Aurora (Cherokee Trail) Colo. native and 2022 offensive tackle Travis Gray is undoubtedly one of the top tier prospects within the Centennial State for his class.
Recently, following a workout in Boulder in front of Mitch Rodrigue, Gray was offered by the Buffaloes.
For starters, being offered by his state's flagship institution was rewarding enough, but Gray was also pleased to share the news with his father, Lamarr, who won a National Championship with Colorado as a senior outside linebacker back in 1990.
“It felt amazing, to be honest with you," Gray said. "I was so tired at first and then (Rodrigue) said ‘Travis, you’re offered,’ and you could see this huge smile come across my face. I was pretty excited and I knew my dad would be excited that I could possibly carry on the legacy.”
Gray, a 6-foot-7, 295-pound tackle, has built up a solid offer sheet since the start of the New Year.
Eastern Michigan was the first to offer him back in late January, while Maryland and Arizona stepped in not too long after and did the same.
Gray named Oklahoma, Miami, Ohio State, North Carolina and Tennessee as other programs that he's been in touch with as late, while Kansas, Florida Atlantic and San Diego State also have offered.
The University of Arizona has rolled out the red carpet for me, in my opinion," Gray said. "I had a private lunch with their head coach, Jedd Fisch, and me and (offensive line) coach (Brennan) Carroll talk on the daily. They are some of the teams that have been really on me."
Ultimately, the Buffaloes weren't the first or second, nor were they the third, fourth or fifth to the party in terms of offering Gray, a local prospect with interest in the program.
That was not lost on Gray himself, who appears to have wondered if Colorado would indeed ever offer him.
"During the year where they didn’t offer me, I was like ‘OK, I’m going to put my interest somewhere else," Gray said. "I did that and leading up to a few weeks before I went down for my workout, coach (Karl) Dorrell wanted me to come down (to CU)."
"He said that it was because of COVID and him getting all these officials in and all this other football stuff, he didn’t really have a chance to look at the in-state talent. I was fine with that — I got my offer, I earned it and I was so happy that I can get to have that conversation with my dad. I know deep inside he was super stoked.”
Perhaps it's best to say what's done is done. As Gray continues to navigate his recruitment, having recently wrapped up an official visit to Tucson, he'll now look to pencil in an unofficial visit at CU before the end of summer.
In particular, Gray wants to check out the academics side of what Colorado has to offer its student-athletes as well as continue to build relationships with CU's coaches.
“I will be scheduling an unofficial to go up there (in late) July," he said. "I’ve gone to all the games but I want to see the school part of CU. I want to see the business school because I intend on majoring in business. (Rodrigue) said we’ll have the whole day and will get to speak to coach Dorrell and get to know him a little bit more."
