Isaiah Mercer might be headed home.
The Clear Creek High School senior, who transferred from Rockcastle High in Mount Vernon, Ky., this school year, has verbally committed to play football for the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.
The NAIA school, located 49 miles from where he grew up, extended an offer to Mercer last week. It’s the only offer the running back/linebacker has received thus far, but he’s expecting another from the University of Pikeville, another NAIA school in Pikeville, Ky., this week. There’s also been interest expressed by Colorado Mesa University.
“Honestly, when I first was looking at college football, I was not really looking at home at all. I was looking in the northwest — Oregon, Washington — and here in Colorado. Then it just came. I got a text from one of their associates, so I figured why not. Let’s see what they’ve got there,” Mercer said of the interest from Cumberlands.
In his one season at Clear Creek, Mercer led the Golddiggers in tackles (111 total) and sacks (six), while recording two interceptions. On offense, he rushed 94 times for 392 yards and a team-best eight touchdowns. He also caught 24 passes for 357 yards and three more scores. He also punted the ball 10 times for a 35.4 yards-per-punt average and returned eight kickoffs for 145 yards. He’s looking to play offense at the next level.
“He’ll do a great job at the next level. I don’t know much about Cumberlands, but they’ll be lucky to have him. He’s a just a class act. He’s got a great nose for the ball,” Clear Creek head football coach Brian Inman said. “He’s going to do well no matter what.”
Mercer is considering studying either interior design or engineering in college.