Ray Polk commits to 2008 football recruiting class
TITLE HERE
The Ray Polk File
Height: 6-feet
Weight: 195 lbs.
Born: 4/22/1990, Phoenix, Ariz.
Bench: 250
Squat: 385
40-yard dash: 4.47 seconds
Intangibles: “He takes pride in the position,” Brophy Prep coach Scooter MolanderCQ said. “He realizes he doesn’t have all of the answers, but he’s confident at the same time. That makes him coachable.”
The Colorado offensive backfield will add a speedy, slashing, outside threat to its cadre of utility players next year.
Ray Polk, a four-star high school tailback out of Phoenix, committed to the 2008 Colorado football recruiting class last week.
The Brophy Prep senior boasts a 4.47-second 40-yard dash, which he ran at a combine in San Antonio earlier this year.
“He can really go,” Brophy head coach Scooter Molander said by phone this week. “He’s a two-time state champion in the 110-meter hurdles. He’s got very good strength and catching. Colorado’s very lucky to have him.”
Polk ran the 110-meter hurdles in 13.93 seconds this April on the way to the state title. The two-sport athlete has parlayed his speed and agility on the hurdles into explosiveness outside the tackles on the football field.
It earned him interest from Arizona, Arizona State, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Oregon State, as well as Colorado.
Polk is the type of back who stretches his runs to the outside and turns up field, Molander said, and although he thrives in the open field, Polk isn’t a back who avoids hits.
“He’s not a bruising running back, but he’s got a nice combination of real good speed and strength,” he said. “It takes a few guys to take him down.”
In fact, Polk began his football career at Brophy making hits. He played his first two years on the team as a defensive back, before an injury forced him to change positions.
In his first year as a running back, Polk earned first team All-State and All-District honors, rushing for 1,423 yards and 22 touchdowns his junior year.
“He’s done a great job transitioning,” Molander said. “He can run, catch and block.”
Polk may have genetics to thank for some of his natural ability. His mother, Susan Corey, ran track at Oklahoma State. His father, Raymond Polk, was a safety at OSU.
Rivals.com ranks Polk as the No.11 running back in the country and the fourth-best player in the state of Arizona. Scout.com lists him as No. 33 in the country.
Equaling his skill on the field, Molander said, is Polk’s maturity.
“He’s a ‘yes sir,’ ‘no sir’ type of guy,” he said. “He doesn’t make excuses if things don’t go right.”
Molander recalled a loss earlier this season, when Polk sat down with his coach and asked what he could do to help the team improve in the future.
“He’s a great person,” Molander said. “He’s more interested in hearing on what he can improve on than what he’s doing well.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Justin Coons at justin.coons@thecampuspress.com.
