when it happens.''

McCray was the Hawks' leading rusher with 1,642 yards on 142 carries, for an 11.6 average per carry.

``That's a long way from my freshman year,'' said McCray, who had one carry for 5 yards. The next year he had 55 carries for 367 yards.

McCray said with experience came the instincts to deal with defenders. ``Getting the ball more helped,'' he said.

With his second state championship medal, McCray now must plan his football future.

He'll make visits to New Mexico, Rutgers, Akron and South Florida, a disappointment to the Johnny-come- lately recruiters.

``After that Washington game his stock really went up,'' Armwood coach Sean Callahan said.

That Miami game, the one- point victory, after a catch and run, shaking off defenders and hugging the sideline all the way to the end zone for the fourth time that night, was quintessential McCray.

Before the season began Taylor pointed to McCray running his play at a practice one day and said, ``That's the best running back in the county, maybe even the state.''

ALL-HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FOOTBALL

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE

Stephen Garcia, Jefferson So. QB: 2,627 passing yds, 26 TDs

Kalvin Bailey, Armwood Jr. RB: 40 Division I offers

Derrek Hallback, Plant City Sr. RB: Led county with 1,918 yards

Demetrius McCray, Armwood Sr. TB: Leading rusher for 4A state champs

Alex Suber, Jefferson Sr. TB: 231 carries for 1,817 yards, 18 TDs.

Cody Overby, Chamberlain Sr. WR: 10 TDs in 43 receptions

Dohnovan Simpson, Jefferson Sr. WR: 56 catches for 861 yards

O.J. Murdock, Middleton Sr. WR: 58 receptions for 831 yards

Chad Peterson, Armwood Sr. OL: 6-5, 285; Graded out at 94 percent

Jim Barrie, Berkeley Prep Jr. OL: 6-5, 295; 89 percent grade

Antwan Lewis, Jefferson Sr. OL: 6-5, 305; Top D-I prospect

Daron Rose, Jefferson Sr. OL: 6-6, 300; helped generate over 6,000 yards.

Donald Mosely, Hillsborough Jr. OL: 6-3, 285; Terriers top dog.

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

Jake Cross, Armwood Jr. DL: Anchor of county's No.‚1 defense

Nick Plasencia, Jesuit Jr. DL: 79 tackles; 13 sacks

Leslie Stirrups, Hillsborough Jr. DL: 6-4, 300; no getting around him

Randy Merrell, East Bay Sr. DL: Outstanding two-way player

Dougie Thompson, Armwood Jr. LB: 138 tackles, 7 sacks

Walter Radny, Armwood Jr. LB: 120 tackles; 10 sacks

A.J. Jones, Middleton Sr. LB: 146 tackles; 16 sacks

Donte Spires, Plant So. LB: 132 tackles; best talent on young team

R.J. Anderson, Armwood Sr DB: 8 INTs led county; committed to USF

Stephan Knight, Hillsborough Sr. DB: 91 tackles; 2 INTs

Victor Arboleda, Middleton Sr. DB: 113 tackles; 5 sacks; 2 INTs

Arando Jamison, Leto Sr. DB: One of county's top D-I prospects

SPECIALISTS

Jameel Williams, Armwood Sr. ATH: QB was two-time MVP of state final

Delbert Alvarado, Robinson Jr. P: 40.5 average led county

Reid Macko, Armwood Sr. PK: 97% kickoffs were touchbacks; 68 extra pts.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Demetrius McCray, Armwood

OFFENSIVE MVP: Kalvin Bailey, Armwood

DEFENSIVE MVP: A.J. Jones, Middleton

COACH OF THE YEAR: Sean Callahan, Armwood, won second consecutive state Class 4A title.

SECOND-TEAM OFFENSE

QB … Jarred Fayson, Jr., Hillsborough; RB … Matt Stwan, Sr., Durant; Jimmy Sapp, Jr., Hillsborough; Durrell Williams, Jr., East Bay; Anthony Allen, Jr., Jesuit; WR … Hunter McCrory, Jr., Jesuit; Darryl Jones, Sr., Hillsborough; Jaime Sparling, Jr., Freedom. OL … Bert McBride, Jr., Armwood; Mitch Stanislaus, Sr., Jesuit; Russ Kenderdine, Sr., Robinson; Caleb McCullough, Sr., Middleton; Chris Levy, Sr., Armwood.

