Xavier Worthy Opts To Skip Senior Season
Just days after California decided it would be pushing the high school football season to the spring, Fresno (Calif.) Central East wide receiver Xavier Worthy announced he would be skipping his senior year and will be heading directly to Michigan in January.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, many prospects across the country have been forced to adjust their football plans due to how fluid the situation is. Some recruits, such as Michigan commit J.J. McCarthy, actually transferred schools in order to increase the likelihood that he would be playing football this fall, moving from Nazareth Academy in Illinois to IMG Academy in Florida.
Now, Worthy is the latest player to drastically alter how his high school football career will play out. Prior to today, Worthy was set to suit up for the Grizzlies after accumulating 5 receptions for 995 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns a year ago, but California is the latest state to announce a change to its fall sports schedule.
On Monday, the California Interscholastic Federation stated that it would push back the football season to 2021 due to the coronavirus situation. With that news out in the open, many players, such as Worthy, immediately began to rethink their athletic plans. Ultimately, the Michigan commit decided that he would be better off forgoing his senior campaign so that he could arrive on Michigan's campus in January as an early enrollee.
Another Michigan commit that will be forced to reconsider their senior season is Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei wide receiver Cristian Dixon, who committed to U-M on June 25 and was the second player at his position to do so. Dixon is yet to make an indication on what he will do either way.
For the rest of Michigan's 2021 class, some commits have seen their respective states roll out specific COVID-19-related guidelines, while others are still surveying the landscape and have not made any final decisions yet. In the case of McCarthy, Greg Crippen, Jaydon Hood and Ja'Den McBurrows-- all U-M commits in the state of Florida-- their governing body announced that the season will start on time and all schedules will remain intact according to MaxPreps.com.
Edit: Florida has since chosen to delay its fall sports practice date until August 24.
In the state of Michigan, the MHSAA announced on July 17 that the season is tentatively set to proceed as scheduled, though the organization left an option on the table to alter that plan depending on new information that arises. Michigan has three in-state commits in the class (Giovanni El-Hadi, Raheem Anderson and Tommy Doman Jr.).
As for Ohio, which is home to a pair of U-M pledges in Markus Allen and Rod Moore, schools are permitted to proceed with their season if they can come to an agreement with each program on the schedule, so that is a more laissez-faire approach. Players and coaches are, however, required to use individual water bottles and should abide by social distancing rules on the sidelines.
For Michigan's three commits in Massachusetts (T.J. Guy, Casey Phinney and Louis Hansen), the MIAA is not expecting to change the season's schedule at the moment, so that looks like a green light for football for a trio of Wolverines pledges.
As it stands, each state is proceeding differently and more players are expected to opt out of their senior seasons before the 2021 class is finalized on National Signing Day.
Who will be the next prospect to forgo their senior season? Will any other Michigan commits follow Worthy's lead? Let us know!
