Top-100 recruit LJ McCray trims list to five schools

Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland DL LJ McCray is moving forward with the recruiting process. Unlike many, the No. 89 prospect in the On3 Industry Ranking does not plan to make his decision before his senior season. He is likely to be committed before the end of it though.

The 6-foot-6., 260-pound four-star is ready to trim his list to five schools. He has taken official visits to Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Miami this month. He has an official visit scheduled for October with Florida State. Those are the schools McCray is down to, and the race could still go a number of different ways.

“When I decide, it will be one of these five schools,” McCray told On3. “These schools stand out because of the way they recruit me and the mutual interest I have in them. All five have been recruiting me hard for a while and have been very consistent with me.

“I could go to any of these five schools. I feel like it is a five-way tie. All five schools have what I look for and I could envision myself at any one of them. I have relationships at each school, I have visited each school and I feel I could be happy at any of them.”

This is the “next step” for McCray. He doesn’t have any visits planned for this weekend or for the last week in July when prospects can again take visits after most of July being a dead period on the recruiting calendar.

He will take his time, then commit when the time is right.

“After my official visit to Florida State in October is the earliest I could commit,” McCray added. “Each visit in June has been important and the one in the fall will be the same. All have been good visits and each school has done a great job recruiting me.

“I see a great opportunity in front of me now. I will be praying on it, then late on during the season, when I wake and God tells me the school, that is when I will commit.”

McCray has visited Florida and Florida State close to 10 times. No other finalist has hosted him more than twice.

McCray breaks down his top five schools

AUBURN: “One of the main reasons Auburn is in this is Coach Jeremy Garrett. He has really recruited me hard and we have built a great relationship. Right after he and some of the coaches left Liberty and got to Auburn, I was one of the first guys Coach Garrett called and re-offered. He has been with me and that is big for me. I like the environment at Auburn too. The people are happy, the campus is beautiful and the feeling around there stood out to me.”

FLORIDA: “I like the direction that Florida is headed. They have a great staff, they have a lot of moving parts and their staff works well together. The flow at Florida is smooth and I like it down there. Coach Austin Armstrong, Coach Sean Spencer, Coach Mike Peterson and Coach Billy Napier are great guys and they all recruit me heavily. Every time I go, we just catch up. I have been there a lot, so it is cool to be on campus each time.”

FLORIDA STATE: “They are coming off a strong season last year and they have some momentum. They were one of the first Power 5 schools to push for me after performing at their camp, so they have been on me for a long time. The staff is always on me. Coach Adam Fuller, Coach JP (John Papuchis), Coach Odell Haggins and all of them – I just have great relationships there. They have a great understanding of me and who I am. They know how to recruit me and I am not one of those call-every-day type of guys. The Florida State coaches want me to come to be part of the Nole family.”

GEORGIA: “Georgia is Georgia. They are back-to-back national champions, they are a winning program and they put guys into the NFL every year. It is a grind at Georgia. You can tell they are different. Coach Kirby Smart runs a top program and how they win and produce is super-important to me. Their message to me is that that can develop me and that they would like to work with me.”

MIAMI: “I have been down to Miami a couple of times and the culture around the program and city stands out to me. I was born in south Florida (Fort Lauderdale), so I know about Miami, the history there and I still have family there too. Miami is Miami. It is a school most know about in Florida. Coach Mario Cristobal is impressive too. I had a great time sitting down with him to talk about the direction of the program. He is from there and he knows what it takes to be successful there, so you can’t doubt him and what he is building there.”