Auburn leads for four-star RB
Andrew Buie entered Friday night's Class 1A state championship at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando with offers from the likes of Arkansas, Auburn, Iowa State, Louisville, Maryland, Memphis, Michigan, Ole Miss, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Purdue, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Following the contest, he predicted that list would grow.
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"After a game like that, if you're still not impressed, I don't know what to say," Buie said.
All Buie, a senior tailback and Rivals250 member, did Friday was rush for 242 yards and four touchdowns to lead Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian past Delray Beach American Heritage, 27-10, for the title.
The rest of his teammates accounted for 80 yards.
Buie scored on runs of 2, 20, 54 and 13 yards.
All told, the 5-foot-10, 190-pounder, rated as the No. 4 all-purpose back in his class, carried the football 31 times in the game.
Buie's most impressive, most explosive and most important run was the 54-yard score, which came with 38 seconds left in the third quarter and helped the Conquerors extend their lead to 20-10. Until then, it was anybody's ballgame.
Friday night's performance put the finishing touches on a season in which Buie rushed for 1,782 yards and 26 touchdowns. It also capped his prep career, one that began when he cracked the starting lineup as a freshman wide receiver.
"Words don't even describe what the feeling is right now," Buie sad.
"I'm just proud of my guys. We worked hard from Day 1. During my career, I had games where I put up freakish numbers. But not on a stage like this. I mean, my line did a great job for me and it showed."
Now that his high school career is over, Buie will immediately begin to concentrate on finding a future home. That was something he tried to put on hold during the season.
"I'm sitting down this week and actually mapping out my visits," Buie said. "I'm trying to go to Auburn, Louisville and South Carolina. And the other two, I'm kind of still undecided right now."
According to Buie, Auburn has emerged as the front-runner.
"They come out and recruit hard," Buie said. "[Tigers running backs coach Curtis Luper] has done a good job letting me know why I'm needed there."
For the record, Buie also is high on Louisville and South Carolina.
"Louisville has a fanatic coaching staff with [head coach Charlie Strong]," Buie said. "He's a real good guy. A real player's coach. [With South Carolina] I like [assistant] Steve Spurrier Jr.. He's pretty straight forward and just keeps it real."
What is Buie looking for in a program?
"I want a good education," he said. "I want a family environment. I want a coach that actually cares about me as a player, that's not going to bail out on me. And just being comfortable. That's all I really want."
A final decision will come "whenever I feel at home," Buie added. "There's no time limit."