Juco star worthy of five stars

Rivals100.com rates him the No. 8 junior college prospect in America. But that lofty ranking may not be high enough for Butte College’s star running back Chris Bruhn, not if you listen to what others have to say about him.

“He’s the real deal,” Butte offensive coordinator Jeff Jordan said of Bruhn, who is 6-foot-3, 195 pounds and reportedly has 4.4-second 40-yard dash speed. “He’s got that breakaway speed. He can just pop a touchdown every time he touches the ball.”

In eight games this season, Bruhn has rushed for 1,198 yards. Butte, located in Oroville, Calif. which is about an hour and a half drive north of Sacramento, still has one more game left on the schedule, a December 1 bowl game.

Bruhn was named the conference MVP earlier this week.

His roommate, who is the team’s fullback, Leyland Henry also sees great things in Bruhn.

“He makes people miss and he runs by them,” Henry said. “I know he makes me look really good.”

Bruhn himself downplays his own abilities.

“I just run,” Bruhn said. “I don’t even pay attention to much else. I just run. I guess it comes naturally.”

What comes naturally for Bruhn is also what has college coaches clamoring over Bruhn.

Washington State, the school he signed with in February of 2000 out of Woodland, Calif. High School, and USC are the two teams who seem to have piqued his interest.

“I talk to Washington State a lot,” Bruhn said. “I’ve talked to the assistants at USC. And I talked to the head coach, to coach Carroll.”

But Bruhn has yet to schedule any official visits and says he may not do so until after his true sophomore season is complete

One hurdle that Bruhn must clear, regardless of which school he chooses, is his academic standing. It’s likely that he may have to wait until after summer school to enroll at the school of his choice because he is trying to get out of junior college in two years and did not take any classes his first summer as most junior college prospects do.

The future for Bruhn seems bright. Some have compared him to former JC runner and current NFL star Corey Dillon.

Perhaps a comment from Jordan sums it up best.

“We had Marty Johnson last year, a running back who signed with Utah. Marty was very good, but the first game we put Chris into last season, he rushed for more than 350 yards. I’m telling you, he is some kind of special.”

Maybe he’s special enough to be rated higher than No. 8.