Star junior RB adds SEC offer

St. Louis (Mo.) University junior running back Ronnie Wingo Jr. is already one of the most impressive rushers in the Heartland, even though he's still an underclassmen.

The 6-foot-2, 206-pounder has breakaway speed at running back, and he's already built to take on the college game early on.

It also doesn't hurt that he's one of the fastest backs in the nation. When he was a freshman he won the AAU Junior Olympics national championship in the 200 meters, and he's been clocked as fast as 10.78 seconds in the 100 meters.

His coach thinks he'll be an immediate impact player on the next level.

"Ronnie's a can't miss guy," SLUH's 19-year coaching veteran Gary Kornfeld said.

"I've been around coaching for 30 years now, and I'm shooting you straight. This kid is about as big time as they come. If he's not somebody's No. 1 running back, then he'll be somebody's best cover corner. He's spending some time there at cornerback in spot situations for us, but he's too good to not keep giving him the ball on offense. I know Ron Zook at Illinois was impressed with him when he was up there, and they offered him on the spot. He's about as big of a can't miss guy that we've had around here in a long time."

Missouri and Illinois were the first to offer, but now the Tigers and Illini have been joined by an SEC power.

"Tennessee offered on Thursday," Wingo's father, Ronnie Wingo, said. "He's also being looked hard at by other schools like Kansas, Kansas State, Rutgers, Michigan, Colorado, Iowa, Iowa State, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Florida."

On the season, Wingo has rushed for 1,265 yards and 12 touchdowns. He's averaging 7.0 yards a carry and he's also averaging 15.64 yards on kickoff returns.