The future is now

There was never much doubt in freshman cornerback D.J. Scott’s mind that he was going to play college football.

During his freshman year at Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, Md., he was already discussing the possibility of enrolling a semester early to put on the pads for the school he chose.

The odds were in Scott’s favor – his father, Darrick Sr., played at Virginia Union and his coach, Ben Wright, had developed many collegiate athletes in his 24 years at Governor Thomas Johnson.

The Scott family moved from Jacksonville, Fla., to Maryland two years before D.J. entered high school, and he said multiple high school coaches wanted him to attend their school.

“But my dad was sold on Thomas Johnson because of the history,” Scott said. “I felt like Coach Wright was one of the best coaches I would probably ever have.”

And Wright utilized Scott’s skills to the fullest extent.

Pick a spot on the field, and odds are Scott lined up there. Cornerback. Wide receiver. Quarterback. But don’t forget kicker.

“We tried to get him the ball as often as possible,” Wright said. “He’s just really a superior athlete – he can do a lot of things.”

Some schools recruited Scott as an all-around athlete, but CMU coach Butch Jones and defensive coordinator Tim Banks knew they wanted Scott in the defensive secondary.

“We need help at corner,” Jones said. “We’ve had numerous discussions with our offensive coaches about wanting him to play slot receiver for us as well. But first and foremost, we’re going to build our program on defense.”

Jones said Scott’s stock as a defensive back went up after a camp in Ohio, where he shut down Logan Heastie, a top-10 ranked receiver that committed to West Virginia.

“I think right when that happened, it kind of opened everyone’s eyes,” Jones said.

Scott will aid a CMU pass defense that finished 118th nationally (second-to-last) in back-to-back seasons.

Scott also had more interceptions in his final high school season – 11 – than CMU’s team last year. The Chippewas finished with eight, tied for 98th nationally.

“It’s been a revolving door at that position during the past two years,” Banks said. “We just have to get some continuity back there. I believe they’ll play better, I really do.”

The first months

Scott originally committed to Syracuse in April 2008, but decided to reconsider in July because of the mixed signals he was getting about the coaching staff’s employment.

Greg Robinson and his Syracuse staff were fired in November.

“I kept asking about it, and they didn’t even want to talk about it,” Scott said. “I kind of didn’t want to be left out in the dust in that situation,” Scott said. “When I came to CMU and talked to the coaches and players, I basically fell in love with all of that.”

Scott’s first weeks on the CMU campus in January allowed him to adjust to being a college student. But Jones noticed his wide-eyed expression.

“It was pretty bumpy,” Scott said. “I went to the wrong class two times. Other than that, it wasn’t really that hard.”

Junior Nick Bellore enrolled early two years ago and started every game at middle linebacker his freshman season. He said getting a head start helps off the field as well.

“It’s kind of hard coming in during the summer, when you’re meeting all these new guys and going through camp, which is an awful time,” he said. “Coming in early, you can establish relationships with your teammates. Then you’ll trust them, and that makes everything easier.”

Bellore said Scott, who is practicing with the second-team defense, has a great chance to gain a starting spot at cornerback if he continues to grasp the defensive schemes.

“It seems like he’s had an interception pretty much every day at practice,” he said. “He’s still a little raw at learning the defense, but it’s coming along. He’s got very good ball skills – he just needs to put it together in the system.”

Although Scott already is on the college scene, he still has some business to take care of at home. He will head back to Maryland to walk at graduation with his friends after the spring semester ends.

He then gets to wade through another rite of passage starting in August – his first pre-season camp.

sports@cm-life.com