BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — When the spring of 2018 rolled around, Mike Lockhart made the decision to give football a shot.
The 6-foot-5, 250 pound senior defensive end out of Huffman High School grew up playing baseball and basketball, with hoops being his first love. He was always a kid that stood out due to his size, so football coaches had been begging him to play football since he was in elementary school.
Lockhart felt the time was right to try football almost a year ago. He was drawing some attention in basketball, but from smaller Division 3 schools, so when he realized that wasn't his ticket to a free education, he decided to strap the pads on.
"I did not want my mom to have to pay for my college education, so I decided to try football," said Lockhart. "I decided to go out in the spring and I loved it.
"I love being able to go out there and hit and be physical. I was aggressive in basketball, but I just love we get to go out there and play hard in football. I am very happy I decided to play."
One college is going to be happy he decided to play too.
UAB offered first. They saw Lockhart during spring evaluation, then had him in camp in July. That is when the Blazers were smart and offered. By October, they had him committed.
That was still before others new about him. Once his film got out after the season ended, Lockhart decommitted from UAB and started to look at his options.
Three days after he re-opened his recruitment, Colorado offered. Nebraska was later that day, December 23. Then Iowa, Syracuse, TCU and many others followed.
"It got kind of crazy after the first couple of offers. I started getting a lot of offers. I think I have 29 offers now. I only had one like a month or so ago.
"I have never had this type of feeling or experience before. It is my first time being recruited and it all has happened in the last four or five weeks. It is just a crazy feeling. Overall, it is a blessing."
Juggling it all has not been easy. With school, basketball, coaches visiting, phone calls, official visits and other commitments Lockhart has day to day, this has been a lot for him to handle.
"It is extremely tough to handle all that it is in front of me right now, but I am up for it," said Lockhart. "God wouldn't give you a challenge you could not handle, so I know am good.
"It is a lot though. I am trying to get a lot done right now to make a big decision, so it is not easy, but I am glad to have it all."
At one point, Lockhart had to give himself a break. He knows how fortunate he is to be in this position, but he needed a minute for air.
"I turned my phone off one day. I just had to get some rest. I will wake up every day and see 12 or 15 notifications for missed calls, text messages and things like that. My phone is always going off right now with coaches reaching out to me, so that is crazy too. It gives me a chance to talk with them though and get to know them, so that is the good part, but it is still a lot.
"Trying to answer them all is tough though. I am trying to handle it all right now."
With offers still coming in, the official visit schedule has been fluid for Lockhart. It has changed a few times already, and it still could change again. He was in Chapel Hill last week for an official visit to North Carolina and he loved it.
"It was great up there at North Carolina. I like coach Mack Brown a lot and he is really down to earth. The whole staff is family-oriented, they made me feel welcome and I had a great time.
"They took me in like I was already one of their players and I loved it up there. They made a very strong impression on me and I am considering them."
Another ACC school, Georgia Tech will be the school that hosts Lockhart this weekend for an official visit. Like the Tar Heels, the Yellow Jackets have a new head coach too, Geoff Collins. He got things going with the Alabama athlete.
"As soon as coach Collins got the job, he followed me on Twitter, he sent me direct messages and we starts talking that way. We starting texting a lot and then he got his people to get my transcripts, and once he made sure I was good there, they have been on me hard.
"I do not know much about Georgia Tech yet, but I like coach Collins and I want to see what it is like there. I am still learning about all these schools, so the visits are important to me."
Mississippi State is set to receive an official visit January 25, and Lockhart is a little more familiar with them since he has visited there once before and due to his teammate, Brevyn Jones has signed with the Bulldogs.
"The coaches at Mississippi State have really been recruiting me hard," said Lockhart. "I have talked to them a lot and I like the guys there. They have good fans, Brevyn has told me a lot about them and I will be out there next weekend.
"It is a little different from them because I know Brevyn is going there. I may know a little more about Mississippi State than some of the other schools."
Tennessee-Chattanooga received Lockhart's first official visit December 7 and he was at UNC last weekend. He has the next two weekends booked, so who will get the final official visit? So many others are are still in contention he said.
Baylor, Cincinnati, Iowa, Nebraska, Rutgers, Syracuse and TCU are just some of the schools he mentioned as possibilities for the February 1 weekend visit.
He does not know much about any of these schools being a basketball guy much of his high school career, so it will be about which coach connects with him the best when it comes down to his decision.
All schools have an equal chance at this time. This has all happened so fast and he is taking visits, doing research on schools and talking to coaches as much as he can, trying to establish some relationships.
"I am looking at the coaches, roster, atmosphere, history and things like that with each school," said Lockhart. "I have no idea what I am going to do yet. I do not have any favorites or anything like that yet.
"I am working to get it down to four schools and announce those on Senior Night February 1. I do not any of those schools yet. I will be ready then though."
Lockhart plans to announce his decision on Signing Day, February 6.
