Hokies Chasing 2017 ATH Henri Murphy, Aiming to Sign "One of the Fastest Kids in the Country"

Justin Fuente has been after Henri Murphy for more than a year now for one big reason: he's awfully fast.

The 2017 athlete has been in touch with Fuente and his staff since they extended him a Memphis offer in his high school days in Arkansas, and though he now plays at the junior college level at Mississippi's East Central Community College, Fuente kept tabs on him. In May, TEs/special teams coach James Shibest offered him a Tech scholarship to make it clear that the staff is as interested in him as ever, with an eye on encouraging him to visit Blacksburg as soon as possible.

"They said they love my speed, and they said I make plays," Murphy told The Key Play. "And they like that I'm not just only focusing on football, I'm focused in the classroom, on school as well, that's what I bring to the table."

Murphy's head coach at East Central, Ken Karcher, describes the Hokies' interest a little more directly.

"What they like is what everybody likes, he's probably one of the fastest kids in the country," Karcher said.

Murphy demurs on that specific bit of praise, noting that he hasn't refined his technique on the 40-yard dash to make that sort of claim. Nevertheless, he isn't scared to admit that he can run a little bit.

"Maybe I won't be fastest in the country, but if we line up, me against anybody in the country, I've got a shot to win," Murphy said.

Fuente and company likely wouldn't be so interested in Murphy if he didn't have the speed to back up that sort of claim. He was all set to head to a Division II program before the Tigers offered him, but when he couldn't secure his release, he chose follow his cousin and go the JUCO route instead to keep his options open.

But even though he didn't ultimately become a Tiger, that sort of early interest earned Fuente's staff plenty of respect from Murphy.

"They're a great group of coaches," Murphy said. "I didn't know too much about Memphis until I heard from them, but then I found out who the coaches were and they won a lot of games last year, so I believe they can bring that over to the ACC."

Yet where he'd play for Fuente is a bit of question mark. Shibest told Murphy that he'd get a shot at both cornerback and wide receiver if he came to Blacksburg.

"He said they were going to evaluate me on both sides of the ball," Murphy said. "They have me in contact with both the wide receivers coach and the cornerbacks coach, but he said if I end up going there, they're going to evaluate me on both sides of the ball."

Murphy certainly has plenty of experience on both offense and defense. He notes that he played mainly cornerback in high school, but Karcher switched him to wide receiver for his first season at East Central last year.

Despite his success there, Karcher says he's bound for the secondary when the new season starts.

"We played him at receiver last year as a freshman, he did very well, he could play that position, but he ended up getting multiple offers after his first season as a corner and didn't even play a snap of corner for us," Karcher said. "So I moved him to corner for the sake of all the recruiters that are offering him."

While he admits he still feels a little rusty at DB, Murphy said he's perfectly confident about the move, and eager to show his stuff on defense again.

"It's been a long time, but I think I can still play that well," Murphy said. "I played it during the spring and got back the feeling of it. I need to practice my technique a little bit more, since I'm on a whole other level other than high school, so I need to work on my technique a little bit more, and I think I'll be OK."

But even though he'll be playing defense in the immediate future, Karcher thinks he could fit in anywhere on the field at the next level.

"He's got good size, and anybody that can run as well as he does will do well," Karcher said. "He's got speed that not many people in the country have, and he's also a great kick returner."

That sort of versatility has indeed attracted plenty of interest beyond the Hokies, as Karcher alluded to. Murphy notes that Arkansas just offered him as a cornerback, and Mississippi State extended him a scholarship as well. He added that Arizona is also interested, though the Wildcats have yet to offer.

But with a December graduation date looming, Murphy won't have long to make his decision. He'll have "three years to play two" at the next level, meaning he'll be eligible for two seasons plus the possibility of taking a redshirt year, so he could be on the field at a new school as soon as January.

Yet he's unsure whether or not he'll take any visits in advance of making his pledge, with one notable exception.

"I really don't know (about visits), I just know I'm going to take a visit to Virginia Tech," Murphy said. "I'm going for a game up there."