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White Ready to Shine

Scotland County RB Zamir White

LAURINBURG – Scotland County coach Richard Bailey was just looking for someone to handle backup duties at running back for the Fighting Scots back in the summer of 2014.

Senior Quadrin Williams was penciled in as the starter after rushing for 593 yards the previous season when the Fighting Scots went 15-1 and advanced to the state 4-A championship game. But a lack of candidates to support Williams led Bailey to consider a freshman for the backup role.

“He was not the most highly talked about one coming from the middle school at that time,'' Bailey said. “But during summer workouts you could tell he was a gifted athlete. And he kind of fell into a good situation because I really didn't have a backup running back on the varsity.

“The next thing you know he touches the ball during scrub time against South View and he goes 66 yards for a touchdown on his first carry in high school. I'm like, 'this kid might be pretty good.''

Pretty good indeed.

In just two seasons of high school football, Zamir White has developed into one of the most productive backs in North Carolina and perhaps the most heavily recruited underclassman in state history.

Before the completion of that freshman season when White went on to rush for 1,231 yards and 18 touchdowns, he's already received scholarship offers from Georgia, N.C. State and North Carolina. That was rarefied air, even for Bailey, whose resume of producing major-college football talent at Fayetteville's Jack Britt High and at Scotland included running back George Bell (Virginia Tech), offensive tackle Xavier Nixon (Florida), tight end Aaron Kirkland (Tennessee), linebacker Artemis Robinson (N.C. State) and linebacker Jonathan White (North Carolina) among others.

“I've never had a freshman get offers until now,'' Bailey said back in March 2015 as the college interest in White was starting. “Some of that is just indicative of the times. But I also understand why they're offering. He's got the potential to be unbelievable.'' White, himself, wasn't so confident when Bailey first brought up the idea of playing varsity as a freshman. “I was expecting to play JV,'' White said. “But one day during preseason practice Coach Bailey came up and told me I was going to play varsity. I was shocked. I was like, 'Oh man!' But I was excited, too.

“I was doing pretty good. But when I had a crazy game against Richmond, that's when I knew I could handle it.''

Scotland and Richmond are situated in bordering counties and are long-time rivals. Meeting in Rockingham to end the 2014 regular season, the teams were tied for first place entering the game in the Southeastern 4-A Conference.

White sparked the Fighting Scots to a 34-13 win that night by rushing for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Taking over as Scotland's primary runner in 2015, White ran 260 times for 2,159 yards and 41 touchdowns. Like his rushing totals, the recruitment for the 6-foot-1, 210-pounder increased dramatically as well. A virtual Who's Who of college football had offered him scholarships by the end of his sophomore season, including national champion Alabama, national runner-up Clemson, Michigan State, Ohio State and Oregon.

“He'd have an offer from anybody I'd pick up the phone and said, 'Are ya'll interested in Zamir,''' Bailey said.

The attention and talent have led many, including Bailey, to compare White to Tarboro High graduate and current NFL running back Todd Gurley.

Bailey should know. He evaluated and coached Gurley back in 2011 while serving as an assistant with the North Carolina Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas staff. Bailey was the first to bring Gurley to my attention earlier that year when I consulted him regarding my annual preseason list of the state's Top 50 college prospects. Due in large part to Bailey's recommendation, I rated Gurley the state's No. 1 prospect that year.

White shuns the comparisons to Gurley. “They say I'm like Todd Gurley, but I don't know,'' he said. “I just run like Zamir.''

Actually, White is more advanced than Gurley in terms of his high school career at the same stage.

Gurley, because he reported late to the team, played defense for Tarboro's freshman squad and was left on the junior varsity as a running back during his sophomore year. He was called up late in his sophomore season for the playoffs to help cover kickoffs. But it wasn't until his junior year that Gurley actually logged a carry on the varsity level.

White's recruitment remains wide open, although when asked about schools he likes he says “Clemson, (UNC) Tar Heels, (N.C.) State, Bama, Florida State.'' He took unofficial visits to Alabama, Florida State, Georgia and LSU with Bailey and his family this spring and then trekked to Notre Dame and Ohio State in July.

“I'm really just having fun getting out there and experiencing all these different places,'' White said. “I'm trying to find out where I feel at home.''

White doesn't expect to make a final decision on his next “home'' until the summer before his senior year, but that final destination isn't likely to be too far from Laurinburg. “My mom isn't going to let me go too far,'' White says with a chuckle.

With two years still remaining in his high school career, the final chapters of White's already illustrious career remain to be written. But if the start is any indication, it's going to be a storybook ending.



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