SECOND-TEAM DEFENSE

DL … Brandon Lattimore, Sr., Hillsborough; Lyman Reed, Sr., Chamberlain; Trent Pupello, Jr., Jefferson; Will Scarle, Plant. LB … Jeremy Spinks, Sr., Chamberlain; James Jolly, Sr., Armwood; Drew Whitaker, Jr., Sickles; Rashaad Fennell, Sr., Middleton. DB … Andrew McAdams, Jr., Berkeley; Brant McKown, Sr., Jesuit; Noland Ward, Jr., Riverview; Jeremy Carver, Jr., Armwood

SPECIALISTS

ATHLETE … Brandon Zackery, Sr., East Bay. PK - Mike Verbosky, Jr., East Bay; P … Tony Wall, Sr., Hillsborough

HONORABLE MENTION

Alonso … Brandon Russell, Rob Williams. Armwood … Mat Brevi, Kareem Royal, Aaron Davis, James Jolly. Berkeley Prep … Derek Hatcher, Ryan Zirkle, Josh Matzkin, Tony Bradlow. Blake … Josh Archie, DeMarcus Henderson. Bloomingdale … Richard Miller, Matthew Timme. Brandon … Mike Brown, Tyson Gordon, Rico Dixon, Kevin Pate . Cambridge … Jason Geninger, Austin Welti, Rick Garcia. Chamberlain … Silvio Byrd, Jordan Wilson, Stephen Pimm, Nick Lomartire. Durant … Frank D'Amico, Chris Thompson. East Bay … Justin Anaya, Josh Herman, Jesse Wood. Freedom - Matt Kipp, Jaime Sparling, Ronald Bublitz. Gaither … Ovie Esalomi, Willie Rose, Chris Bonner, Steven Belle. Hillsborough … Ty Mitchell, I.T. Antigha, Marcus Boddie. Jefferson … Josh LaPlant, Tertavian Ingram, Miles Anderson. Jesuit … Preston Puryear, Chris Uhrig, Chris Chatterton, Matt Boatman; King … Kevin Savage, Ricky Bradshaw. Leto … Mike Bailey, Bryant Leonard. Middleton - Will Bergen, Mario Lawrence, Coshario Johnson, Cedric Harris. Newsome … Blake Spencer, Brennen Nelson, Austin Burdick. Plant … Walner Leandre, Will Roddy, Tavaris Gant. Plant City … Jason Brown, Jordan Strawn, Austin Knipp. Riverview … Jason Harmon, John Moreno, Steve Meneely, Will Ogorek. Robinson … Marcello Trigg, Darrell Stevens, Kyle Weihs, Jermaine Doster. Sickles … Nick Carpenter, Pat Shores, Tyler Harden. Tampa Bay Tech … Stephen Tripp, Dominic Grooms, Quentin Williams. Tampa Catholic … Raj Arasu, Jorge Gonzalez. Temple Heights … Mike Perea, Sean Patrick. Wharton … D'Angelo Davis, Joe Mejias, Eric Whiting.

http://tampatrib.com/Sports/MGB7KDX253E.html

[smazza]

how many of these guys are coming to usf

[Papa_Bull]

how many of these guys are coming to usf

Well, right now we have verbals from two of them: McCray and and his Armwood teammmate RJ Anderson, who made 1st team Defense.

R.J. Anderson, Armwood Sr DB: 8 INTs led county; committed to USF

Some others who are considering USF:

ALL-HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY FOOTBALL

FIRST-TEAM OFFENSE

Alex Suber, Jefferson Sr. TB: 231 carries for 1,817 yards, 18 TDs.

