Ben Davis QB dominates at NIKE

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Indianapolis (Ind.) Ben Davis quarterback MarQueis Gray couldn't help but smile on Saturday.

In fact the only thing he did wrong at the NIKE Training Camp Saturday at Purdue University was show up a few minutes late. The rest of the day he couldn't go wrong, earning the most valuable player honors for the quarterbacks.

"I got here a little late and I had to hustle to get in the door," Gray, who is 6-foot-4 and 213 pounds, said. "But I had a lot of fun today. I just came out all day smiling, and I made some new friends. I came out to compete and I did a good job."

Boy did he ever.

Gray has made tremendous strides from his junior season. He has been working hard in the off-season to refine his game as a quarterback, and the work paid off. While Gray didn't always have the best footwork or the best drops, he did display a tremendous amount of athletic ability and he was also able to really zip the ball in there when he wanted to.

"I threw the vertical route really well," he said. "I was amazed. I was loose all day long. I had better confidence in myself today. I was confident in my ability to put the ball where it needed to be, and I had a lot of fun."

Gray definitely did, and he was grinning ear to ear after the camp was over when he was announced as the quarterback MVP in front of the entire camp. He said he knew he was going to have a good camp, but if you would have told him that he was going to be named camp MVP then he wouldn't have believed you.

"No, I wouldn't have thought this would happen at all," said Gray, who holds offers from Indiana, Purdue, Cincinnati and Central Michigan. "This is a camp where all the good quarterbacks and receivers participate. I just came out and smiled the whole time. I just let my natural ability take over, and tried to have fun with this."

It's easy to see why Indiana, Purdue, Cincinnati and Central Michigan have already offered him a scholarship. He also hopes his performance on Saturday opens the door for more schools to come after him.

"I think people noticed me today," he said.

Gray said he wants to hear more from Big Ten schools, but he's also open to anybody that shows interest in allowing him play quarterback.

"I want a school with good academics," he said. "I'm also going to look at the depth chart and see who they just got in. The depth chart will be important. I also want to play at a school that's going to let me pay QB. I think I proved that I'm a quarterback today."