ATH Brake heads to first two camps

Athlete Travis Brake is looking to take visits to North Carolina and Wake Forest in the coming weeks. What is the 5-foot-10, 206-pounder looking for during these visits?

"Basically, I'll be looking at what the coaches are like at both schools," he said. "I want to go to a school with a good player-coach relationship, good academic program and a good football program. I also want to get a look at the campuses because I haven't been to either school yet."

Currently, the Rocky Mount (N.C.) Northern Nash prospect is receiving interest from those schools along with Virginia, North Carolina State and Georgia Tech. Brake visited both Georgia Tech and Virginia during the spring.

"I think I like Georgia Tech's campus. I like their style of offense and they are an up and coming program. Distance will play a factor as to where I go because I want to go somewhere my family can see me play without a problem. They have supported me this far," he said. "The first thing about Virginia is that I like the atmosphere there, it's a nice family environment. Coach Poindexter can tell you first hand what it's like to coach and play UVA football."

What does Brake think about the other schools recruiting him?

"North Carolina State is recruiting me as a safety and I like their defense. They were one of the top defenses in the nation and coach Diaz does a great job with the safeties. He moves them around a lot and it's very similar to what we do at my high school," he said. "I think Wake Forest is recruiting me as an athlete, which gives me a chance at either running back or safety. That gives me a lot of options and they are close to home and are well know for their academic program. I'm thinking of grades first because you can't play football forever.

"North Carolina is definitely up and coming in the ACC. The coaches believe they have a strong team this year and they can compete for the ACC title. I'd like to be apart of that in the coming years. I want somewhere I feel I can win and I can possibly play early at UNC."

Brake has no favorites as he is still waiting for his first offer. Does the prospect have any idea when he'd like to commit?

"I've thought about it and I think what's best for me is to wait until the middle of the season," he said. "I'm hoping to have a better season and then the schools can see how our team did and they can see more video of me."

During his sophomore year, Brake ran for 1,064 yards and 13 touchdowns, he added 72 tackles and two interceptions as he was named all-conference, but last year Brake's team struggled as they went 0-10. His statistics also dropped off as he ran for 874 yards and one touchdown, he added 84 tackles and two interceptions on defense.

"We were very poor and averaged six points a game, we had only five seniors last year," he said. "I'm focusing on getting our team better and how we do may determine if schools stay interested in me. Our teams' talent can be one of the best in the conference because we had a lot more freshman and sophomores playing last year than juniors and seniors; I think we can surprise a lot of people."

Brake is prefers to play running back at the next level, but is open to anything.

"I've always been more offensive minded," he said. "If you speak to my coach though, he thinks I have potential at safety. It doesn't really matter to me though; it's whatever position is the best fit and the coaches' think I can do it, that's what I'll play."

Brake was named all-area every year in high school.