The Bowling Green Purples (Bowling Green, Ky.) have developed a hard habit to break over the last few years and that's the art of winning football games.
The Purples have accumulated a 30-0 win-loss record and back-to-back class 5-A state titles, which is truly impressive, but according to Bowling Green wide receiver Nacarius Fant this storybook ending isn't over quite yet, especially if he has anything to say about it.
“If we win the state championship again my senior year that will be a three-peat for me,” said Fant proudly. “I'm looking forward to taking more a leadership role this season and we’ll tell these young guys coming in that we’re the defending champs and we got to come to work every day and act like that. We have to be ready to defend what’s ours.”
The 5-foot-10, 169-pound receiver finished the 2012 season with a phenomenal 69 catches for 1,335 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also had four punt returns for touchdowns, so it's easy to see why he’s really starting to attract the attention of some of the biggest colleges in the nation.
“Recruiting’s been really good and I'm just taking everything slow right now,” he shared. “Right now, I'm just preparing for my senior year and taking care of my schoolwork first. Sometime during my senior season I'll start worrying more about recruiting and who my final five will be.
“Currently, I've offers from Illinois and Western Kentucky, but I'm pretty sure I'll have a couple more here soon. I'm hearing a lot from Notre Dame, Ohio State, Missouri, Louisville, Kentucky, Vanderbilt and there are a lot of other schools that are also sending me mail.”
There's no doubt that Fant’s abilities are truly superb and he wholeheartedly believes he has the skill set to be successful at the Division I level.
“I'm very aggressive and I'm not afraid to go up and get the ball wherever it is,” claimed the junior. “I have that type of attitude and it doesn't matter how big the defender is, I'm going to get that ball.
“I feel I'm also very quick off my cuts and I run very good routes. When I get the ball my hands I just try to make the best play I can for my team and hopefully that's a touchdown.
“If I had to choose one thing I’d like to improve on it would definitely be to understand the game a bit better. At the college level, you're not going to be able to out run the defenders all the time, so you have to be able to think about what you're going to do and how you can outwit your opponent.”
Though his contact with Notre Dame has been somewhat preliminary early on, the Bowling Green standout is ready for that correspondence to open up the little bit more and he looks forward to hearing what the Irish are thinking.
“I haven't had a chance to personally talk to Notre Dame yet, but I hope that changes soon,” added Fant. “I'm planning on getting in touch the coaches and start building my relationship with them, but for right now I've just been receiving mail from them.
“I am interested in Notre Dame, but to be honest I really don't know a lot about them. The only thing I really know is by being able to watch them on TV. I know they like to use their receivers and I feel like I could fit into the type of offense that they run at Notre Dame.”
The Kentucky product has already started to sort through the criteria he'll be looking for in a school at the next level and it looks like it mostly will have to deal with community and family.
“When I get ready to make my decision it won't be just on my relationship with the coaches, but most importantly with the players,” he explained. “You definitely have to like your teammates and being a wide receiver, you have to develop a special relationship with your quarterback. In all reality you have to like the quarterback, you have to like the offense and you have to like the offensive line.
“I'm looking to go to a passing school that's not afraid to get the ball out there to their receivers. I'm looking to get some touches, so I can help the team out.”
Could a visit to South Bend be in the cards for the electrifying wide receiver?
“I'm definitely hoping to visit Notre Dame this spring sometime, but first I have to develop that relationship with the coaches and see where I stand with them. Hopefully, we can get that worked out here soon.”
