His senior season hasn’t gone quite the way he would have liked.
But there’s no doubt James Caraway has the athleticism to turn a few heads at the next level.
A 5-foot-10, 170-pound speedster from Highland Park High School in Topeka, Kansas, Caraway surprised everyone this summer when he ran a 4.38 forty at the Kansas City Scout.com Combine. A virtual unknown prior to combine season, he was deemed the biggest surprise of the summer by several Midwest scouts. On top of posting the lightning-fast forty time, he had the combine’s top vertical jump at 38’8 and was named Defensive MVP of the event.
Almost immediately coaches began calling him about playing cornerback at the Division I level.
“When I went to the combine, I wasn’t even supposed to play corner. I went for a running back,” Caraway told CowboyBlitz.com yesterday. “Coach (Don) Cox (Scout.com DB coach) was like, ‘You’re the perfect size for a corner.’ I was like, ‘I played free safety for my high school, and I played a little bit of corner, but I really don’t know what I’m doing.’ So that was really the first time I trained hard to play corner.”
Billed by scouts as one of the most intriguing defensive back prospects in the country, Caraway saw his team struggle to win games in 2007, finishing the season with a 1-8 record, and the senior actually had his most success on offense.
“We didn’t win as many games as I would have liked to win,” he said. “I played a lot of running back, and I finished the season with 108 carries, 838 yards and over 200 yards receiving.
“It wasn’t the best season because most teams, they ran on us, so I couldn’t get looks with them passing the ball, but when they did run, I got some big hits. I’m guessing I finished with maybe 45 tackles.”
The opposition’s rushing attack didn’t pad Caraway’s stats as a corner; though he had a few close calls, he was never able to grab an interception in 2007. And while his offensive production has been admirable, he has the physical build to be far more effective as a cornerback at the next level than a running back.
But so far, the lack of stats—and exposure—have left him with no offers.
“I procrastinated on film, and when they ask us for film, they mean it,” he said, adding that he is just now sending it out.
He is still hearing from several schools, however, and he has enough interest from Division II squads to ensure a ticket to at least a few more years of football somewhere.
“It was all hearsay from what they’ve heard I’d done at camps,” he said of the programs showing interest. “I still talk to Kansas State every now and then, Wyoming, Air Force and Division II’s, I talk to a lot of Division II’s.”
He had garnered heavy interest from Kansas after the combine this summer, but things have died down dramatically since.
“They talked to my coach,” Caraway said of the Jayhawks. “They’ve called my coach to see how I’m doing, but I haven’t talked to them in a while.
“I know that Air Force, they told me what they need and I could be in that, and Kansas State needs corners too, so I could be in that mix, too.”
As far as Wyoming goes, Caraway would prefer a bit more contact.
“I’ve heard of their program. I like their program. I still get their letters and everything. I’m just waiting for an offer,” he said of the Cowboys, then added, “I haven’t talked to Coach (Bryan) Applewhite (RBs coach in charge of Caraway’s recruiting) in a long time, like since the beginning of the season.”
If the athletic senior does pick up a few more offers, he won’t be picky about the program’s prestige or his role early on.
“I just see it as wherever I can get my education at a good price,” he said. “I’m not that way about playing time because I feel my time will come. I’ll earn a spot, it’ll be an earned spot and the team’s record, like winning or losing, I’m not real worried about that either.”
Caraway is staying positive about the lack of offers and is confident his film and a few postseason events will garner more attention.
“Coach Cox told me I’m going to get the offers. I can’t commit to the first school that gives me an offer. I was thinking, ‘I haven’t got an offer yet, something’s wrong. Something’s wrong. Why haven’t I got an offer yet?’ But he was like, ‘Don’t worry about it. Just send your tape out.’
“I’m planning this little high school bowl game, like a Max Emfinger Bowl game, so hopefully I can get some looks when I play in that game.”
Caraway said he plans on making a decision by the “regular February signing period.”
He reports a 3.38 GPA with a 21 on the ACT.
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