Major college football recruiting rankings move a Charlotte player to No. 1 overall
Three years ago, Harding football coach Sam Greiner predicted that a sophomore on a 1-10 team would eventually become the best high school football player in America.
Tuesday, Greiner’s prediction came true. Harding junior running back/linebacker Quavaris Crouch moved up to the top spot in the latest rankings updates from Rivals.com
Long considered the nation’s best running back in the class of 2019, Crouch is now the No. 1 overall recruit in the country. Crouch, previously ranked No. 2 overall, is one of two Carolinas players ranked in the Rivals top 100. Defensive end Zaach Pickens, of Anderson’s T.L. Hanna High, is No. 16.
No other Mecklenburg County player has ever been No. 1 overall.
A 6-foot-2, 230-pound All-American, Crouch rushed for 3,283 yards and 33 touchdowns last season when he was named N.C. Gatorade player of the year and Charlotte Observer player of the year in Mecklenburg County. He led Harding to its first state championship since the 1950s.
Before its state championship run, Harding hadn’t had a winning season since 2007.
On defense, which he played part-time, Crouch had 48 tackles and 14 sacks last season. Crouch was named to the MaxPreps junior All-American first team. He has also been selected for the 2019 U.S. Army All-American game in San Antonio.
Crouch had hip surgery two weeks ago after playing the entire 2017 season with a torn labrum in his hip. Before the surgery, he took unofficial visits to Clemson, North Carolina and Tenneesee. In the spring, Greiner said Crouch may visit some schools out west like Stanford and Southern Cal. Greiner said Crouch also wants to visit Michigan again. Crouch plans to take his five official visits (paid for by the schools) this summer, Greiner said, and possibly make a decision before the season begins.
“He’s the best running back, no doubt, coming out (of the 2019 class),” Greiner said in late January, “but he understands, long term, what the deal is with running backs. (Pittsburgh Steelers) star Le’Veon Bell is the best running back in the (NFL) and he may get franchise-tagged again and he can’t get a long-term contract. And Quavaris still has that baby face. There’s a chance he grows another inch and gains another 25 pounds, especially once he gets to a college on a (training table). So he could be 6-3, 265 and be the next Lawrence Taylor, and I’m not just saying that. He’s that special.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2018 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Major college football recruiting rankings move a Charlotte player to No. 1 overall."