Ethan Levy is a Project Worth Paying Attention To
SHAWNEE -- I was leaving Crain Family Stadium on Wednesday, July 8 after watching the CCSC Showcase Camp at Oklahoma Baptist University having interviewed 10 of the campers that I had picked out watching throughout the morning. One of those was a lighter, athletic looking speedy Ethan Levy from the often downtrodden Will Rogers High School football program in Tulsa. A man approached me wanting to ask a question.
"Hey, I'm Ethan Levy's uncle," said the friendly man with a big smile. "Did he tell you who his father was?"
I said, "No, he didn't."
"His dad was Tony Levy," said Levy's uncle.
Tony Levy, the same Tony Levy that was an Oklahoma high school legend. Levy came out of Wynnewood where he played for Oklahoma High School Hall of Fame coach Jim Holloway. Levy was All-State in football where he was the offensive and defensive leader on the 1987 Class 2A State Championship team. He rushed for 1,332-yards and 15 touchdowns. He helped the Savages make their first state basketball tournament on the hardwood and he won the 800-meters at state for the third year in a row.
He was going to Oklahoma State, but did not qualify and headed to NEO, where he specialized on defense and became a standout cornerback.
"He's going to get a lot of attention because he is up for grabs," NEO A&M head coach Glen Wolfe said at the time of Levy, who helped NEO go 9-1 and be in the running for a national championship. "He wasn't sent here. He can go anywhere he wants."
Levy went to Oklahoma, where he started at corner for two seasons.
His story has a tough ending as a few weeks before Ethan was born, Tony Levy died of a self inflicted gunshot wound in West Memphis, Ark. Law enforcement ruled it an accidental shooting and not a suicide.
Fast forward to now and Ethan Levy is 5-8, 145-pounds and is a track athlete that combines speed and endurance. He understands that it is not easy to get attention at Will Rogers, but he wants to play college football.
"You've just got differences on the team and people trying to do stuff on their own," Levy said of the situation at Rogers. "We need to do things together and it would help us win more."
All I know is at the camp, Levy ran well, caught the ball, and honestly, he hasn't played defense much. He is more than willing and that may be where he needs to end up.
"I'm quick and I pick things pretty fast," Levy said. "I run the 200 (meters) and the 4x400 (relay), so he not only has speed but he has some endurance.
When I asked him what the best thing that he has done on a football field, he told me that it was when he stiff-armed a kid, presumably to the ground. I asked him better than anything he has done with the ball, and he said, "yeah."
I like the mentality. With his slight build, he is a reach. Junior college might be the prescription for Levy, but with those bloodlines and what I saw in person watching the camp, I think he can play.