First BCS offer comes for Virginia ATH

Bealeton (Va.) Liberty athlete Cortez Carter is gaining interest at this time. The 6-foot-0, 210-pounder pulled his third scholarship on Wednesday, the first from a BCS team.

"I got my first Division I offer from Connecticut, they offered yesterday," he said. "I haven't stopped smiling yet. I'm not sure who's smiling harder, me or my mom. I took a visit up there this past weekend and went to their junior day."

The trip clearly went well for Carter.

"I talked to the coaches including Coach Edsall," he said. "They were very high on me. Before I left on Sunday, I watched the Connecticut-Louisville game and then Coach Moorhead sat with me and talked and told me to give him a call on Tuesday. I called Monday and wanted to thank him and then after school on Wednesday Coach Buzzo from my school told me they called.

"I called back and Coach Moorhead said that Coach Edsall watched my film and he wants me to come to camp. Then he said, 'I'm just kidding with you, you've got a full scholarship.'"

The trip to Connecticut clearly left Carter impressed.

"It's very similar to my county and it's country up there, but ten times better. It's nice and reminds me a lot of home."

The offer is already the third for the athlete who boasts scholarships from VMI and Towson as well.

Carter is receiving interest lately from both in-state schools, Virginia and Virginia Tech and has been to both campuses in the past year.

"I'm been to Tech before for the Nebraska game and then to Virginia four times already," he said. "I'm planning to go to Virginia for spring practice and back up to Connecticut some time.

"Both Virginia and Virginia Tech are good schools. Virginia compared to Connecticut, I'm not sure I consider them as much. I'd like to see if I could play right away. With Tech, it's a toss up. Tech is looking at me as a fullback just like Connecticut. Connecticut seems to use their fullback a lot more."

With college interest growing quickly, what does Carter want in a college?

"I'm looking for somewhere nice and somewhere calm," he said. "I want a good chill sot and great academics. I've got a 3.0 GPA and I like to write. Every year I'm taking journalism classes and I'm the sports editor and back page editor of our paper at school. That's something I want to do, to be around the game even after I'm done playing."

This past season Carter helped Liberty to an 8-4 record on his way to first team all-district and region honors both ways as well as second team all-state defense. He posted 126 tackles and 480-yards rushing.