Marcus Lattimore reasons that football has come easy to him because he was toughened up by over 50 trips to the emergency room at the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center before he was 10 years old. In fact, his accidents piled up medical bills totaling nearly $100,000 before he started kindergarten.
File photo by Cecil Copeland
Marcus Lattimore, Byrnes
Before he was even a year old, he burned his face by pulling hot curlers off a counter. His next disaster was at age 2 when he fell off a slide and fractured his femur. That put him in a body cast, from the chest down, for five months. When he was 4 he received stitches in his hand following a bicyle accident. And so on.
However, the powerful 6-foot-1, 215-pound running back was quite durable while carving out a legendary career at Byrnes High in Duncan, S.C., and becoming one of the nation’s most coveted college recruits.
During his four-year career, he ran for a school-record 8,222 yards and 93 touchdowns. He also had 1,805 receiving yards and 11 touchdown catches. As a senior, Lattimore carried 260 times for 1,898 yards and a school-record 31 touchdowns. He also made 52 catches for 753 yards and five touchdowns. (His junior rushing total of 2,303 yards remains a school record.)
The Rebels posted a 13-2 record, but their streak of back-to-back Division I-4A state titles ended with a runner-up finish.
"I think I had a great career, but I really was disappointed," Lattimore said of the state-title game loss. "I thought the world was going to end, but the sun did come up in the morning."
Lattimore is ranked as the No. 2 running back and No. 3 overall player in the nation by Tom Lemming of CBS College Sports and MaxPreps. Unfazed by the pressure of his high profile, Lattimore says, "To tell you the truth, I didn’t even think about it. I just went out to have fun on Friday nights."
Byrnes coach Chris Miller says Lattimore "ranks right there at the top with a couple others. There have been some great athletes to come out of Byrnes. As he goes on, he could pass the rest. I think his future could far exceed (the others)."
The talented teenager also ranks with the best off the field, too, according to Zach Johnson, a middle school coach and varsity statistician. Johnson says, "I’ve never met anybody as humble as him." Kevin Melton, prep sports editor of the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, agrees with Johnson. He says, "It’s never about Marcus. He always talks about somebody else. That’s rare. It was good (covering his career). He made life easy for me."
Lattimore still is considering South Carolina, Penn State, Auburn and Oregon. He recently dropped Georgia. He has visited Penn State and Auburn and been to South Carolina several times in an unofficial capacity. He has official visits scheduled for South Carolina on Jan. 15 and Oregon on Jan. 22.
The articulate teenager, who has a 3.8 GPA and plans to major in communications, says that in choosing a college, "Definitely, education is first. I do want to play early, but it’s not that important (to start). I want to be comfortable with the coaches and players."
A look at possible destinations
SOUTH CAROLINA (70 percent): Even though Lattimore insists distance is not a problem, the Gamecocks are going to be hard to beat. The Columbia campus is a mere one-hour, 10-minute drive from his home. He is very close to his family, and it would be a breeze for relatives and his many fans to attend all home games.
Melton sees South Carolina running backs coach Jay Graham as the key player in the recruiting game.
"He really likes him (Graham)," Melton pointed out. "They’ve kind of blended well together. He likes (head coach Steve) Spurrier, too. He shoots straight with him and doesn’t sugar-coat things.
"If he goes to South Carolina, he’ll be an instant starter," Melton predicted. "His sister goes there, so he’s comfortable there. When students get wind that he’s there (watching a game), they always start chanting his name. That blows his mind."
Lattimore concedes that the South Carolina fans "make me feel really great." Adding to his comfort zone, Lattimore knows several current South Carolina players and some recruits who already have committed. Though the Gamecocks are not a national power, Melton says, "Every recruit you talk to thinks they are right on the verge. It’s an opportunity for him to play immediately and maybe put them on his back."
PENN STATE (20 percent): Lattimore told Melton that legendary coach Joe Paterno "is the greatest person I ever met."
Melton also points out, "He is more of a bruiser, a power-type, which fits in well with the Big Ten. He follows his blockers better than anybody I’ve ever seen."
AUBURN (5 percent): Auburn also has a history of outstanding big running backs, including the great Bo Jackson.
OREGON (5 percent): Melton says that when Byrnes participated last summer in a 7-on-7 tournament in Oregon, Lattimore "absolutely loved that area."
Originally, Lattimore had planned to make his announcement on Signing Day, Feb. 3. However, he moved it up to Feb. 2 at his church, Silver Hill United Methodist, "because I didn’t want all those cameras at my school."
He was referring to the media circus that most surely will overflow his church that night. At least 30 family members also will be there.
"The preacher better take up a collection that day," Melton quipped.
"I think he knows where he’s going," Melton suspects. "He’s just trying to drag it out as long as he can to keep the cat from getting out of the bag."