Advertisement
football Edit

Florida DB names favorite

The early Rivals 100 list that was published in March has many faces on it that you will see when the official one is released this summer. Some of the names on the list will not be on the new version, making room for other top prospects to make the list. One player that is getting heavy consideration for the list is Daytona Beach (Fla.) Mainland defensive back Avery Atkins.
“I’ve got offers from a lot of schools,” said Atkins. “Right now the offers I have are from Florida State, Florida, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, LSU, Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Florida and Miami.”
Advertisement
The 5-foot-11, 182-pound Atkins began to turn heads at the Miami NIKE camp, where he was possibly the best defensive back in attendance.
“Right now I’m staying very open about the schools I’m considering. I can tell you that LSU is my number one school, but after that it’s pretty equal between all the schools that have offered.”
At the Miami NIKE camp he ran a camp best 3.9-second shuttle, had a 33.6 vertical jump and did 12 reps on the bench press.
“I have just been liking LSU a while. I really like coach Saban a lot. I went to their spring game and coach Saban has stood out among all the coaches that I have met. He coaches my position and that is really exciting.”
He collected 39 tackles and two interceptions on defense as a junior. Atkins also plays running back for the Buccaneers and totaled 513 yards (8.4 avg.) and eight touchdowns on only 61 carries last season.
“Distance from home is not a factor for me, I will go wherever. Wherever I go that coaches have got to be real. They have to be honest and up front with me about everything. I want to play early and I don’t want to go to a school where I won’t at least have that chance. Team brotherhood is another big thing for me because I don’t want to play for a team that is always fighting amongst themselves.”
He earned Class 5A all-state honors as a junior in helping lead the Buccaneers to the state championship.
Atkins plans to camp at Miami, Florida State and LSU for sure and possibly Michigan and Michigan State.
Advertisement