D.C. junior is the real McCoy

Washington (D.C.) St. John's linebacker Rico McCoy will be one of the most heavily recruited players in the Atlantic area next season. Watch out for this rising junior.

"Rico already has written offers from Maryland and Syracuse with Duke's coming soon as well," said Reggie McCoy, the father of the 6-foot-2, 210-pounder. "He also has a verbal offer from UConn."

The reason for the early interest is obvious. McCoy runs a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, bench presses 315 pounds and squats nearly 600. He also has a vertical leap of 32 inches. His list of favorites is impressive.

"He likes a lot of schools right now because we're still learning about them," said Rico's father, who went through the process with son Reggie in 2003. Reggie committed to Syracuse. "The Orangemen are up there because his brother plays there and we like the way they teach their linebackers. He also likes Michigan for coach Carr, Maryland for their staff, Ohio State for their overall program and Penn State for the coaching and recruiting skills."

In addition to those five, McCoy also lists others.

"Pittsburgh is a great school and coach Harris is a terrific coach," Rico's father said. "Florida has a very good program, Rico has a cousin at Boston College (non-football) and he also likes Duke, USC and Miami. Those are the schools that have shown the most interest as well."

So far this season, McCoy has averaged more than 10 tackles-per-game for his team, who fell to 5-1 after this past weekend's loss to DeMatha, the program where McCoy began his high school career.