Boulder – Barring a very high ACT score, Maurice Greer, Colorado’s top recruit in its class of 2005, will not play football for the Buffaloes this fall.
It would be a big blow to CU, which could use the services of the running back, who played for Mullen High School. Greer, the only four-star player in the Buffaloes’ class, was the consensus top prep player in the state last season and was rated No. 10 at his position nationally by Rivals.com.
To qualify to play, practice or receive a scholarship, the NCAA mandates a student- athlete receive a sum test score that meets the requirement based on a sliding grade-point average scale. An athlete graduating from high school with a higher GPA does not have to have as high of an ACT total score as those graduating with a lower GPA. The highest achievable score on a single ACT is 36.
Greer has finished spring courses and will graduate from Mullen, but with a GPA on the lower end of that scale. He has taken the ACT at least once. He told the website Buffstampede.com in September that he scored a 15 on the test in the spring of 2004. Greer is scheduled to take the test again in the next two weeks and there is another available during the summer.
Mullen coach Dave Logan said he has seen exponential improvement in Greer’s class work during his tenure there and is holding out hope, as are CU coaches.
“In our two years together, Maurice has really worked hard academically,” Logan said. “He’s put a lot of time and effort into becoming a good student as well as a good football player.”
CU has alternate plans ready. The Buffs would place Greer at Garden City Community College in Kansas or at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M. He would be eligible to return to CU in 2007.
Greer arguably is CU’s best high school running back recruit since Marcus Houston in 2000. Greer carried the ball 255 times for 2,096 yards and 31 touchdowns as a senior, leading Mullen to a 13-1 record and the Class 5A title.
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
