Rivals250 DE McCray hits double-digits

Offers continue to rise for one of the top defensive ends on the East Coast. The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder is up to nearly a dozen scholarships, pulling in his latest from the SEC.

"I got an offer from LSU on Wednesday and Tennessee offered last weekend and NC State offered last week," Lynchburg (Va.) Brookville defensive end Zack McCray said. "Those are my first two SEC offers and they came within a few days of each other.

"It's a little bit different, their conference is generally a little bit tougher and normally one of those teams in that conference competes year in and year out for the national championship."

McCray has been in touch with coaches from two of the three schools that recently offered.

"I called Coach Willis from NC State," he said. "He's a nice Christian guy, down-to-earth and real nice. He definitely knows the coaching schemes and is a good all-around guy.

"I haven't talked to Tennessee at all. I've been in touch with the old staff and I liked the campus and game environment, but I'll have to look into the new staff.

"As for LSU, I talked to Coach Haley and Les Miles. They were really nice. Coach Haley is a real nice guy, really genuine. He said he watched my film and really liked it. He thinks I'm a good athlete and gifted on both sides of the ball. Coach Miles is funny too. He's really cool and down-to-earth. He's hilarious and he thinks I'm a good athlete too."

The latest offers put McCray at 11 scholarships.

What does he think of all the attention?

"If you told me I was going to have 11 offers a year ago at this time, I would have thought you were crazy," he said. "It's a big honor. I didn't think LSU would offer this soon. I thought it might be during my senior year. When I talked to Coach Miles on Wednesday, I was wondering if he was really serious."

Plenty of interest continues to come from schools that haven't quite pulled the trigger including Notre Dame and UCLA.

With so many options on the table already, what is McCray looking for in a school?

"I just want a place I can feel at home," he said. "I don't want to be in a system and be left out there. I want a family environment. Some colleges are putting up fronts, but other coaches are really genuine and I want to be an asset to helping a team."

McCray will be hitting the road this weekend as he heads to NC State on Sunday for junior day.