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Published Aug 7, 2013
Speedy running back likes Oregon
Rob Cassidy
Recruiting Analyst
Tyreek Hill says he hasn't run the 40-yard dash since his junior year in high school. He remembers it well, though.
Ask the Garden City (Kan.) Community College running back, and he'll tell you he ran a 4.28 that that day. Whether or not that's accurate can be debated. But the fact that a member of an FBS school's recruiting office recently called Hill he fastest football player he'd ever seen cannot be. That part is undoubtedly true.
Speed has been his calling card for some time. Hill won Georgia 5A state titles in both the 100 and 200 meters as a high school senior in 2012. His personal best time of 20.14 seconds in the 200 missed the all-time high school record by only one hundredth of a second. He was a USA-Today American track and field selection in 2012. When you know all of that, a 4.28 40 doesn't seem so ridiculous.
Point is, regardless of his exact 40 time, it's easy to see why Hill holds a bundle of scholarship offers from major programs. And while Florida State and Alabama were recently named co-frontrunners, a third program has now joined the pack.
"Recently, I've been talking a lot to Oregon," Hill said on Wednesday. "They really have my eyes open right now. I really like Oregon and the players that go there are just like me."
There ism however, a sticking point. Oregon is yet to formally offer a scholarship. That said, the conversations between Hill and the Ducks seem to be serious ones. Hill says his next visit will likely be to Oregon but has not set a date for the trip just yet, as he's waiting for the official offer.
"They're excited and I'm excited," Hill said. "They want me to come watch me do camp and all. I'll go to Oregon soon, most likely. I feel like it's coming soon."
And so a player who once named Alabama as his leader before adding Florida State to the list of frontrunners now says his recruitment is locked into a three-way tie of sorts.
"I have no idea who is the favorite, man," Hill said. "It's a tough decision right now."
Hill, a two-sport athlete who will run the 100M and 200M on the next level, says he plans to wait until after his season to make a decision. For now, he has no single leader. He's just left with a trip of favorites and a set of parameters.
"I want a place I can call home," Hill said. "It has to have a good track program and a good football program. It also has to be somewhere that my parents can trust me to be, so they won't be worried about me. It has to have a good education program and all that."
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