Former Mr. Football transferring to TSU
Former Cane Ridge running back Devon Starling, the state’s 2018 Class 6A Mr. Football, is transferring from Memphis to Tennessee State.
Starling, 6-foot, 190 pounds, spent last season redshirted at Memphis, where he found himself among a slew of running backs on the depth chart. The chance to get on the field earlier in his career is much greater at TSU, where the Tigers lost their top two rushers from last season and four of their top five.
“He is a real competitive guy, and he felt that he could play at that level. And I think he could. But Memphis has had such a string of good running backs, and it’s a crowded room up there,” TSU coach Rod Reed said. “From all indications I got from there was that he was a really good player and they didn’t want to lose him. We’re fortunate to get him.”
Reed tried hard to sign Starling, one of the state’s leading rushers for two seasons, out of high school. Starling rushed for 2,159 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior and 2,297 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior.
“We were real close to getting him out of high school, I believe,” Reed said. “We had a couple of home visits with him and felt real good about him.”
TSU’S leading rushers, Te’kendrick Roberson (176 carries, 750 yards, 6 TDS) and Sethrowland (75-427-3), were seniors last season. Also gone is Demarco Corbin (45-147-5), the fourth-leading rusher, and Chris Rowland (19-132-1), who was fifth. The two leading returning rushers are Shawn Mccolley (37214-0) and Sabree Curtis (8-71-0).
“Starling is an every-down back; he can do it all, and we like that about him,” Reed said. “Te’kendrick could do it all, but I think Starling is even more of an every-down back than he was. He’s like Te’kendrick, but bigger.”