Richmond (Va.) St. Christophers offensive guard Darius Gray has been trying to get down to visit Florida State for the better part of this year. And on Saturday, he finally got the chance to visit.
"I loved it, without a doubt," Gray said. "This (FSU) has been a dream school of mine for forever. Being able to get down here is a blessing and I was just happy to be out here and get coached by Coach Atkins. I'm very excited for it."
A Rivals100 prospect and the No. 2 ranked offensive guard prospect in the country, Gray has quickly become one of the most coveted prospects in the country. He has spent most of the spring and early summer traveling to programs across the country, including Clemson, Tennessee, Michigan, Penn State and Notre Dame. The rising high school junior already holds close to 40 offers.
But ever since he was offered by Florida State in February, a trip to Tallahassee was something that he wanted to schedule.
Gray had the opportunity to check off a lot of boxes in his first visit to campus. Not only did he get to see the campus and speak with the coaches, he got to train with the coaching staff in a short camp on Saturday. A multi-day visit allowed Gray to also take in practice on Sunday morning.
"The teaching is higher than in high school so I'm able to improve, get better and learn from some of the best offensive line coaches in the world," Gray said on being able to train with the staff. "The campus is beautiful — everything about Florida State is what I thought it would be. Like I said, it was always my dream school — and now I understand why even more now that I'm here."
Getting to see offensive line coach Alex Atkins coach during practice after being able to receive some of that coaching himself the previous day has further cemented Gray's first impressions of Atkins.
"Oh, I love him — I've loved him since the first time that I met him and talked to him. He is a great guy, he reminds me a lot of a guy like myself. I enjoy being around him. He's a great guy," Gray said.
After spending the last 5 months traveling around the country and seeing multiple programs, what is it that Gray is looking for in a school?
"It's just three things," Gray explained. "First one is a family atmosphere and having coaches that will have my back as much as I have theirs. The second is sports communication — that's what I want to major in (Gray wants to go into broadcasting/journalism). The third is player development and being able to grow as a man, player and human being."
Darius has not yet begun to eliminate schools from contention as every school that he has visited has offered something different. He admitted that it will "really suck" when he has to start telling schools no in the future but until then he wants to give every school that has offered him a chance — whether they are SEC, BIG10 or HBCU schools.
Based on how his visit went this weekend, Florida State has a good chance of making the first round of cuts when one of the top offensive lineman in the country moves forward with his process.
Follow The Osceola on Facebook
Follow The Osceola on Twitter
Subscribe to the Osceola's YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Osceola's podcasts on Apple
