Once an unknown football recruit, 2-sport star Storm McWilliams is in high demand
Bubba Raynor -- The Athletic Staff Writer
Storm McWilliams Jr. picked up his cell phone on Sunday morning and started to take inventory of his notifications on social media.
The 18-year-old quarterback and pitcher at Grayson High School, 40 minutes away from Atlanta, Ga., had about 75 direct messages on Instagram. His Twitter notification count was up to 83 alerts and his Snapchats had spiked into the triple digits.
“It’s been pretty wild,” he said. “The amount of Snapchats and Twitter notifications and direct messages on Instagram (I’m getting), are like, times 50. I’ve got 215 Snapchats.”
Whether classmates, major college coaches or media, everyone seems to want a piece of McWilliams these days. Better known as a baseball player, he’s suddenly in demand by an array of major football programs despite ranking as a zero-star recruit in the sport just a few months ago. He’s gone from being a project draft pick in the spring as baseball player to being wooed as a two-sport athlete and reconsidering going pro.
McWilliams, whose fastball touches the mid-90s, had shooed off college baseball coaches with dreams of being drafted in the 2020 MLB Draft and initially remained committed to that plan when Duke, Troy, Georgia State, South Alabama, Louisiana Tech and Akron were offering him football scholarships earlier this year.
But everything changed about two weeks ago, when Auburn became the first SEC school to offer him a football scholarship.
Coach Gus Malzahn’s offer to the pro-style QB came as a shock to many, considering McWilliams has no ranking in the 247Sports Composite. But when Auburn communicated he could play both sports for the Tigers, other schools began reaching out, too. Since then, McWilliams has collected three more SEC football offers — from Arkansas, Missouri and Texas A&M. West Virginia has also offered. There has been no football offer from Georgia.
“Last Tuesday I started phone calls at 7 p.m. and then got off of them at 11:15 p.m.,” McWilliams said, referring to the recent surge of teams contacting him. “It was really cool. But at the same time, it sucked.”
How McWilliams got here is something that even surprises him if he’s being fully candid.
It all began last spring when, according to Brandon McWilliams Sr., it was communicated to him and his son from the Buford football coaching staff that McWilliams would not be competing for the starting spot and that incumbent starter Jarvis Evans Jr. would remain the starter in 2019.
The reason McWilliams was not going to be afforded that opportunity was because his baseball schedule conflicted with the football team's spring practices and summer workouts.
"To not let him have a chance to compete broke [McWilliams Jr.]," McWilliams Sr. said, "We had been at the school for three years and he did everything he could to juggle both sports, we did everything we could. Both me and my wife drive over 40 miles every day to go to work in the city and we made a lot of sacrifices for him to play [at Buford] and we were told that his senior season, he'll have a shot. He met all the requirements but they weren't going to select him."
The football staff at Grayson High School, McWilliams' Sr. alma mater, was more accommodating. The talented baseball prospect transferred to Grayson over the summer and earned the QB1 title.
"Football is my first love," says McWilliams Jr., "It's what I watch with my dad and definitely my favorite sport if I had to pick. I just wanted the experience, to be honest, and get that chance to be that guy, go through those banners on Friday nights under the lights. Baseball is cool and all but we get parents and a few friends in the stands, that's about it. With football, especially down here, the stadium is packed and it's definitely a different atmosphere."
The experience has turned from a voyeuristic experiment into a potential catalyst for a different future. McWilliams Jr. remains dedicated to both sports and if he is selected in the 2020 MLB Draft, it's something he'll consider but the lure of playing college football, especially in the SEC, is pulling him more and more. He currently does not plan to play baseball for Grayson in the spring.
"We'll see what happens," says McWilliams Jr., "I was 100 percent set on going to the draft just a few months ago so a lot can change and I recognize that. I'm just enjoying the moment and not taking it for granted."
Grayson plays undefeated Mableton in the first ground of the Georgia High School playoffs.
