Photo by Imani Khayyam.
Last year, Nigel Knott got bored.
The Germantown High School cornerback seldom had a pass thrown his way after the first quarter in the team's season-opener against Northeast Jones High School. He intercepted a floating spiral in those opening minutes and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown in a blink of an eye. Opposing teams conceded. For the rest of the year, they directed their passing plays toward whichever side of the field didn't feature No. 13.
By season's end, the only people targeting Knott with any regularity were college coaches. His breakout 2014 season (112 tackles, four interceptions, one sack, and one blocked punt and field goal) affords him the option to play at any collegiate football program he wants. He is No. 39 on the ESPN 300 2016 class list, the No. 2 high-school football player in Mississippi and No. 4 cornerback in the nation. Knott has to make his decision by Feb. 5, 2016, National Signing Day.
"It's very exhausting, the recruiting process," Knott says. He expresses not having a clear favorite. "I want to be 100 percent with my decision."
In June, the four-star recruit narrowed his college search to 10 eligible schools, with the two big in-state suitors, University of Mississippi and Mississippi State University, in the mix. Family links Knott to both the Rebels and Bulldogs. Knott's father, David Knott, captained the UM team as a safety in the early 1990s. Knott's older sister, Deja Givens, runs track at Mississippi State. While many Mississippians don't hesitate to suggest where Knott should play, his father remains objective.
"Most people suspect he pushes me to Ole Miss, but he just tells me to go where I feel comfortable," the son says. "He says I'm going to have to be at my choice for four years, and he won't be there with me."
Knott also has a close tie to the league he dreams of one day joining—the NFL. Chris Givens, his half-brother, plays wide receiver for the St. Louis Rams. Both players wear No. 13.
Beginning his senior year, shouts of "Dandy" and "D-1" follow Knott in the hallways. His favorite teacher is the head football coach's wife, Sheri Shramek, whose art classroom doors are always open to him.
Before his Q-rating at Germantown exploded, Knott was a struggling sophomore looking to quit football. For two straight seasons, persistent stress tears hampered his play and frustration was settling in.
Knott approached then-defensive back coach Patrick Austin after practice one day to say it wasn't working out.
"I just wanted to get away. I was so stressed out," he says. Austin talked Knott out of quitting, and the lanky young cornerback took on a new perspective.
"Things went in a very different direction after that," he says.
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