Leto High's Deering ready to make college pick

It's gut check time for Jeremy Deering.

The Leto High School senior running back's going to go with his gut when he selects his college.

From nearly 30 Division I scholarship offers, he's down to two - Florida State and Rutgers. The Falcons leading rusher the past three seasons and one of the Bay area's top prospects will either suit up for the Seminoles or the Scarlet Knights.

Deering will announce his college decision today during the 6 p.m. newscast on NewsChannel 8 and on TBO.com.

"It's been a long road," Deering said. "I went through all the schools to figure out what each one was all about and then just tried to find the right fit for me."

The final schools have pulled out all the stops to get Deering's commitment. FSU's Jimbo Fisher's been a regular at Leto since he took over as head coach of the Seminoles. So have the Rutgers coaches.

Fisher's first morning as the new head football coach was spent at Leto with Deering. It was his first stop.

Last Thursday, two Rutgers coaches flew to Tampa to spend the day with Deering, including watching him at track practice, before taking him to Lee Roy Selmon's for dinner to hear their final pitch.

Deering narrowed his original long list of colleges to five and took officials visits beginning last fall. The first school he visited, one of the original colleges that took an interest in him, was Purdue. He then visited Illinois and Florida.

He eliminated those three schools last week and spent a day with former Leto head coach Hugh Dehnert going over the pros and cons of his final two.

"It's a combination of playing time, academics and how comfortable I am with the coaches and players," he said.

This long process began Deering's sophomore season when he first started receiving letters from colleges. Then it picked up steam his junior year and last summer when the offers poured in. Deering, humble in nature, remained unfazed by the attention.

"There were times he'd get a letter or a certain coach would call that I was much more excited than he was," Dehnert said.

Deering said the toughest part of the entire process has been telling coaches no, that he wouldn't be joining their program. Tonight, Deering will have to make that difficult phone call to either Florida State or Rutgers.

"It's something they don't want to hear and something I didn't want to have to do, but it has to be done," he said. "Ultimately, I've got a feeling and I've got to trust it."