Dohnovan Simpson, Jefferson Sr. WR: 56 catches for 861 yards

O.J. Murdock, Middleton Sr. WR: 58 receptions for 831 yards

Chad Peterson, Armwood Sr. OL: 6-5, 285; Graded out at 94 percent

Antwan Lewis, Jefferson Sr. OL: 6-5, 305; Top D-I prospect

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

Stephan Knight, Hillsborough Sr. DB: 91 tackles; 2 INTs

There are a number of kids on first team who are underclassman, who we will be going after in the years to come.

[TripleB]

McCray, whom Rivals.com rates as the nation's 35th-best running back prospect, has narrowed his choices to Akron, Indiana, New Mexico, Rutgers and South Florida.

Maybe I'm just naive but if we had lost a recruit we really wanted to one of those other schools, I'd have some serious questions.

[Papa_Bull]

Maybe I'm just naive but if we had lost a recruit we really wanted to one of those other schools, I'd have some serious questions.

How do you think Auburn and Iowa feel both of which supposedly offered him according to Insiders  ???  ;D

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=359&p=8&c=1&nid=1451739

If a kid has his heart set on going out of state to College, which McCray evidently did, it's not so easy to convince him to stay home.

A complete player with sub-4.4 speed McCray had little problems receiving national attention once folks began to notice the tandem of Bailey and McCray in the Armwood backfield - rather than just Bailey.

With offers from a number of schools, including Iowa, Kent State, South Carolina, Ball State, South Florida, Indiana, Auburn, Akron, and Rutgers, it was time for McCray to begin to narrow his search.

Has the narrowing process begun?

"Yeah, I have 3 visits set up.  I have South Florida on the 14th, New Mexico on the 21st, and Indiana on the 28th."

What impresses McCray about each of the three schools mentioned?

South Florida - "I really like the coaches here."

New Mexico - "They run the ball a lot and they showed that this year.  So I can see how I fit in."

Indiana - "They're in the Big 10 so the competition is really good."

Where does Rutgers stand with McCray?  There was speculation that the backfield prospect would be taking a visit to New Jersey during the latter part of January.  Does that still look hopeful?

"No, I'm not coming up.  Rutgers, they were recruiting me, but I decided I didn't want to go that far."

Although McCray is originally from Long Branch, New Jersey, Scarlet Knight fans should not be holding their breath in hope of seeing the Armwood TB donning Scarlet next year.

McCray is likely to take his gaudy 13.79 ypc to either South Florida, New Mexico, or Indiana.  He indicated that he does not have a favorite among his three finalists at this time.

"Being comfortable with the staff is very important to me and the graduation rate of the school is also important.  That's how I know the staff is paying attention to me."

When should fans of his Final three expect a decision from McCray?

"I'm probably going to decide after my Indiana visit."

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:IWEkxH-bICAJ:rutgers.scout.com/2/340038.html+Demetrius-McCray%2BAuburn&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[USFPDiddy]

There is a lot more to recruiting than how good a team is, such as auburn etc.  But you all know that.  We probably want him the most, we know what he can do, and our coaching staff is showing him that interest.  That's why we pushed ourselves up his list.  I'm happy our recruiting remains good.

[TripleB]

How do you think Auburn and Iowa feel both of which supposedly offered him according to Insiders  ???  ;D

http://scout.scout.com/a.z?s=359&p=8&c=1&nid=1451739

If a kid has his heart set on going out of state to College, which McCray evidently did, it's not so easy to convince him to stay home.

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:IWEkxH-bICAJ:rutgers.scout.com/2/340038.html+Demetrius-McCray%2BAuburn&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

See, I had forgotten about the wanting to leave FL angle ........ not naive, just forgetful.   8)

[bulls96go]

he is coming!

is he better than who left, copeland ect?

[Papa_Bull]

He may not be coming after all:

NO BULL ... YET: Armwood TB Demetrius McCray denied he committed to South Florida during the weekend and was surprised to hear the Orlando Sentinel reported Sunday that he had.

``No, I'm taking all my visits,'' he said. McCray heads to New Mexico next and then Indiana on the final recruiting weekend.

http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGBFH2I324E.html