The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1298950
NOVEMBER 2020 THE WOLVERINE 41 FOOTBALL RECRUITING Flash' in middle school, definitely flashed as a sophomore. He was elec- tric with the ball in his hands, had elite-level speed and could catch any- thing thrown in his direction. His season was cut short due to a hip flexor injury, but he showed glimpses of what was to come. That offseason, he ran a blazing 10.55 sec- onds in the 100 meters and was the only sophomore in the event at the California state track and field meet. Ask Worthy, though, and he'll tell you it wasn't a big deal. "It's not an accolade if you don't win," he said. Worthy broke out as a junior with 55 receptions for 992 yards and 16 touchdowns. His film clearly screamed top-100 prospect nation- ally. But he wasn't exactly getting much attention. San Jose State was the only school that offered Worthy before the turn of the calendar year. He was a low three-star recruit across various re- cruiting networks and had a blurry image as his Rivals.com profile pic- ture for what seemed like forever. Most of California's recruiting tal- ent is concentrated around the Los Angeles metro area. Up north in Fresno, Worthy was barely a blip on the radar. "It made me work a little harder," Worthy said. "It made me hungrier. I knew I could compete with anybody in the country. They overlook Fresno all the time." Nicky encouraged her son to hit the camp circuit, but in his typi- cal nonchalant fashion, he decided against it. A single mother, Nicky ad- mitted it would have been tough to make it work anyway. Instead, Worthy continued to work in silence with his team and on his own. In the scorching heat with tem- peratures easily above 100 degrees, Worthy would set up drills and put himself through a gauntlet. Nobody was watching, but he knew his hard work would eventually pay off. "My mom told me I needed to go to camps, and I said I wanted to get ev- erything on my own," he explained. "I said I wasn't going to camps. I just worked in my backyard and worked with the older kids. I always had that dog in me." Top programs around the coun- try soon caught wind of the biggest sleeper in the country. Just before the beginning of the dead period in April, Worthy saw his recruiting stock explode like an out-of-this- world sonic boom. Oregon offered. Michigan offered. Washington offered. By the end of May, Worthy had SEC powers like Alabama, Georgia and LSU — the de- fending national champions — blow- ing up his phone on a daily basis. "When San Jose State offered, I didn't really know it was an offer," Worthy said. "I thought it meant they were looking at me. I didn't know what an offer really was. My coach told me it was an offer. I didn't ex- pect to blow up after that. I thought I'd maybe get a Fresno State offer." "When your kid is athlete, you read all the stories," Nicky added. "When it started happening, it was like, 'Oh wow.' When he got his San Jose State offer, we made a board and told him, 'You're going to have your top five [schools] and do this.' We were prepared, but you can't be fully prepared for something you've never really experienced." Worthy and his family trusted the process, and it paid off in a big way. Nicky said if the family had to do it all over again, they would do it the exact same way. And who could blame them? Her son had his pick of the litter. While recruiting life hit him fast, Worthy took it in stride and care- fully evaluated his options. In June, he made a decision — he was going to Oregon. In fact, Worthy even gave the Ducks a silent commitment and set a public decision date. However, he eventually postponed his commitment and, on July 10, he found his real home. After some summer movie-like drama, Worthy committed to the Wolverines. "Michigan was different from all the other schools," he said. "Coach [and offensive coordinator Josh] Gat- tis stayed consistent even when I wasn't leaning to Michigan. "He showed the film and broke it down. I met all the staff. The strength and conditioning coach broke down all the body training. All of that solid- ified my commitment to Michigan." It was actually a call with Gattis and strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert that sold the entire fam- ily on the Wolverines. Worthy, whose nickname is "The Flash" and has the track times to back it up, broke out with 55 receptions for 992 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior at Fresno (Calif.) Central. PHOTO BY EJ HOLLAND Worthy on initially being listed as a three-star prospect "It made me work a little harder. It made me hungrier. I knew I could compete with anybody in the country."