Nigel Knott: Confident, and uncommitted

HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Nigel Knott does not lack for confidence.

It's 78 degrees, and the Rivals100 defensive back is wearing a neon yellow sweatshirt under his practice jersey. It matches his neon yellow gloves and his neon yellow socks. Knott is not interested in blending in with pack. Day two of practice at the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star game is wrapping, and the brightly dressed Knott is jogging off the field laughing with his Team Mississippi teammates.

Asked by a reporter how people that know him best would describe him, Knott barely thinks before answering.

"Cool," he unapologetically shouts back.

This is the No. 2 high school cornerback in America in his natural state.

He certainly looks the part this afternoon. He has diamond studs in his newly pierced ears. The stones, he says, are real, and so is Knott's talent. The four-star cornerback has offers from schools all over the country. He's most seriously considering USC, Oregon, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Florida State.

Still, Knott, a senior at Mississippi's Germantown High School, isn't incapable of self-doubt. In fact, it has somehow defined his college recruitment.

It's a strange dichotomy for a player made Internet famous by a video featuring him doing a backflip off the side of a house and catching a football in the process. Most of Knott's fellow All-Stars say they were aware of the viral vine months before ever meeting or speaking to its star. In a way, the over-the-top trick serves as a fitting calling card for a confident athlete.

Alabama All-Stars Lyndell Wilson and John Broussard, who will oppose Knott and Team Mississippi on Saturday, were aware of the video well before they arrived in Mississippi for the All-Star event. And if other players from Team Alabama hadn't heard of Knott or seen his work upon arrival, well, the touted cornerback rectified that.

"He was showing the video in the rooms last night," said Team Alabama safety Jeawon Taylor. "He pulled it up on his Instagram."

Knott says he still gets a steady trickle of replies to the video on social media. Some of them come in Spanish. Some come in French. Apparently the human trick has international appeal.

"I have people talking to me about the video and I don't understand the language," Knott said. "I saw some Japanese the other day. Last time I looked, it had more than 2.5 million plays."

But underneath the confidence lies a pile of indecision. Knott has twice set a college decision date only to push it back because of second thoughts. With both cancelled announcements firmly in the past, Knott doesn't mind speaking candidly about what he was thinking at the time. He sees no point in hiding his thoughts now.

"The first time was on my way back from Florida State's camp," Knott says. "I really thought I really wanted to go there, but I realized I was jumping into it so I cancelled it. Then, the second time, I was just trying to get the decision over with. I was seriously going to just flip a coin between Florida State and Alabama.

Knott says the coin flip bit is not an exaggeration. He briefly considered letting a piece of American currency decide his college fate before thinking better of the situation and cancelling his decision. But even that sort of doubt doesn't measure up to the type that set in when he saw the majority of his senior season wiped out by injury.

When the touted prospect had his knee rolled up on a punt return prior to the season, all the bravado - the neon and the dancing and the earrings and the self-congratulatory descriptions melted away, if only for a moment. The diagnosis was a bucket handle meniscus tear. Knott missed just six weeks of football, but not before doubt took hold.

"As soon as I went down, I thought, 'This could be the end,' Knott said. "That kind of stuff goes through my head every single day now. It makes you thankful."

A few months later, Knott is back to his usual self. He's dancing on the field between reps and teasing his teammates.

Ole Miss commit DeKaylin Metcalf, the top player in Mississippi, knows Knott as well as anyone here. He glances at his friend turned All-Star teammate and a short-lived laugh escapes his lips.

"He's fine. His knee is fine. This is the old Nigel," Metcalf says. "We've ran hurdles and triple jump against each other for the last three years, so I see this a lot. He's actually beat me the last three times."

The uncommitted Knott lets Metcalf hear about those wins from time to time. It's in his nature. It's also now in his nature to be thankful for what he has athletically. Nigel Knott is still Nigel Knott. The competitive edge is still there. So is the confidence. These days, the edges of the bravado are just a little softer.

"I can still do the backflip," Knott barks when challenged. "I'll do that right here, but the one off the wall like in the video? I'm retired from that. I had to tell all the college coaches I was done doing that."

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