McCray gaining interest; remains committed

Sometimes it takes making a commitment to catch the attention of rival schools, and in Emmanuel's case, that looks to be the case.

"USM and MSU offered me last week," added the very personable Emmanuel McCray. "I spoke with USM last week and MSU told me a few days before Southern. I talked to MSU last Sunday. Coach Croom said I was their number one lineman on their board."

The added attention kind of caught McCray by surprise.

"I thought my recruitment would slow down once I committed, but like I said, I always keep my options open. I am open for anything."

What does "open" exactly mean?

"I am still committed to Ole Miss, but you can not get too into one school because if they pull your scholarship later on, like some coaches told me that some schools do, then I need some more options. But I am still committed to Ole Miss as long as they are committed to me. I just want to keep my options open in case I have to take somebody up on it."

Which colleges have contacted McCray by phone since the contact period started in April (each school is allowed one phone call during the contact period).

"As of the last two weeks, I have spoken to MSU and USM. Southern actually keeps in contact with me all of the time. Ole Miss has not called me, but I call them a lot. Memphis has come around lately. Alabama just started calling too. They came by the practice the other week."

Anyone else been by McCray's practices?

"Coach Tony Hughes came by last week. Coach (Derrick) Nix for Ole Miss came by late last week, and like I said, Alabama came by too. Basically, everyone knows I am committed, but they are all telling me there is a long time between now and signing day, so they are going to still recruit me hard. That is the same thing MSU told me too. Coach Croom said he knows that I am committed to Ole Miss, but a lot of minds have been changed before, so he is going to stay on me hard."

What attracted McCray to Ole Miss to begin with?

"Everybody around there seems like a family, and they are ready for a change. They surprised me the most and showed me they wanted me the most before anyone else knew who I was. That is why Ole Miss stands out to me."

Which camps will the 6' 5", 280 pound offensive tackle this summer?

"I am going to Ole Miss' 3 Day camp and MSU's OL/DL camp. Our coaches are going to take us to a bunch of camps. USM is suppose to hold a camp this summer at Hinds CC and I am going to try and make it for that one."

McCray reports a 19 on his ACT test.