GREENSBORO — To most people watching the New Balance Outdoor National track meet at N.C AT’s Irwin Belk Track, Marlon Humphrey is just another face in the crowd of hundreds of competitors.
But to college football recruiting experts, he’s much more.
Humphrey, a rising senior at Hoover (Ala.) High School, is a five-star recruit as a defensive back. He is also an excellent track athlete who broke Robert Griffin III’s AAU record in the 110-meter hurdles as a sophomore.
“I’ve always run track in the summer,” Humphrey said. “It’s just something that I didn’t want to give up. I’d love to do it next year, but I’m sure I’ll be off to school somewhere.”
Humphrey has scholarship offers from several major Division I schools, including Alabama, South Carolina and Florida State. Although some recruiting experts had North Carolina listed as one of the school’s Humphrey was considering, he confirmed that playing in Chapel Hill is not a possibility at this time.
He also said that he has not made a decision, and although his father, Bobby Humphrey, was a star running back at Alabama, he is not leaning toward one school. He has made official visits to Florida State and Alabama at this point. He plans on making more official visits during the fall
“I just went to Chicago, and I’ve been thinking about some other schools I might want to visit also,” Humphrey said. “It’s kind of a lot of them so I’m still trying to choose.”
Whenever Humphrey makes his decision, he will not have a big news conference with the different hats from the schools on his list. He will make his decision, give his explanation and then move on.
“I’m not really that type of guy to be on ESPN or something like that and have everybody going all crazy,” Humphrey said. “I’ll just do it and then tell them why I chose the school I chose.”
Wherever he goes, Humphrey wants to also run track, and any school that doesn’t want Humphrey to participate on the track team will be less likely to get his commitment.
“It’s really fun to me,” Humphrey said. “I’ve done it all my life, so I don’t see the point in giving it up now.”
His best events are the 110-and 400-meter hurdles. He was scheduled to compete in both events at the New Balance meet, but he decided to skip the 110 because he hasn’t had enough training in that event recently and didn’t want to risk an injury. He is scheduled to compete in the 400-meter hurdles today at 4:30 p.m.
Although he hasn’t thought much about it, participating in the Olympics is something Humphrey would enjoy.
“That would be a pretty cool dream,” Humphrey said. “If I was fortunate enough to try out for the Olympics, that would be pretty cool. It’s always a goal to be one of the best, that’s kind of what I’m shooting for.”
When Humphrey steps back on the football field in a couple of months, he will go back to being one of the most feared and most watched defensive backs in the nation. He said he thrives playing one-on-one and isn’t afraid to come up and make a hit on a running back. He said the school he chooses will have a defensive scheme that allows him to play man-to-man because that is what most NFL teams like to see.
“I’m really trying to go to a place where I’m in man just about every play,” Humphrey said. “That’s kind of what the next level does, so I want something that can prepare me for the next level.”
So while one day in the near future you may see Humphrey on a NFL field, for now he is just a face in the crowd at a national track meet.