Marcus Maye is the top safety on Florida’s wish list. He’s one of the best in the country, but he’s also a good enough point guard to have four offers from ACC programs.
“It’s been a tough decision,” said the rising senior from Melbourne, Fla., Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy. “I thought about it early on to see if I could do both. But with the grades and trying to be the best I can be at one sport and jumping into another sport, it’s hard. So most likely I’ll just end up doing football.”
Florida State and Miami have talked to Maye about playing both sports. They’ll watch him play AAU basketball in July, which is around the time he’ll participate in Florida’s one-day camp, Friday Night Lights, and Florida State’s Seminole Showtime.
Maye, who is 6-foot and 194 pounds, just loves to compete, as evidenced by his recent swing through the state’s best camps and combines.
He was MVP of the Elite Scouting Service’s Tampa combine on April 10, was one of the top performers at the Nike Football Training Camp in Tallahassee on April 17 and was clearly the best player on the field at Under Armour’s Tampa camp this past Sunday.
He was all over the artificial turf at Tampa Plant High School, intercepting numerous passes and turning heads with his coverage.
It’s those results that make it easier for Maye to concentrate on football.
“I’ve always had an instinct for football and it’s been my main sport growing up,” Maye said. “Football just comes naturally. I can see myself on Friday nights and Saturday nights at the next level.
Maye has 15 offers and is certain to draw more this summer, especially after he takes on the best athletes in the country at Nike’s elite camp, “The Opening,” in July at Nike headquarters.
Regardless of extra offers, Maye seems focused on three schools — Florida, Florida State and Alabama. He has said UF and FSU are co-leaders, but admits the Gators are slightly ahead when pressed on the matter.
The Gator coaching staff has been working hard to stay close to Maye and communicate regularly.
“Coach (Travaris) Robinson came down the first and last week of spring to see me,” Maye said. “I also got to talk to coach (Will) Muschamp when I called him during the spring.
“They are telling me that I am the main guy they are waiting on. They want me to come back up. I’ll probably go back up for Friday Night Lights, get back on campus, check on everything and hang out with the guys.”
Maye hopes to make his college choice before football season or immediately after. He says his family will play a major role in the decision.
“I’ll most likely stay in the state, but if not somewhere probably in the southeastern region,” he said. “My mom and my brother, they play a big part in everything. Definitely a family decision about where I go. They would love for me to be close and they could come to games, just get in the car and travel somewhere.”
Perhaps that destination is Gainesville, the shortest of the three possible road trips.
Two words: Depth Chart. UF needs a guy like Maye. Dude is the real deal.
This is off topic-I would like to ask about Ryan Shazier (linebacker) who decommitted from UF earlier this year and signed with Ohio State. He left Fl due to Urban’s resignation-wonder what he will do now?
does anyone wnat some one here, who didn’t want to BE here?….Let him stay in Columbus! not everyone can be a Gator,..plus, the Dealership probably still owes him an upgrade on his ’09 Charger!
Are you kidding Trotter the kid felt that he had been lied to by the gator staff at the time….and he might have been right. Lets start over with a new staff. We could use a good linebacker and this guy is GOOD. He does want to be a gator as he once committed to us lets build new bridges to this kid.
@Catlover On that same line of thought. It’s a shame for that LB Curtis Grant from last year. Ending up stuck at OSU with all the garbage going on up there. If only he had come to the Swamp. We really needed him.
All of the recruits who weren’t involved in the dealership deal or the swag for tats will be given the same option as USC players. Leave and go to any school of your choosing without having to sit out a year.
CAT, it’s Curtis Grant who snubbed us on NSD we would want a lot more than Shazier, who is undersized somewhat. I doubt much will come of either of those players though.
I am with Trotter on this one.
Maye looks like a good one, I hope that we get him. Hopefully he wants to be a Gator, it sounds like he may.
I’d take an LB from OSU because we need them bad, but they were bribing players to play, and there is a good chance that is why Grant went there. Shazier may have wanted to play for Meyer and it turned out that his 2nd choice was a cheater. Or maybe the OSU money guys just got to him late. Either way, I don’t see it panning out and if they have to sit out a year anyway, I’d rather we just get a guy with no baggage from high school.
If Curtis Grant were to transfer to gator nation, i would more than welcome it. He’s a nasty LB that we really need. Come on down to Gator Nation Curtis! UF is where it’s at.
Maye IS a good one. Hopefully, he will make all of us Melbourne Gators proud of his choice of a university.
man and my H.S has to play him again , this wont be fun
Brantley had 3 yrs. full play-time on hi-quality H.S. team. As gator mop-up
QB he had best apprenticeship in NCAA! It is falsehood that bad snaps,poor
OL,bad playbook could cause a big-time QB 10TDs,9INTs for 13 game season.
Coaches fell to babel-QB system due to Brantley’s flops!
So Brantley weises-up a good 30%= 13TDs,7INTS…he gets 2/game in
4 creampuff games = 8TDs with 5TDs left for next 10 games..
GO,GO Gators gone! 0-TDs vs. Alabama,LSU,Georgia,South Carolina??
If this happens blame headcoach for reliaring again on Brantley.. From my memories Brantley’s worse gator QB since 1960’s.
My rant ‘agin’ Brantley was to follow this belief:Gators had better have a total shut-down defense because a Brantley malfunction offense will be zero
help.
To watch , Gator football will be frustrating, not fun, not anticipating good plays . That’s if they put dull us on TV at all.
Marcus Maye is simply amazing. I go to HS with him. He is everything the gators need to be that top quality team again. Anyone remember Reggie Nelson? A great safety that led us to a National Championship. Maye I’d that dude to help us get us there
If we are looking for another quarterback for the future, come to N. Georgia and see Chandler Register out of Lambert High School as he looks like Brantley but can run.
I’d like to say that when Curtis bolted for OSU, I was shocked and very disappointed. After a couple days I let it go and thats where I leave it. They all made their choices they abandoned ship, let them stay with their choices. Don’t just keep bailing out, if they don’t get the superstar treatment they would have gotten when they were being given all the love possible they will haul A_ S again. There are some other great kids out there that really want to be apart of the Gator Nation that will be just as good as those guys.They were given every opportunity be be apart of this and now they will watch that BCS trophy arrive at the Swamp before they see one at the horse shoe. Both those guys knew they were needed and counted on to be a big part of the Championship drive for the Home State and they abandoned us, I’m just not forgiving on this one. Just my opinion, every body has one but thats how I see it. GO GATORS !!!
Kids don’t always make the best decisions in life and it’s not like those 2 went out and intentionally done things to hurt UF. We can see why they went to OSU – they were lured there by the bling – bling! The same thing is happening in Tallahas see and it’s just a matter of time before their desperation gets them nailed, too! So, I see no reason why we shouldn’t want these kids! They made a bad decision, that hurt them worse than anyone and it could be a positive, in that they saw, first-hand, what cheating will get you. They may have needed to learn some thing, first!