Deacons, Tar Heels, Wolfpack checking out WR

I couldn’t find Winston-Salem Reynolds junior wide receiver Jake Gainey mentioned on any of three national recruiting sites I checked, but that doesn’t mean that young Mr. Gainey hasn’t recently been discovered by the big boys.

“His recruiting really picked up during the second half of the season,” Reynolds coach Mike Propst said. “All the ACC schools and East Carolina are looking at him.”

And for good reason; Gainey had an amazing season, finishing with 49 catches for a whopping 1,308 yards, a stunning average of 26.7 yards a catch. Even more remarkable was that Gainey turned 23 of the 49 receptions into touchdowns.

“I’ve never heard of a stat like that,” Propst said.

Gainey also returned two kickoffs and a punt for scores before teams began regularly kicking away from him.

“He’s a legitimate 4.5-second (in the 40-yard dash) guy,” said Propst. “And he can catch everything you throw at him. He had one drop all year.”

Gainey is 5-foot-10 and 160 pounds, so he can add muscle before next year. Right now, his three favorite schools are Wake Forest, North Carolina and N.C. State, in that order, according to Propst.

The sudden interest by so many schools shouldn’t be a surprise. After all, game-breakers are in short supply.

--Stan Olson