Burrell impresses at NIKE
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Detroit Southeastern athlete Charles Burrell already made a commitment to Michigan State early in the recruiting process, so coming to Saturday's NIKE Training Camp at Penn State wasn't something he did to get more exposure from the college coaches.
He went because he wanted to get better.
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"I wanted to learn, I wanted to compete and I wanted to test myself," Burrell, who had a very nice day playing safety, said. "For me this thing was about trying to find ways to get better. I learned a lot from the NIKE coaches, and I got a lot of chances to go out there and work out at defensive back."
Burrell is listed by Rivals.com as an athlete because he does damage on both sides of the football in high school and several teams recruited him to play receiver and safety. But it's safety where he'll play at Michigan State, and he looked good playing it on Saturday.
"I think I did pretty good," he said. "I reacted to the ball pretty well. I made sure I watched the receiver's hips, and so when they turned I was able to kick my legs up and stay with the receiver in their hip pocket. I then swatted the ball down if I wasn't able to make the interception."
Burrell said he's working hard also back home at getting better.
"I'm weight training even when the team is done," he said. "I'm staying after practice getting a little individual attention with my coach Archie Collins. He's a Michigan State graduate, so he's really pushing me hard."
Since his commitment, Burrell said he's not looked back one bit. He's very excited about his future in a Spartan uniform.
"I'm still sky high about my decision," he said. "I'm a Spartan because I like their academics. That's the main reason. But I also know I could also go in and play right away as a true freshman at free safety. That's a big deal."
Burrell said he's working hard on getting his teammate, blue-chip receiver Fred Smith, to join him in East Lansing.
"I'm most definitely working on Fred," he said. "We're going to get him. You'll see."