SPRING HILL – Division I college football coaches were in attendance Thursday night and caught a glimpse of Ravenwood standout Donovan Starr in action.
Starr committed to Auburn in June, but that doesn’t mean he’s closed the door on his recruitment. Starr picked up an offer from Alabama on Thursday, adding to a growing list of powerhouse programs to court Starr in the aftermath of his commitment.
“I’m pretty locked in (to Auburn) right now, but I’m definitely still open to a few schools,” said Starr, who had a 33-yard touchdown catch in Ravenwood’s 45-0 win over Region 6-6A rival Summit. “I got a few more visits to take and then probably make my final decision in December.”
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Starr is a four-star recruit and the No. 14 ranked player in Tennessee, according to 247Sports Composite. Starr holds offers from Auburn, Alabama, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Illinois among others. Illinois head coach Bret Bielema and defensive coordinator Aaron Henry were in attendance as well as Tennessee State and Georgia State.
Starr made a visit to Illinois Sept. 14 and was impressed with the Illini. He called the Illini his hometown team, having grown up in Illinois before moving to Williamson County his freshman year.
Starr gave the scouts in attendance a taste of his electrifying speed as he burst past his defender into open space to snag that 33-yard scoring pass from Maverick Chance. Chance added 103 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while completing 2-of-5 passes for 38 yards and a touchdown for the Raptors (7-0, 3-0 in 6-6A).
While Starr is still committed to Auburn he’ll be making the rounds to schools that have recently offered, including Michigan and Alabama.
Starr plans to attend Michigan’s Oct. 26 game against Big Ten rival Michigan State. He’ll also be in person at Vanderbilt when the Commodores take on South Carolina on Nov. 9.
While he hasn’t set a date, Starr said he plans to make a trip to Tuscaloosa to see Alabama, before locking in on a final choice later this year.
“It’s kind of unreal,” Starr said. “Everybody knows the standard for Alabama and how hard that offer is to get, so I’m definitely blessed and I was really excited when I got that offer.”
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Despite becoming one of Tennessee’s highest profile recruits since the start of the season, the Raptors have seen little change from Starr off the field.
“It’s very easy when you get the attention that he gets, to allow yourself to lose focus of what’s important in life,” Raptors coach Will Hester said. “He’s a phenomenal kid, he spends time with all different groups of kids at our school and I’m just proud of the person that he is.”
“He deserves the attention that he’s getting, not only because of the football player he is, but the person that he is.”
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports for The Daily Herald and The Tennessean. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Auburn football recruiting: 4-star Donovan Starr nabs Alabama offer
