Doc Holliday isn’t the only football recruiter mining the talent fertile state of Florida for the West Virginia Mountaineers. Defensive backs coach David Lockwood is on the trail for Hollywood, Fla., corner back Tony Grimes, whose on-field exploits earned him nearly 30 scholarship offers. After weighing his options and listening to a plethora of recruiting pitches, Grimes formed his list of five finalists, who are in no particular order of preference, at this time: Maryland, Michigan, Ole Miss, Oregon and West Virginia.
Specifically speaking on WVU, Grimes said, “It’s a good program. It’s an opportunity as a true freshman that everybody’s looking for. The door is wide open.”
The main priority Grimes seeks in selecting a school is finding the one that can best prepare him to play professionally, one day. “I want to pick a school that is going to put me in a position to succeed at the next level,” he said.
Based on Grimes’ estimation, WVU certainly fits that mold. “Oh, yeah. I’ve been talking to coach Lockwood. I try to get at him as much as possible, it’s just too busy a schedule for me during the week days,” said Grimes, adding that he spoke with the coach last week. “He’s a pretty good guy to talk on the phone with. He hypes me up and challenges me a little bit.”
ESPN Scouts Inc rated the 6-foot, 166 pound Grimes the No. 16 overall corner back prospect for the 2010 class and evaluated him with an 80 scouts grade. Hollywood Hills High School is just 5-4 this season, but Grimes has been anything but a disappointment -- he’s already racked up an eye-opening five interceptions on the season.
Grimes explained what Lockwood likes the most about his skills as a lock down cover corner simply by saying: “My aggressiveness and my man coverage.”
Maryland is the only school that Grimes has taken an official visit to so far this fall. He said he plans on visiting Michigan on No. 28 and said he plans on visiting WVU after football season is over. “We haven’t set up a date yet, but I do plan on taking a trip there,” Grimes said about WVU.
Grimes said he does not plan on making his ultimate decision until signing day. “Nobody is over anybody yet,” he said.