Six Merced College football players sign national letters of intent

Devron Davis strolled into the Merced College football national signing day ceremony sporting a sharp gold dress shirt, tie and haircut.

After a long and wild recruiting process, the Blue Devils’ highly touted defensive back was ready to make his choice known. The only problem was the ceremony was over.

Teammates Earl Chambers, Josh Stevens, Ty Allen, Xzavier McCallister and Rufus Williams had already put pen to paper in front of a nice-sized gathering of family and friends.

In the time Davis spent getting the haircut, the Merced staff had broken down the table and chairs and started making lunch plans. It was an almost fitting conclusion to what had been an unpredictable couple months for Davis, as he became flooded with offers from some of the nation’s top Division I programs. In the end, Davis opted to go with one of his first suitors, committing to Colorado State a few months after he decommitted from the program.

“It’s been chaos,” said Davis, who was still receiving last-minute offers until Wednesday. “I really enjoyed the entire process. I really appreciate all the coaches that gave me a shot and even the ones that didn’t, because that just motivates me going into next season.

“I ended up picking Colorado State because I was really excited about their strength of schedule. We open with Alabama and also play Florida, so I’m excited about that. Coach (Mike) Bobo stuck by me through everything. Even when I decommitted, they kept in touch and wished me the best. It’s something I really appreciated, and hopefully, I can pay them back for.”

Davis was one of five Blue Devils to join a Division I program and one of six to send off a letter of intent.

Campbell will join the Alabama Birmingham. Stevens will run the ball at Nicholls State in Louisiana. Allen and McCallister will stick together and join Tennessee State’s offensive line, and Williams will join a number of local players at Concordia University in Nebraska.

“This is the dream right here,” Stevens said. “Knowing where you’re going to finish your education. Having your school, board and books paid for. All that and still getting to play football. Plus, it makes all the moms happy.

“It’s a relief. It’s been a long journey with some rough times, but a lot of good ones, too.”

After going through the process and not having things work out as a senior coming out of high school, McCallister said he had a newfound appreciation for everything.

“I just feel blessed to have this opportunity to sign again,” McCallister said. “It wasn’t like I felt like I’d blown my opportunity, but coming out of high school, I didn’t know all of the things I needed to have done in order to play. I’ve done a lot of growing up the last two years, and I definitely didn’t take anything for granted this time.”

Seven Blue Devils have signed with linebacker Christopher Crawford already enrolled and on the Faulkner University campus in Alabama. Slot receiver Stephon Cross, defensive end Justin Aguilar and defensive back Demario Guyton should join them shortly.

“We should have 13 to 15 guys signing with four-year schools when it’s all said and done, which will put us at the 85 to 90 percent of sophomores that we routinely move on,” Merced coach Bob Casey said. “For us, the process is really just beginning. The Division I teams are obviously a little more time sensitive, but now the D-II and D-III schools will see the guys that are still available and push hard to scoop them up.

“This is by far and away our biggest group of Division I guys moving on, and the most impressive thing is none of them were qualifiers coming out of high school. There’s this belief that if you aren’t a D-I qualifier coming out of high school that you can’t get your degree in two years. It isn’t easy, but these guys prove that if you put in the work, you can do it.”

This story was originally published February 3, 2016 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Six Merced College football players sign national letters of intent."