Crawford tours the Tar Heel State

This past Sunday, Tampa (Fla.) Plant athlete Antonio Crawford travelled Duke University to participate in the Nike Football Training Camp. During the camp, Crawford worked at defensive back and was pleased with his performance.

"I did very well there," Crawford said. "I did awesome. I competed at the top with the defensive backs group. I think the MVP came down to me and (his teammate) Drew (Madhu). I didn't do great during the first part of the day, the technique portion with the cones and such, but during one-on-ones I did very well. I locked some kids up."

Following his participation in the Nike Football Training Camp at Duke, Crawford didn't immediately depart North Carolina to return to the Sunshine State. Instead, he, as well as some of his teammates from Plant, visited a number of other campuses in the Tar Heel State.

"After we left the camp we visited Wake Forest, that was pretty good. They have a lot of interest in me. Then we went to Elon. On Monday we visited Duke and later on we visited UNC. On Tuesday we visited East Carolina and N.C. State," Crawford said.

The 5-foot-11, 181-pound athlete was very impressed by one school in particular.

"I loved North Carolina," Crawford said. "I just think it would be a great fit for me. I was comfortable around there. I liked the campus. I could see myself there in the future."

At this time, Crawford holds offers from Ball State, Bowling Green, Florida International, and Ohio. He claims no leader in the process. Some of the other schools interested in Crawford are Iowa State, Miami, Wake Forest, and others. He plans to visit Miami this summer for a camp.

"I am leaving all of my options open right now," Crawford said. "I am just going to wait until the summer and sit down with my mother and talk about camps and such."

Crawford said most schools are interested in him as a defensive back, but he is open to playing on either side of the ball at the collegiate level.