I spoke earlier with four-star OL Richard Merritt, No. 74 in the Rivals100. Merritt was a late scratch from the Rivals100 Five-Star Challenge presented by Under Armour earlier this month due to injury.
First off, Merritt said the reason he had to pull out was that he learned he has a fracture on the front of his ankle. It sounds like he might have bone spurs as well. Merritt had been playing with it apparently through all of last season, but after the Rivals Camp in April, the pain was so bad he went to a doctor. (He won OL MVP at that camp). The doctor has ordered an MRI to survey the full extent, but so far, Merritt has had issues with his insurance and still has not had an MRI done. So unless he gets one quickly, there's a chance he could miss the early part of his senior season.
In the meantime, Merritt is taking summer classes that he hopes will allow him to graduate in December, but he's still not sure about that. He has not visited anywhere since he went to VT for the spring game in April and said he still loves the Hokies. Right now, it sounds like Merritt has them in an unofficial top three, along with Florida and Florida State.
With VT, Merritt said he really likes assistant coach Stacy Searels. He said he believes Searels "will take care of me" and that he's a good person. Merritt also likes how Searels coaches and doesn't get in his players' faces.
Right now, Merritt has visits planned to Florida and Florida State starting July 15. He's never visited either, but said the Seminoles were his favorite growing up. So that's obviously the one to watch. Merritt said after that trip, he hopes to also make a North Carolina run and see NC State and UNC and also hopes to make a trip to see Alabama and Auburn. Merritt also threw out Arizona and USC as possibilities.
The big thing is that he's waiting on his MRI. Depending on when he can get it cleared to get his insurance to cover it, his travel schedule could change.
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First off, Merritt said the reason he had to pull out was that he learned he has a fracture on the front of his ankle. It sounds like he might have bone spurs as well. Merritt had been playing with it apparently through all of last season, but after the Rivals Camp in April, the pain was so bad he went to a doctor. (He won OL MVP at that camp). The doctor has ordered an MRI to survey the full extent, but so far, Merritt has had issues with his insurance and still has not had an MRI done. So unless he gets one quickly, there's a chance he could miss the early part of his senior season.
In the meantime, Merritt is taking summer classes that he hopes will allow him to graduate in December, but he's still not sure about that. He has not visited anywhere since he went to VT for the spring game in April and said he still loves the Hokies. Right now, it sounds like Merritt has them in an unofficial top three, along with Florida and Florida State.
With VT, Merritt said he really likes assistant coach Stacy Searels. He said he believes Searels "will take care of me" and that he's a good person. Merritt also likes how Searels coaches and doesn't get in his players' faces.
Right now, Merritt has visits planned to Florida and Florida State starting July 15. He's never visited either, but said the Seminoles were his favorite growing up. So that's obviously the one to watch. Merritt said after that trip, he hopes to also make a North Carolina run and see NC State and UNC and also hopes to make a trip to see Alabama and Auburn. Merritt also threw out Arizona and USC as possibilities.
The big thing is that he's waiting on his MRI. Depending on when he can get it cleared to get his insurance to cover it, his travel schedule could change.
As always, what's posted here, STAYS HERE. Don't de-value your own subscription by giving away information to others who don't pay like you do. It's also a violation of our terms of service and will result in the termination of your subscription.
