Tallahassee WR has multiple offers

Tallahassee (Fla.) North Florida Christian wide receiver Melvin Ray has several scholarship offers to his credit and has an early top three. The Rivals250 to watch member talked about several of the programs recruiting him in this exclusive interview with Rivals.com.

"I have offers from Florida State, Alabama, Ole Miss, Georgia and Arizona State," Ray said. "I am also interested in Florida, but they haven't come through with an offer yet."

The 6-foot-3, 194-pounder, who transferred to North Florida Christian from Chiles High during his winter break, says that the Seminoles, Gators and Bulldogs are at the top of his list at the moment.

"I'm interested in other schools, but Florida State, Georgia and Florida, those three have to be at the top of my list right now," Ray said. "Florida State is up there because I've just grown up around that atmosphere. I've always been going over there for every game. I've grown up a Florida State fan my whole life."

John Lilly is recruiting Ray for the Seminoles.

Chiles said that Bulldogs head coach Mark Richt told North Florida Christian head coach Casey Weldon, a former FSU quarterback that played for the Seminoles while Richt was an assistant in Tallahassee, of his intentions to offer Ray.

"I've always liked Georgia," Ray said. "I haven't been up there yet, but I plan to go."

An unofficial visit to Florida gave Ray good feelings about the Gators.

"I kind of fell in love with Florida after going over there," he said.

Alabama and Ole Miss also are in the mix.

"I went to Alabama last summer for a 7-on-7 passing tournament and I got a chance to check out the Bear Bryant museum and all the facilities," Ray said. "I just sort of fell in love with the place that they practice and figured that I needed to get the chance to come over and check it out on an official visit."

Ray added that he is in contact with Crimson Tide assistant coach Kirby Smart on a regular basis.

His relationship with the coaching staff in Oxford has the Rebels strongly in the mix.

"I like that I can talk to the coaches there about life and not just football," Ray said. "I also like going on the Internet and learning more about the school and the program. I definitely want to check them out with an official visit."

Ray also plans to attend camp at LSU this summer.

Though there is a pecking order for Ray, don't expect a decision soon.

"I want to take some official visits," he said. "Some may be during my football season and some may be during other times. I play multiple sports, so I am going to have to go when I can go."

Ray is excited about his new school, which has produced multiple Division I-A prospects in recent years, including Ernie Sims, Rivals.com's No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2003.

"They've got a history of winning over here and that is the big thing," Ray said. "I like it over here because of coach Weldon and his style of coaching, mainly."

Ray finished with more than 500 receiving yards last season at Chiles.